James Ellington lectures in Reformed theology at the University of Edinburgh. In this thoughtful article, he considers the meaning of 'living the good life' from both a Christian and secular perspective. His article refers to Charles Taylor's work "Sources of the Self: the making of the modern identity", which suggests that we decide if our lives are 'good' based on the ways in which our identity is shaped.
"Sources of the Self opens with a provocative claim. In the modern West, despite all our focus on the complexities of our inner lives, we nonetheless imagine our core identities in stark, uncomplicated terms. We perceive and present ourselves––and others––one-dimensionally. In asking “Who are we?” we reduce everything to a single label, imagining it plays a load-bearing role in constructing our identities. For some, that label is a nationality; for others, it’s a profession, a gender identity, a sexual orientation, a social class, or a social role. We see this reductionism clearly on social media: If you join a platform like X, the first thing you must do is choose what to present to the world about who you are in your bio (and in no more than 160 characters)."
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/modernitys-hollowed-search-good-life
