a daily blog on well-being and how to feel better by Mark Barger Elliott…

In the New York Times yesterday were two articles about Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots football coach, who was fired. The articles offered two different titles and approaches. The first read, “Inside Bill Belichick’s Downfall After 24 Years and Six Titles.” The second was, “Why Bill Belichick Fit in So Well, for So Long, in New…

Yesterday I visited a favorite store in Brooklyn and discovered they were selling what are called About: Blanks, which are books that have been recycled, but in a unique way. This company takes old hardback covers and then inserts blank notebooks inside of them. In the store were maybe 50 of these notebooks and I…

In his book the Art of Stillness, travel writer Pico Iyer describes his journey to attempt to understand the attraction and power of choosing to be still. One of the people who helped Iyer was Leonard Cohen, who at the time was a monk living on the top of Mt. Baldy in California. A significant…

I’m enjoying reading Adam Grant’s new book Hidden Potential where he reflects on finding the sweet spot between “flawed and flawless.” Meaning, it’s important to recognize that human beings and our world are neither broken nor perfect. As an illustration he shares a legend about a young man who wanted to learn the Japanese tea…

Walker Evans is considered one of the most significant artists of the 20th century. His photos taken during the Great Depression (1929-1933) are found in permanent collections of museums. Reflecting on what he learned as an artist, Evans once said, “Die knowing something. You are not here long.” What are you learning right now? When…

“Desire is a projection outward that is proportionate to potential inward,” observes author Brianna Wiest. “There are so many possibilities within this world, so many things to hope for and to aspire to. There are so very many things one could want, and yet, it is a very specific vision that awakens you on the…