http://kirangandhi.com/tedxbrooklyn-2013-talk/

Atomic living is using spontaneous moments productively to create happiness in your life. The notion is that as long as you know in your heart what your biggest passions are, in my case they are innovation in the music industry, writing music, gender equality, and my friends and family, then when opportunities come into my life that have the potential to nourish any of those things, I always say yes, let’s do it. But, if the opportunity does not have a potential to nourish those things, I say no. That way I do not feel like I have to plan ten years in advance, I can use all of the wonderful opportunities in that moment and I can live a far more present life than constantly trying to get to the next win, or the next mountain, or the next success. It allows me to live holistically and presently, it prevents regret.

This quote is from an interview I did with IVI Magazine recently. I believe that it makes my views on Atomic Living extremely clear and I am so happy to have spoken to Jessica about it. 

Also, Zoya Mohan had previously explained my theory on Atomic Living so beautifully, that I had to include it. Check out her explanation on Wondering Sound. I love this girl – she is an insanely gifted musician from Berklee whom I met last year right here in Boston: 

You collaborated with drummer Kiran Gandhi on the track “Lunar Eclipsed.” She developed a concept called “Atomic Living,” and I read that you have a tattoo on your foot inspired by her ideas. What, specifically, is Kiran’s philosophy?

Kiran is one of the most amazing woman I have met; she’s so inspiring. When I first met her, she spoke at Berklee about her life as a touring drummer and a music-business entrepreneur, and how she balanced both acts. After the clinic, I felt so drawn to her philosophy of Atomic Living that I asked if we could go get a drink. She explained to me that it’s basically the idea that our world is filled atoms and, just like humans, atoms bounce of each other and create new connections. She said to pick three to six things that are most important to me — my passions or pillars. For me, it was traveling, family, art, learning, things like that. She said that I should always make decisions based on those pillars instead of looking to the future and making decisions based on some job I want to get five years down the line, or making decisions based on what other people are telling me.

She said then there will be no room to regret any decisions and the “atomic moments” that form are so much more true than if I followed a path just to get to Point B. Instead, I should be open to numerous paths that may come out of my “atomic decisions.”

So my tattoo says “step atomically” in Greek (since the Greeks were the ones who first discovered the atom), and that’s why I got it on my foot. So with every step I make in life, I keep her philosophy in mind.