If everyone who spends most of the day on their phones were to spend more time introspecting and reading, we’d be more satisfied with ourselves and less angry. The Gita teaches that satisfaction within the self is necessary for reaching a higher consciousness and for freedom from the cycle of birth and death. If one believes in the concept of a soul, time is better spent honing the mind to prepare for death. We are also acting in our hyper-consumptive society for the ends of status accrual and not to reach eudaemonia. We are attached not only to our bodies but also to our jobs and other souls donning a particular outfit in the form of their physical bodies. That is not to discourage loving one’s family and friends, but when grieving for those who have died, it is imperative to remember that the body is temporary, a grain of sand in the ocean of existence. For the modern woman, this attachment to the body manifests as chasing perfection through consumption. I am not immune to it; we are very attached to our y…