We seldom hear it and hardly know it was there at all until it stops. But sometimes we need help to flip the switch. This time twelve months ago, I decided I’d seek out a therapist. Not because I felt I was in turmoil, that I was anxious or depressed or otherwise at odds with […]
Writing
Welcome to the Writing category
Cyclical Time
Songs serve as a cosmic map for life experience. One song earlier today triggered 1989, 14 years old, down the lane on St. Philomena’s Road beside our school. The La’s were playing There She Goes in my head and I was smokin’ a Carroll’s No.1 with two classmates, painting my name in Tipex on the wall. I […]
The Pursuit of Happiness Part 3: Nine Factors That Impact Your Happiness
Welcome to part three of our exploration into the nature of happiness. In this article, we turn our attention to the psychology of happiness and findings by professor Peter Warr at the University of Sheffield. In his 2019 book of the same name, Warr draws on thousands of happiness and wellbeing studies to suggest nine primary environmental factors that impact your happiness. As we will see, many parallels can be drawn from the forthcoming with, for example…
The Pursuit of Happiness Part 2: The Focusing Illusion
The Focusing Illusion bias and how it impacts our judgement of perceived life happiness and wellbeing. In part two of our continued exploration into the nature and substance of happiness, we explore what cognitive psychologist Daniel Kahneman called The Focusing Illusion. The Focusing Illusion suggests that these things we think and believe are so important, […]
The Fool
You’re a fool no matter what. The moment you feel inflated by the apparent self-confidence or self-depreciation that possess you, you should know it to be true. All ambition, all notions of grandeur and importance, your status in the world, all feelings of worthlessness and objectification by others, the entire form and structure of your […]
The Pursuit of Happiness Part 1
An exploration into the phenomenon of happiness the dichotomous nature of the human condition. Over the next few weeks on Sunday Letters, we will explore the human pursuit of happiness, what it means, and whether or not we can indeed finally achieve it. We will examine its diametrical opposite, unhappiness, and try to understand how […]
Momentum: Help Or Hindrance?
“Go with the flow” is an invitation to jump in. That doesn’t mean the flow will be enjoyable–often it’s not. However, the invitation is always there. It’s momentum, and momentum seems to have direction in time and space, but this only appears so through linear analysis. Momentum is everywhere and always present, even when things […]