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Flourish: The Extraordinary Journey Into Finding Your Best Self
What is a meaningful life? What does it mean to flourish?
Antonia Case, the co-founder of New Philosopher and Womankind magazines, quits her corporate job in the city and, with her partner, travels across the world in search of meaning. In a quest to find answers, she turns off the soundtrack of the media, rids herself of technology, and with little more than books as carry-on luggage, she journeys from Buenos Aires to Paris, from Barcelona to Byron Bay, seeking guidance from ancient philosophers and modern-day psychologists on what is a good life, and what is a life worth living. Along the way she discovers why winning the lottery doesn't make you happy, why making is better than having, and how love and belonging are vital to our sense of selves.
Packed with insight into life's big questions, Flourish will take you on a riveting journey in search of what matters most.
Antonia Case, the co-founder of New Philosopher and Womankind magazines, quits her corporate job in the city and, with her partner, travels across the world in search of meaning. In a quest to find answers, she turns off the soundtrack of the media, rids herself of technology, and with little more than books as carry-on luggage, she journeys from Buenos Aires to Paris, from Barcelona to Byron Bay, seeking guidance from ancient philosophers and modern-day psychologists on what is a good life, and what is a life worth living. Along the way she discovers why winning the lottery doesn't make you happy, why making is better than having, and how love and belonging are vital to our sense of selves.
Packed with insight into life's big questions, Flourish will take you on a riveting journey in search of what matters most.
289 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 11, 2023
24 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 4, 2024
I picked up a copy of Womankind magazine years ago (before you had to order online) and it was so unlike any other magazine I'd read. So I've been dying to read this book by co-founder, Antonia Case, since I read it was being published.
The book doesn't reveal the meaning of life (damn!) But it handily does the hard work for you in collating experiences, philosophy and scientific and other studies from around the world. Some of what you read is contradictory, but different things work for different people and you can take what works for you.
The backdrop is a travel story, which broke the book up for me nicely.
There were some thoughts that I wanted to keep...
(On flourishing)
"To flourish, suggests the philosopher , we need to unchain ourselves from the opinion of others and the fear of standing out. We must conquer laziness and set forth on a journey to find our true genius."
"what recurrent ideas or dreams have you had in your life? ... What is on your to-do list year after year after year? What inspires you most in books or films? ... Follow your bliss."
"engage in purposeful purposelessness... cultivating a good leisure ethic is something we should all be working at."
"A person who wanders aimlessly through a city with no set agenda, other than to observe, is called a flâneur in French. Interestingly, there is no English equivalent."
"... Flourish is not tangible - it's not a dream house or dream life somewhere in the future; rather, it's our habits and activities and mindset day to day."
"To flourish is to struggle to become your ideal self, always shifting, growing, failing, coming up behind obstacles and veering down some unknown street."
(On learning a new language)
"... would we slowly become the people we were before, just replacing... English words with the Spanish equivalents? Or would our old selves die, never to resurface in our newfound lexicon? I've heard that, often, people who stutter do not stutter in another tongue. So perhaps we, too, would find a new voice, new thoughts, a new self."
(On goals and change)
"As we project into the future, we base our projections on the person we are today - but this isn't necessarily the best course of action. Just hark back ten years to the person you were - your clothes, your hobbies, your eating preferences, where you were living, your friends, your favourite weekend activities, and so on - and you can safely project a similar barrage of change, if not more, in the coming years."
"Few will list 'to become a better person' on their goal-setting sheet...
If we must set goals, then studies suggest we should set modest goals that are easily achieved, because small achievements are motivating...
Interestingly, students who pursued materialistic goals... tracked absolutely no gains in happiness after progressing towards these goals...
Removing the goal on the horizon means we're forced to confront the countryside we're passing through rather than musing about some distant vista..."
" 'Every morning we rise to find two gremlins at the foot of the bed'... The first threat is fear, identified by that consistent voice in your head stressing that the world is too big for you... And the second... is lethargy... 'Hey, chill out. You've had a hard day. Turn on the telly, surf the internet, have some chocolate. Tomorrow's another day.'"
"What can you do with your life right now to make it better? Marathons and overseas jaunts are great, and it is certainly nice to dream, but is there something you've been putting off that's at your fingertips right now, that could change your life for the better? This approach makes us turn to face the life we live and say: If this is it, if this is all I've got to work with, then how can I 'make it work'?"
"you write one word of a poem... you learn one foreign word. When an action is so small it's laughable, the brain does not go into self-protective lockdown mode... As your small steps continue and your cortex starts working, the brain begins to create 'software' for your desired change, actually laying down new nerve pathways and building new habits. Soon, your resistance to change begins to weaken."
(On winning the lottery and material items)
" Brickman and his colleagues uncovered that lottery winners were actually no happier than people in the study's control group... According to adaptation-level theory, a stroke of good fortune, like winning the lottery, brings on such a spike in momentary happiness that everyday events in the proceeding years will feel a tad dull in comparison... in other words, we become accustomed or used to something, whatever it is."
"His verdict about winning the lottery was that 'it doesn't make you any happier, it just makes life easier'."
"...while respondents indeed owned more items ... they also desired more items on the list ... They were two and a half items short - eternally, so it appears."
