Thoughtful living

the sense of fighting against time, the sense of being hounded by or oppressed by time — that is a very modern thing.

I think it’s a thing that people in the medieval period, for example, just wouldn’t have had to trouble with. This specific sense of racing against time — of trying to get on top of our lives and in control — and to make this the yea... See more

Do we really need to say that the only viable way for making a difference in the world has to be from this place of deficit? Do we all have to be what psychologists call “insecure overachievers” who are doing lots of things in the world but doing them fundamentally to fill a void or plug a hole?

So where I’m headed with all of this is to try to salv... See more

if someone wants to live an aesthetic life, then engaging with thought-provoking art can be transformative for them, compared to someone who isn’t interested in these values. It also matters how reflective the person is. Self-reflection might be what binds experiences together to make them count toward a well-lived life. When we deeply reflect on o... See more

Burkeman’s question is really the reverse: What if rather than starting from the presumption that it can all be brought under control, you began with the presumption that it can’t be? What if you began with a deeper appreciation of your own limits? How then would you live?

Creativity is not efficient . What is efficient is enjoying your creative process.

I think there’s a certain kind of clichéd version of memento mori in the culture that says that life is very short, so you’ve therefore got to cram every minute of every day with being as impressive or unusual or generally high-octane as you possibly can.

And I don’t think that’s the point. I think the point is that when you really begin to let it p... See more

Frankl states that life involves three inevitable kinds of tragedy, the ‘tragic triad’:

1. Pain and suffering,


2. Guilt, because we are free to make choices in our lives, and are responsible for the impact of those choices, and


3. Death, and knowing that our life is transient.

He says that it is hard to find meaning in the face of such tragedy, but that if we d... See more

I mentioned the idea of “moving toward or away,” a concept from ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), and this week I want to explore this concept in more depth and how this framework has been supportive in my own life.

What I like about this framework is that it’s fundamentally de-pathologizing. It doesn’t treat behaviors as universally “good” ... See more

The other meaning of happiness is ‘a rich, full and meaningful life’. When we take action on the things that truly matter deep in our hearts, when we move in directions that we consider valuable and worthy, when we clarify what we stand for in life and act accordingly, then our lives become rich and full and meaningful, and we experience a powerful

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