Alain de Botton's Atheism 2.0

If you had the chance to look into my past, it might not be obvious that I would consider myself an atheist as I got older. I spent 7 years in the catholic school system (prayer's in the morning and all) and was forced to 8:45 Sunday mass by my mother every week. However, by the time I was 16 - through a form of teenage rebellion - I became very farm removed from the Catholic Church.

Now that I'm in my mid-20's, I've started to feel a need for something more in my life. Some sort of structure that doesn't revolve around a career.

I spent some time in a Presbyterian church and learned that the minister could marry and have children..who knew?! It was so great to listen to his sermon about life and death and relationships. He was able to experience life the same way I was so I felt more of a connection.

I dabbled in some Buddhist teachings and began to truly understand the reasoning for suffering in life and what it means to truly be compassionate.  Meditation and yoga were new past times.

However, there was always one problem - the supernatural.

In walks Alain, de Botton, considered to be the philosopher of the everyday life, with a new perspective on religion and atheism. 

He argues that as an atheist we don't have to disregard all aspects of religion, but borrow bits and pieces. de Botton's ability to put to words to exactly what you're thinking, or feeling is truly extraordinary. Take a look at this inspiring TED talk that just might restore your faith (no pun intended) in atheism.

 I believe in being kind

I believe in always expanding your mind

I believe in the power of the sea

I believe in reading the Sunday paper

I believe in taking care of the earth

I believe in spending time with yourself

I believe in questioning

I believe in taking care of your body 

I believe in walking barefoot 

There may not be a religion that compiles all my beliefs exactly, but that's ok. I'm on the path to self-knowledge and at twenty-four, that's all that matters to me.

For more about Alain de Botton, visit his website here. To purchase "Religion for Atheist", click here.

...but trust me on the sunscreen

Although probably well overdone, "Advice, like youth, probably wasted on the young." by Mary Schmich is an article every young adult should read. Many of these "how to live your life while you're still young" articles, go on and on and repeat themselves so much as if the writer didn't even think to edit, just rambled. Schmich, is precise, to the point and throws in a bit of humor. Bravo.

Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young

 Mary Schmich

June 1, 1997 

Inside every adult lurks a graduation speaker dying to get out, some world-weary pundit eager to pontificate on life to young people who'd rather be Rollerblading. Most of us, alas, will never be invited to sow our words of wisdom among an audience of caps and gowns, but there's no reason we can't entertain ourselves by composing a Guide to Life for Graduates.

I encourage anyone over 26 to try this and thank you for indulging my attempt.Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC

Twenty-Five(ish)

This is a quote from an article titled, "What to Know at 25(ish)", by Shauna Nequist found on A well traveled woman. I was so happy to read this quote/article because it was another way for me to feel secure with the decision I made at 24: leave the job I was unhappy with and for the first time realize that I have time to figure it all out. The next few years will be spent reading, traveling, being inspired, cooking, learning and doing all things that my heart desires.

Don’t get stuck. Move, travel, take a class, take a risk. There is a season for wildness and a season for settledness, and this is neither. This season is about becoming. Don’t lose yourself at happy hour, but don’t lose yourself on the corporate ladder either. Stop every once in a while and go out to coffee or climb in bed with your journal. Now is your time. Walk closely with people you love. Don’t get stuck in the past, and don’t try to fast-forward yourself into a future you haven’t yet earned. Give today all the love and intensity and courage you can, and keep travelling honestly along life’s path

One Wild & Precious Life

The Summer Day

by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Jane Goodall: Roots & Shoots & Change

During my most recent trip to Whole Foods, I came across this magazine, Shambhala Sun, while I was checking out. I decided to pick it up because I was craving some form of spiritual reading. It turns out that I picked up one of todays best-selling and widely-read Buddhist magazine. The July 2013 issue's main focus was on "Your Body", which fell right into place with journey that I'm embarking on in life; truly learning to be in touch with my body both physically, and mentally.

While flipping through the pages I stopped at a Q&A with Jane Goodall, best known for her extensive work with chimpanzees and for being a pioneer of environmental conservation and animal welfare issues. In "For Love of Nature," author Andrea Miller starts off by asking Goodall how she maintains hope. She answered with a beautiful explanation as to why her youth program is called Roots and Shoots.

"My reason for hope is - first of all - my youth program, Roots and Shoots. This is the way I explain why it's called that: children are like plants. They start out as a tiny seed. Then wee roots and shoots appear. They're weak at first, but the power within the seed is so magical that the little roots reach water and the little shoots reach the sun. Eventually, they can push rocks aside and work through cracks in a brick wall. They can even knock a wall down. The rocks and the walls are the problems we've inflicted on the planet - environmental and social - but roots and shoots surround the world. Plants can change the world; they can undo a spot of the damage we've created. And young people are definitely going to change the world" 

While I may not be a child, I am still young and can relate to this description of growing and overcoming obstacles. I think it's important in life that as we get older we still embrace the thinking of a child; the world is theirs and nothing is impossible! Unfortunately today, some people have the attitude that their one little contribution won't make a difference. Later on in the article, Goodall makes an argument as to why individuals shouldn't believe this.

"The big problem today is that so many people feel insignificant. They feel that the problems facing the world are so huge that there's nothing they can do, so they do nothing. And as an individual maybe there really isn't that much, but when you get thousands, and then millions of individuals all doing the best they can every day for the environment and for other beings, then you get huge change" 

So, take a step back and think about what changes you'd wish to see in the world except this time, don't feel discouraged. Find a group or a foundation who shares the same beliefs and volunteer. As Jane ends the article, "It's all a question of how you go about trying to create change."

For more information about Jane Goodall and the Jane Goodall Institute, check out www.janegoodall.org.