Over at The High Calling, they’re having a discussion about beauty and wonder in the workplace. Here’s two pieces worth reading. First, Charity Singleton Craig looks at “creating beauty in the workplace” — and how it’s everyone’s job. She provides dozens of links to articles on the subject from The High Calling and around the web. While brightly painted walls or sleek, modern furniture might lighten our mood and inspire creativity, investing in the people we work with, helping them... Read more
We often think of the “selfie” (the practice of taking self-portraits and posting them to the Internet on social media like Facebook and Instagram) as a sort of postmodern phenomenon for teenagers. But over at the Paris Review blog, Tara Isabella Burton suggests that the origins of the selfie can be traced to nineteenth-century dandyism — and that there’s always been spiritual consequences: Here, the dandyist obsession with the freedom to fashion one’s own identity is taken to the extreme. Every... Read more
In an in-class discussion with my students a few weeks ago, I was startled to discover that many, if not most of them had been prescribed medication (often short-term) for anxiety or depression, or both. It seems it’s common now. We had a fruitful discussion about whether we were prescribing medication more, or whether there were cultural reasons that we actually experienced more anxiety as a society. So I read this beautiful piece by my friend Dyana Herron at Art House... Read more
I know happiness itself is a much-debated topic in Christian circles (should we seek happiness or joy? and so on). But I did find this article on “seven habits of incredibly happy people” very interesting: 5. Embrace Discomfort for Mastery Happy people generally have something known as a “signature strength” — At least one thing they’ve become proficient at, even if the learning process made them uncomfortable. Research has suggested that mastering a skill may be just as stressful as you... Read more
Writers are, apparently, the worst procrastinators, though they’re hardly the only ones. Procrastination is a widespread practice. (You’ve probably already procrastinated today.) Megan McArdle is looking at the surprising psychological reasons for procrastination at The Atlantic, through the lens of writers: This teaches a very bad, very false lesson: that success in work mostly depends on natural talent. Unfortunately, when you are a professional writer, you are competing with all the other kids who were at the top of their English... Read more
I love Goodreads. I’ve been using the site for years – maybe five or more – to track my reading, which means I have lists of books I read, reviewed, studied, or taught that I can refer to easily. And I’ve used the site to find new books to read. Goodreads got even more successful in 2013 after being bought by Amazon, and The Atlantic has an interview with the founders: . . . Goodreads has built, in my opinion, an amazing... Read more
This feels timely, for a Monday. Over at The High Calling, Leslie Leyland Fields reflects on the ingredient that can make all the difference at work: love. This is our winter work this year, building a house on a wilderness island in Alaska where no one has lived for 30 years. Now there are two. We’ll work day and night, racing to get the house erected and livable by the next commercial salmon season. All our supplies come by boat.... Read more
Over at The High Calling, Jen Sandbuite asks a provocative question: why is it considered pride to ask for prayer that you’ll succeed in your work? I don’t know about you, but I feel like I am conditioned to “respond in prayer.” Praying for the women in my online study seems natural. I dream of a day when I am naturally proactive in my prayers; a day when the concept of the church praying for business success isn’t beyond our paradigm.... Read more
Here’s something interesting that I hadn’t thought about: the importance of villages, not just cities, to a culture. This comes up because China, apparently, is losing its villages at an exponential rate, as people move from farm to city – a loss of about 300 villages a day between 2000 and 2010: Why are villages so important? What makes them distinct and culturally significant compared to cities? Villages support subsidiarity and diversity, whereas cities usually promote mass movement and centralization. Of course,... Read more
Calling educators, parents, and art-lovers: Getty Publication’s virtual library is making 250 virtual art books available for free online: The free collection includes titles from the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Getty Conservation Institute, and the Getty Research Institute. The collection includes books on Cezanne, Rubens & Brueghel, as well as titles on ancient metals and urushi, Japanese wood lacquer. This might be of special interest to those of us who are interested in how stories of our faith have been... Read more
Mark D. Roberts
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