Contentment
Source: Lie Studio
A significant source of discontent is not staying true to your nature. How satisfying would life be if you could just be yourself?
Ideas
The secret to satisfaction has nothing to do with achievement, money, or stuff. (The Atlantic)
Nothing is as desired as much as the thing you want but can’t have. (Collab Fund)
The ways we socialize and date, commute and work are nearly unrecognizable from what they were three years ago. (The Cut)
Articles
How to Know if You Want to Be a Parent (Psyche)
Set aside everyone else’s preconceptions. Then try doing these counterintuitive exercises to understand your own desires.
The Cure for Workaholism is Philosophy (The Idler)
A cognitive scientist discusses the culture of workaholism and the psychiatric conditions it can lead to. Finding pleasure in thought rather than action, can treat this dangerous addiction.
Everything You Need to Know About Minimalist Interior Design (Architectural Digest)
Often seen as a resistance to excess, there’s more to this aesthetic than white walls and near-bare rooms.
Quotes
One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art. — Oscar Wilde
If you are lonely when you are alone, you are in bad company. — Jean-Paul Sartre
Your own thoughts are not really your own thoughts. Everything you think is a product of the people you meet and the experiences you’ve had, both of which are largely outside of your control. — Robert Shiller
Images
Books
The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction
Jamie Kreiner, a historian at the University of Georgia, offers this captivating study of pre-modern monastic life as a counterpoint to conventional wisdom, which considers problems with focus a digital-age blight. Even in desert caves or atop high pillars, monks, it turns out, struggled mightily to tune out worldly stimuli.
The Book of Leaves: A Leaf-by-Leaf Guide to Six Hundred of the World’s Great Trees
In this lavishly illustrated volume, the trees that have enriched our lives finally get their full due, through a focus on the humble leaves that serve, in a sense, as their public face. The Book of Leaves offers a visually stunning and scientifically engaging guide to six hundred of the most impressive and beautiful leaves from around the world.
Feline Philosophy: Cats and the Meaning of Life
Philosopher John Gray discovers in cats a way of living that is unburdened by anxiety and self-consciousness, showing how they embody answers to the big questions of love and attachment, mortality, morality, and the Self.
