What I’m Reading: Stumbling on Happiness – Daniel Gilbert

It took me a long time to come around to reading this book. Eventually, so many people I respect and look up to recommend it that I had to give it a shot. I’m glad I did. One you forgive the self-help-y title, this book is a fascinating dive into the psychology of happiness. A lot of Gilbert’s arguments have wormed their way into how I think about my everyday life. I’m interested to see how they play out in the long term,

What I’m Struggling With: Health vs. Habits

I’ve been on a roll lately. I’ve been healthy, mindful, and have spent a lot of time on my intellectual and artistic pursuits. But this week, for the first time in a long time, I got sick. The things I’d been doing every day for the last six months ground to a halt. Priority one for me was to try and maintain as much of my day to day life as I could. But the hardest part is putting your health against your habits. It’s hard not to feel guilty when you need to take a step back. At some point, we need to remind ourselves that we are playing the long game. A break when we need can be even more important than the work we put in.

The Quote I’m Thinking About: “In an infinite sea of possible beliefs, evidence is the only life preserver we’ve got.” – Mark Manson

I love two things about this quote. The first is the acknowledgment that the conflicts we deal with are wholly based on belief, not facts. This perspective is something that often gets overlooked and forgotten in the shoot-from-the-hip arguments on social media. Secondly, that those facts are not tools for our discussions, but something substantial to hold onto in the rush of those beliefs. Too often, we jump to using facts and data as our weapon of choice. But today’s conflicts are that of belief, and no armor is more equipped to dull facts than belief. The importance of evidence lies not in its lethal potential, but in how we use it to tell a story. When told in the right way, a story can encapsulate any belief, turning that evidence into a movement and an epidemic of change.