Brenna
-
Why I Stopped Making “To-Do” Lists for My Life
Our desire to create life “to do” lists help us do more than we might otherwise, but it is ultimately rooted in anxiety.
-
We All Need a Room of Our Own
To flourish and grow intellectually we need a physical sanctuary we can return to again and again whenever we’re weary.
-
The Good Fortress: On Finding Inward Freedom
Freedom and safety. These are two keys to a flourishing life, yet a tension exists between them. We see this at the public level all the time: Should people be allowed to do X? If so, when and how much? And how should we protect them from Y? What’s less obvious but just as important
-
“Gratuitous Gratitude”: Is It Possible to Be Too Thankful?
I find gratitude surprisingly confusing. It’s been described as a duty, an emotion, a mindset – whatever you call it, the research supporting its effectiveness is overwhelming. But beyond therapeutic solutions like gratitude journals and saying “thank you”, there is a vexing question: how do you reconcile being grateful with being detached from anything beyond
-
The False Choice Between Work and Fun
One of the most misunderstood words in existence is “happiness.” Not far behind that is the word “work.” Most of us, young or old, define work as something you do in exchange for money. This is only partly true. Because so many of us dislike or merely tolerate our jobs, we view work as a
-
The Vampire Problem: How to Make Big Choices When You Can’t See the Future
How do we make big life choices when we don’t know the outcome? One solution is to decide based on “how you want to discover you will become.”
-
The Dilemma of Social Comparison
Social comparison is not a shameful indulgence, but a human instinct – and a tool for understanding ourselves better.
-
Bitter Grapes: How Do We Know What We Really Want?
As a kid, I read Aesop’s fables. I found most of them depressing, but there is one story that sticks out in my memory: the tale of the fox and the grapes. You’re probably familiar with it, but here’s a summary just in case: A hungry fox one day notices some delicious-looking grapes hanging overhead.
-
The Strange and Comforting Power of Memory
Not only do our memories have the power to be a joy and a comfort to us, they help form our identity, and they are safe from ever being lost.
-
Why Solitude Is a Skill
Solitude, far from being the same thing as loneliness, is a skill we must cultivate if we’re to mentally thrive.
