Blog
13
May
May
Dear Bibliotherapist
Dear Bibliotherapist,
Now that the sun is finally out and spring seems to be
bursting forth like pent-up religious fervour, I feel a huge
desire to start afresh, and turn myself into something new.
I’ve been treading water too long, unable to move on...
08
May
May
Mindfulness and Living a Busy Life
A few years ago I started consciously watching the first
thing that came to mind as I awoke each morning.
More often than not what would appear during those first few
hazy moments was “The List”. The curtains I must
remember to fix, the...
01
May
May
How would you really enjoy spending your life?
What would you do if money was no object? How would you
really enjoy spending your life? Watch this inspiring
short film narrated by the British philosopher Alan Watts on
the topic of defining your life by what you enjoy doing.
As he...
03
Apr
Apr
What's the good of running?
People run for different reasons. Health, appearance, social
opportunities, the temporary postponement of death, are all
fairly standard ones. What suddenly propelled me into a life
of running was the activities of some particularly rapacious
canines, who would eat my house and all of...
07
Mar
Mar
How To Be A Successful Optimist: The Final Principle
The final principle of successful optimists is easy to say
and hard to do. It is simply this: try to kick out your
cynicism.
It’s hard to do because cynicism has become embedded in
our society and is even held up as wisdom. But...
01
Mar
Mar
The Hunt for Happy
In December 1817, the poet John Keats, then twenty-two years
old, went to see the annual Christmas pantomime at the
Theatre Royal, in London’s Drury Lane. Also in attendance
was his friend, the critic Charles Wentworth Dilke, and as
they strolled home, the two...
11
Feb
Feb
How To Be A Successful Optimist: Principle No.7
The legendary computer engineer Howard H. Aitken once
advised, “Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas.
If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down
people’s throats.”
Successful optimists understand that the beginning of many
endeavours involves being told you’re mad, bad...
06
Feb
Feb
The pleasures and pains of solitariness
Increasingly we’re living and working by ourselves. How
should we prepare for the pleasures and pains of our greater
solitariness? The lone figures in the paintings by the 19th
Century Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershoi seem uncertain.
Does the solitary man or woman yearn for...
04
Feb
Feb
Ten Virtues for the Modern Age
The Virtues Project comes as a response to the wave of
discussion and feedback that followed the publication of my
book, Religion for Atheists, and a growing sense that being
virtuous has become a strange and depressing notion, while
wickedness and evil bask in a...
30
Jan
Jan
How To Be A Successful Optimist: Principle No.6
I am often asked to denounce religion. At about a third of
the public talks I give, someone will suggest that the root
cause of most of our problems is irrational religious belief
– and will invite me to agree with them. My...
30
Jan
Jan
How philosophy can help us think about illness and death
When meeting new people I often get asked what I do.
‘Philosophy?’, people sometimes say in
response, ‘it sounds very interesting but what do you do
with it?’. In some circles, philosophy is seen
as impractical, abstract, even useless. I think that the
opposite is...
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