Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.

Paulo Coelho

In Paulo Coelho’s novel “The Alchemist,” readers meet a young boy who has fallen in love with “a woman of the desert.” But the boy is afraid to take action on his heart’s desire because he might get hurt in return. That’s understandable — many of us fear putting ourselves out there because it might not work out. But it’s important to remember that the fear is usually worse than any hurt you might experience. We can handle suffering, but when we are afraid we tend to underestimate our own strength. And of course, we may not be met with suffering after all, but we won't know until we muster the courage to go for what we want

Unequal societies produce higher rates of chronic stress, anxiety and depression as well as other pernicious effects in public health, education and social mobility. A fairer, more egalitarian society that nurtured human flourishing, and was built on care of its people and environment, would have little need for resilience and positivity mandates.

Focus on individual wellbeing doesn’t help

Write what makes you laugh. At least you'll get a laugh out of it.

Then a Hacker Began Posting Patients Deepest Secrets Online

Shu-Yi Oei (Boston College; Google Scholar) & Diane M. Ring (Boston College; Google Scholar), 'Slack' in the Data Age, 73 Ala. L. Rev. ___ (2021):

This Article examines how increasingly ubiquitous data and information affect the role of “slack” in the law. Slack is the informal latitude to break the law without sanction. Pockets of slack exist for various reasons, including information imperfections, enforcement resource constraints, deliberate nonenforcement of problematic laws, politics, biases, and luck. Slack is important in allowing flexibility and forbearance in the legal system, but it also risks enabling selective and uneven enforcement. Increasingly available data is now upending slack, causing it to contract and exacerbating the risks of unfair enforcement.

“An urban language map. Welcome to Languages of New York City, a free and interactive digital map of the world’s most linguistically diverse metropolitan area. All data, unless otherwise specified, is from the Endangered Language Alliance (ELA), based on information from communities, speakers, and other sources. The map is a work in progress and a partial snapshot, focused on significant sites for Indigenous, minority, and endangered languages. Larger languages are represented selectively. To protect the privacy of speakers, some locations are slightly altered. Social media users, note that LANGUAGEMAP.NYC works best in a separate browser. This map was created by the Mapping Linguistic Diversity team, with core support from the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies and the Endangered Language Alliance…”

His early life was marked as much by tragedy as poverty. His father died of a heart attack, his brother drowned, and his sister died of a brain haemorrhage. In his introduction to Requiem for the Timeless, he wrote of “what was left of my death-ravaged family”.

Johnny Rogan, one of the best biographers, has passed away.