Thought provoking

“if we can recognise that change and uncertainty are basic principles,” as the futurist and environmentalist Hazel Henderson put it, “we can greet the future… with the understanding that we do not know enough to be pessimistic .” You can take a crisis very seriously indeed without fooling yourself that you know the worst outcome is certain.

As the great Elizabeth Gilbert puts it: “You are afraid of surrender because you don’t want to lose control. But you never had control; all you had was anxiety.”

You never had control; all you had was anxiety. And when you let go of that, even a little bit, what you’re left with is one of the most powerful reasons imaginable for taking any action that feels as though it might make life more meaningful or vibrant, which is that frankly, at the end of the day, you might as well.

In Four Thousand Weeks I explored the fascinating work of the art historian Jennifer Roberts, and carried out her exercise of looking at a single painting for three hours straight, so as to experience the truth that really seeing a painting is an undertaking that just takes the time it takes.