The Search for Meaning and Happiness in Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace

By: A. Arcuri
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One of my projects during quarantine was reading War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It’s a hefty novel, my translation running around 1,200 pages.  I read it relatively fast because I didn’t want to keep forgetting the numerous characters and multiple nicknames for each character.  I must have referred to the character list at the…

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Don’t Look for God in A Story

By: A. Arcuri
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I found myself startled  in the 20th chapter, of Yuval Noah Harari’s book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century.  The chapter was titled “Meaning”, and in it, Harari explains the human tendency to create meaning through stories and how this kind of thinking is flawed.  He begins with the fact that we are story-telling animals…

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3 Affirmations to Encourage Outrageous Openness to the Divine

By: A. Arcuri
Book Wisdom, Spiritual Practices, Leave a Comment on 3 Affirmations to Encourage Outrageous Openness to the Divine

I tend to be over-serious about my spirituality, an introverted contemplative that keeps my spiritual life to myself.  Tosha Silver, author of Outrageous Openness, on the other hand, is so “outrageously open”, as she describes it, that I felt suddenly liberated and free to “bother” God with finding a good parking spot, painting just the…

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Stop being Holy and Other Taoist Wisdom

By: A. Arcuri
Book Wisdom, Mindfulness, Personal DevelopmentLeave a Comment on Stop being Holy and Other Taoist Wisdom

I remember feeling particularly disgusted with myself one day, reprimanding myself for not fostering children, not volunteering at the school, not participating in the neighborhood association, not being charitable enough.  Serendipitously, this Taoist text showed up in my life that very day. It read:    Stop being holy, forget being prudent It’ll be a hundred…

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7 Types of Hunger: How to Practice Mindful Eating

By: A. Arcuri
Book Wisdom, Mindfulness, Spiritual Practices2 Comments on 7 Types of Hunger: How to Practice Mindful Eating

Who’s hungry in there?  You just had a delicious lunch and you’re feeling full and happy, but then you smell your kid’s french fries that they’re still working on, so you snatch a few and start munching.  That’s nose hunger.  Or maybe you’re trying to save your appetite for the dinner party at your friend’s…

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