There is an interesting article in Slate Magazine today about an English group called the School of Life, which offers “meticulously art directed” classes that include learning the arts of conversation and how to live one’s life–and even to work–in a manner that is more creative, literate and fulfilling.
So many therapies and workshops aim simply at “healing” and making one functional. It is encouraging, then, to read about classes that focus on making life more rich and dense with creativity, culture, and thought.
There is a certain amount of pain, suffering, and misery that is intrinsic to life (which inevitably involves sickness, loss, and death). But it is life’s rich pleasures that sit on the other side of the scale making life worth the experience.
In seeking out the practices that enrich life, we should aim at adopting not only techniques that are simple and effective, but also those that hold the most meaning, the deepest wealth of ideas, the most color and beauty.