Loss

Growth

Entropy and Life

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 16 2023

There is a long list of questions that people ask that show a genuine misunderstanding of how life exists in the universe—or, if they do understand it, an unwillingness to accept this law of physics. Questions include: The most common manifestation of this in modern times is when people look around, see someone better off than them, and then...

Read More
Happiness

Someone Else Is to Blame. So What?

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, March 15 2023

Blaming others is the fastest, easiest way to avoid responsibility. We all know what it is like for someone to wrong us and for that person to be the reason why we are having a problem. And, if possible, we can try to respond, retaliate, or hold the person accountable. But, there's another side to this, which is what you do afterwards and whether...

Read More
Ethics

Trade-Offs

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, February 22 2023

Note: Contentious topics are used for illustrative purposes only; I am not advocating for you to take any specific ethical position. "There are no solutions; there are only trade-offs," is a famous saying about economics and economic policy. It acknowledges the reality that there are benefits and drawbacks to anything in life. Small creatures are...

Read More
Happiness

Life Is Not a Zero-Sum Game

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, November 9 2022

Life is all about growth, but we live in a world with a near-incalculable (i.e., how many bottom of the ocean?) number of organisms on it, all competing for growth-enabling resources.  Trees compete for sunlight, animals compete over food and water, and some animals have to eat others to survive.  Naturally, it would seem that the fight-for-your-li...

Read More
Growth

Your Failures Aren't a Waste

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 24 2022

Do you remember your first steps? (Probably not) Do you remember someone else’s first steps, such as a child’s?  In either case, there was a lot of failure involved in the process.  Maybe the child wasn’t strong enough yet, or maybe they fell a bunch of times.  Maybe they were scared.  Yet no one remembers that nor points to their failures while le...

Read More
Suffering

Life Sucks, and Then You Die (Not)

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, February 23 2022

When you’re feeling cynical, miserable, or pessimistic, you are likely to say words to this effect: “Life sucks, and then you die.”  What causes this?  Well, all life situations are a result of nature and nurture: so some of your life outlook is built in your genetics, and some of it comes as a result of your life experiences.

Read More
Purpose

Be Like an Ant

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, October 13 2021

Setbacks can hit your psyche pretty hard.  Major losses involve mourning and recovery processes.  New roadblocks require resilience and new strategies.  When success requires desire and belief, evidence to the contrary of your progress toward your goals can be difficult to look past so that you can retain your will to carry on.

Read More
Suffering

The (Seeming) Paradox of Impermanence

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, August 25 2021

“The only constant is change.”  You’ve heard the saying before, usually when something great is coming to an end.  It’s often a harsh reminder that no matter what you do, there will always be more to do and always be entropy slowly eroding the progress you make in this world.  At the same time, many people today can’t even handle 5 minutes without...

Read More
Suffering

What to Do If You Don’t Want Anything in Life

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, July 7 2021

When you can’t feel anything other than depression, loneliness, isolation, dread, or emptiness, getting back to normal can require a monumental amount of willpower and effort to push through the resistance and lack of motivation.  Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet or perfect solution to the problem because there are several different causes...

Read More
Suffering

The Stock Market of Life: It Has Its Ups and Downs but Trends Upwards

Nathanael Garrett Novosel, June 16 2021

Life is getting more grim, right?  Climate change, fascism, a global pandemic, social unrest, terrorism, potential wars of the cold, nuclear, and civil kind, flattening of lifespans and homeownership levels…it seems like every day there is a reason to be pessimistic.  But of course that’s absolutely absurd to think that’s an objective assessment....

Read More
Next