Our lives are intertwined, entangled like waves merging in the ocean. We see ourselves in others, in the world around us. The physical appearance of our parents, the traditions of our culture and unique intricacies of our closest friends all leave their mark on who we are, and who we become. The ‘I’, our ego, is porous and unbound. It is elusive and cannot be … Continue reading Book Review of The Waves by Virginia Woolf
We all love a good hero story. They supply us with inspiration and hope. Many follow a typical narrative structure that we have become familiar with. An individual, against all odds, overcomes immense trials and tribulations to achieve their goal. From ‘rags to riches’ stories to the spectacular feats performed by our favourite superheroes, these tales continue to be pervasive in our culture. But what … Continue reading Looking Underneath the Surface: A Review of George Eliot’s Middlemarch
I’ve written before on the downstream effects of small any seemingly insignificant acts of goodness. Through our deeply interconnected world, we can never fully appreciate how our actions will impact others and our broader communities. Recent research being done on the science of awe-inspiring moral behaviour has begun to validate some of these claims. In his latest book Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and … Continue reading Encouraging Goodness: How Moral Actions are ‘Awe-Inspiring’
It may seem cliché, but we are all born with a unique set of gifts. Each of us is distinct from one another with different genes, cultural upbringings and life experiences. Moreover, we all have our own interests, passions and value that we can offer the world. No one quite sees or interprets things like we do. Rather than inspiring authenticity and creativity, our education … Continue reading Unleashing Human Creativity: Education and the Revival of Human Imagination
A Flow State of Mind Continue reading A Jazz State of Mind: Entering the Flow State
Over the course of our lives many of us will have gotten into arguments with friends, family or loved ones which goes somewhat along the lines of: “You are not thinking, can you hear yourself? You need to stop being so hard headed and stubborn, and just listen to the facts. Can’t you just be a bit more reasonable!?” Notice how we are quick to … Continue reading Why We are Mostly Emotional, and Sometimes Rational
In To Have or to Be? the sociologist Erich Fromm argues that there are two distinct modes of existence. These are unique ways in which we relate to others and the world around us. Having The first is the ‘having mode.’ This is characterized by an attitude of acquiring or possessing things. It is when an individual defines themselves by what they have or own, … Continue reading Erich Fromm on Having Versus Being
Much of our suffering and psychological problems we face are due to the fact that we are using ancient cognitive machinery to deal with the complexities of the modern world. Humans evolved though a process called natural selection in which genes that were best suited for their respective environments were passed on to the next generation. As Robert Wright notes in his book Why Buddhism is … Continue reading Mindfulness and Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer
A field guide to wonder and awe Continue reading The Awesomeness of Awe
Scrolling down our various social media profiles may give us the impression that everyone that we know is having the time of their lives 24/7. Glowing smiles of newly formed relationships, exotic foods, sculpted flawless bodies all exemplify the perfection that they have achieved. One puts down their phone and is immediately filled with a sense of unease, envy and a punctured self-esteem. All this … Continue reading The Perils of Perfectionism and the Joy of Being Ordinary
