Introduction What does it really mean to "wake up"?In Awareness, Anthony de Mello argues that much of human life is lived almost automatically. We inherit ideas about success, happiness, love, identity, religion, and even ourselves, then gradually forget that we inherited them. We begin treating our conditioning as reality.But some of de Mello's most … [Read more...] about Anthony de Mello’s Awareness: What Does It Really Mean?
psychology
Love As If You’ve Never Been Hurt: 25 Book Club Questions
Introduction What can a poem actually do when something in life cannot be fixed?That question lies at the center of this second exploration of Love As If You've Never Been Hurt, the anthology edited by Korean poet Ryu Si-hwa.In Part 1, we approached the collection through an imagined conversation about wounds, healing, love, mortality, and the challenge of … [Read more...] about Love As If You’ve Never Been Hurt: 25 Book Club Questions
The Correspondent Book Club Questions: Sybil & Psychology
Introduction What if the story you tell about yourself is true, but incomplete?In Part 1 of our exploration of Virginia Evans's The Correspondent, Sybil Van Antwerp confronted the people who know different versions of her. Fiona remembers the mother shaped by grief. Rosalie remembers an earlier Sybil. Harry discovers vulnerability beneath her fierce … [Read more...] about The Correspondent Book Club Questions: Sybil & Psychology
Theo of Golden Book Club Questions: Expert Discussion
Introduction What does it really mean to see another person?In Part 1, Theo of Golden gave us a beautiful answer through Theo's relationships with Asher, Ellen, Kendrick, Mateo, and the people of Golden. But some of the novel's most powerful ideas become more complicated when we examine them closely.Is Theo's ability to see people something psychology … [Read more...] about Theo of Golden Book Club Questions: Expert Discussion
Sense and Sensibility Analysis: Love, Emotion & Austen
Introduction More than two centuries after Jane Austen published Sense and Sensibility, the novel is returning to the cultural spotlight with a new film adaptation arriving in U.S. theaters on October 16, 2026.But Austen’s story offers far more than romance.Behind Elinor and Marianne Dashwood lies a series of questions that still feel remarkably modern:Does … [Read more...] about Sense and Sensibility Analysis: Love, Emotion & Austen
Sense and Sensibility: How Do We Know Love Is Real?
Introduction More than two centuries after Jane Austen published Sense and Sensibility, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood are returning to the cultural spotlight with a new film adaptation arriving in 2026.But what makes Austen’s novel worth returning to is not simply its romance.It is a question that feels remarkably modern:How do we know when love is … [Read more...] about Sense and Sensibility: How Do We Know Love Is Real?
Empty Nest Syndrome: 30 Questions Parents Ask
IntroductionWhen a child leaves home, parents often expect the house to become quieter.What they may not expect is how much of themselves seems to leave with that child.The empty bedroom is only the visible part.Underneath it can be grief, identity loss, changes in marriage, uncertainty about how often to call, fear of becoming unnecessary, and a question many … [Read more...] about Empty Nest Syndrome: 30 Questions Parents Ask
Joan of Arc: 5 Modern Stories About Faith and Courage
Introduction Joan of Arc’s story raises questions that still follow us more than six centuries after her death.How do we know when a calling is real? Does success prove that we are right? What do we owe the people whose sacrifices helped us succeed? When personal conscience clashes with institutional authority, who should yield? And what happens when the … [Read more...] about Joan of Arc: 5 Modern Stories About Faith and Courage
East of Eden: Does Timshel Still Make Sense Today?
Introduction What if the deepest question in East of Eden is not whether Cal is good or bad, but whether any of us can become more than what family, biology, pain, and history have already made us?That question feels especially timely in 2026 as the new East of Eden Netflix adaptation, created by Zoe Kazan and starring Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames, brings … [Read more...] about East of Eden: Does Timshel Still Make Sense Today?
Sayaka Murata Imaginary Friends: The Mystery Behind Her Inner World
Introduction Sayaka Murata has spent much of her life asking a question that refuses to settle into a simple answer:What is a human being beneath the roles, language, morality, fear, and expectations that shape us?Her fiction often begins by changing one rule of the world and then watching what people become inside it. She has described her creative process … [Read more...] about Sayaka Murata Imaginary Friends: The Mystery Behind Her Inner World