Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement
fucking space, screwing emptiness. Then we were on the floor, under heavy blankets, panting. Meditative music played quietly from the speakers. I was staring up toward
André Spicer • Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement
“And you feel André is not invested
André Spicer • Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement
Self-improvement today is so integrated into our society that it is hard to know where it begins and ends. Yoga is taught at elementary schools. Mindfulness is used in prisons. Life-coaching is promoted as a way of combating poverty.
André Spicer • Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement
“So what should we talk about with the therapist?” I asked André as we were having breakfast in a classically Parisian bistro. “Hmm. She seems really keen to talk about behavioral patterns, so I guess we could talk about that.” I laughed.
André Spicer • Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement
to find out more about the faith through reading.
André Spicer • Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement
home, was a pile of leaflets from the new-age retreat I was going to attend at the end of the week. I ordered a beetroot burger and a no-nut wrap and sat
André Spicer • Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement
Mindfulness, right? That’s just rebranded meditation—something Buddhists have done for thousands of years. Waking up at five a.m.? Millions of Muslims do that every day. Chanting aphorisms to yourself? Hindus have done that for millennia. Taking long contemplative walks? Christian pilgrims have been doing that for centuries, too.”
André Spicer • Desperately Seeking Self-Improvement: A Year Inside the Optimization Movement
determination and blind commitment seemed like a good