Relationships
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The Dilemma of Social Comparison
Social comparison is not a shameful indulgence, but a human instinct – and a tool for understanding ourselves better.
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The Awful Nearness of Marriage
“Marriage is so unlike anything else. There is something even awful in the nearness it brings.” These words are from Dorothea Brooke, the protagonist of Middlemarch, and I agree with her. Marriage is like nothing else. It will either make you or break you. There’s not much room in between. Why do we enter into…
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A Useful Life Is a Happy Life
The true joy in life is not in focusing on yourself, but in being used for a mighty purpose.
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Is Family Life at Odds with a Philosophical Life?
Most of the household names in Western philosophy weren’t married. Is a contemplative life more important than family life, or is this a false choice?
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Love, Work, and the Need to Know Yourself
Freud once said that “love and work” is the key to being a complete person. But what does that look like for each of us?
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You Should Not Be Careful Who You Love
“You should care about things in a way that makes it a possibility that tragedy will happen to you.”
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The 5 Traits of Enduring Friendships
There are five distinct traits I’ve learned are common across enduring friendships and most people seem to be unaware of them.
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The Lost Art of Radical Attention
“Attention” is in short supply these days. According to one researcher, in just twelve years we’ve gone from being able to focus on a task for two and a half minutes to a mere 40 seconds. Our modern world is flooded with ads, apps, endless infotainment, and “bite-sized” everything you can think of. On a…
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The “Unnecessity” of Friendship
Close, sustaining friendships aren’t just a nice “bonus” in life. They help us reach goals, laugh more, and live longer.
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How to Reconnect with Old Friends
If we want to overcome our shyness in reaching out to old friends, it helps to understand what makes us so shy in the first place.
