When I watch TV programmes like Tribes on the BBC or read books such as Don’t Sleep There Are Snakes by linguist Daniel Everett about the Pirahã tribe in the Amazon jungle. There always a feeling of emptiness I get. These stories of researchers living among such closely knit communities makes me envious that I don’t […]
Psychobabble book review
I don’t believe that reading self-help books is a bad idea. Yet the reputation of the self-help industry and its ideas is tarnished and deservedly so. Some of what we believe about ourselves and how we function comes across as pseudoscience nonsense in a new age of woo. We fail to do the necessary due […]
There’s nothing wrong with you (probably) – Self worth and why it matters
One of the biggest causes of my social anxiety and depressed feelings is the thought that I’m somehow flawed in a fundamental way. This low self-worth (which I think is one of the four horsemen) is the basis of my fear, anxiety and why I hold myself back. So many of us are afraid of […]
Loneliness by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick: Book Review
A brief review of the book Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick. This book is an eye-opener when I first read it, now I’m rereading it again for the review and it’s still is. It’s full of useful information about the problem of loneliness and why […]
Demons in the room. Suffering in isolation
I spend so much time on my own either at work or at home. So that when my mind becomes beset with troubles they take on a life of their own. My suffering becomes worse as negative thoughts, fears, and emotions all are magnified when I’m isolated from others. My imagination runs amok and what […]
The most powerful force in your world
Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox. The Dhammapada Verse 1. We tend to think that the most powerful forces are either those of technology (perhaps […]