(Author's conclusion)
"... to flourish is an ongoing process of growth where sometimes you fall back upon yourself, but then you pick up the pieces and move forward again.
Whatever you might think, 'flourish' is not a massive bank balance, nor is it a shiny black car or a house that's fancier then your neighbour's. Flourish is not fame, which requires the acknowledged consent of others. Instead, it is a personal journey that doesn't require other people's approval. At the final hour, it's not glittering objects or piles of money that you'll turn to - it's memories, journeys, friendships, love, and the knowledge that you've forged your own path, wherever it may have led you."
The book doesn't reveal the meaning of life (damn!) But it handily does the hard work for you in collating experiences, philosophy and scientific and other studies from around the world. Some of what you read is contradictory, but different things work for different people and you can take what works for you.
The backdrop is a travel story, which broke the book up for me nicely.
There were some thoughts that I wanted to keep...
(On flourishing)
"To flourish, suggests the philosopher , we need to unchain ourselves from the opinion of others and the fear of standing out. We must conquer laziness and set forth on a journey to find our true genius."
"what recurrent ideas or dreams have you had in your life? ... What is on your to-do list year after year after year? What inspires you most in books or films? ... Follow your bliss."
"engage in purposeful purposelessness... cultivating a good leisure ethic is something we should all be working at."
"A person who wanders aimlessly through a city with no set agenda, other than to observe, is called a flâneur in French. Interestingly, there is no English equivalent."
"... Flourish is not tangible - it's not a dream house or dream life somewhere in the future; rather, it's our habits and activities and mindset day to day."
"To flourish is to struggle to become your ideal self, always shifting, growing, failing, coming up behind obstacles and veering down some unknown street."
(On learning a new language)
"... would we slowly become the people we were before, just replacing... English words with the Spanish equivalents? Or would our old selves die, never to resurface in our newfound lexicon? I've heard that, often, people who stutter do not stutter in another tongue. So perhaps we, too, would find a new voice, new thoughts, a new self."
(On goals and change)
"As we project into the future, we base our projections on the person we are today - but this isn't necessarily the best course of action. Just hark back ten years to the person you were - your clothes, your hobbies, your eating preferences, where you were living, your friends, your favourite weekend activities, and so on - and you can safely project a similar barrage of change, if not more, in the coming years."
"Few will list 'to become a better person' on their goal-setting sheet...
If we must set goals, then studies suggest we should set modest goals that are easily achieved, because small achievements are motivating...
Interestingly, students who pursued materialistic goals... tracked absolutely no gains in happiness after progressing towards these goals...
Removing the goal on the horizon means we're forced to confront the countryside we're passing through rather than musing about some distant vista..."
" 'Every morning we rise to find two gremlins at the foot of the bed'... The first threat is fear, identified by that consistent voice in your head stressing that the world is too big for you... And the second... is lethargy... 'Hey, chill out. You've had a hard day. Turn on the telly, surf the internet, have some chocolate. Tomorrow's another day.'"
"What can you do with your life right now to make it better? Marathons and overseas jaunts are great, and it is certainly nice to dream, but is there something you've been putting off that's at your fingertips right now, that could change your life for the better? This approach makes us turn to face the life we live and say: If this is it, if this is all I've got to work with, then how can I 'make it work'?"
"you write one word of a poem... you learn one foreign word. When an action is so small it's laughable, the brain does not go into self-protective lockdown mode... As your small steps continue and your cortex starts working, the brain begins to create 'software' for your desired change, actually laying down new nerve pathways and building new habits. Soon, your resistance to change begins to weaken."
(On winning the lottery and material items)
" Brickman and his colleagues uncovered that lottery winners were actually no happier than people in the study's control group... According to adaptation-level theory, a stroke of good fortune, like winning the lottery, brings on such a spike in momentary happiness that everyday events in the proceeding years will feel a tad dull in comparison... in other words, we become accustomed or used to something, whatever it is."
"His verdict about winning the lottery was that 'it doesn't make you any happier, it just makes life easier'."
"...while respondents indeed owned more items ... they also desired more items on the list ... They were two and a half items short - eternally, so it appears."
(Author's conclusion)
"... to flourish is an ongoing process of growth where sometimes you fall back upon yourself, but then you pick up the pieces and move forward again.
Whatever you might think, 'flourish' is not a massive bank balance, nor is it a shiny black car or a house that's fancier then your neighbour's. Flourish is not fame, which requires the acknowledged consent of others. Instead, it is a personal journey that doesn't require other people's approval. At the final hour, it's not glittering objects or piles of money that you'll turn to - it's memories, journeys, friendships, love, and the knowledge that you've forged your own path, wherever it may have led you."
June 3, 2024
Beautifully written.
I have enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
Beautifully written and inspiring. I have found it informative as well.
I have enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
Beautifully written and inspiring. I have found it informative as well.
July 17, 2024
I expected much much more from this book. Not well written!
June 23, 2024
Readers of the editorials (read: Case's articles) in New Philosopher and Womenkind will recognise the writing is exactly the same stylistically in this piece.
It is an objectifying tour through Case's limited insights (perhaps overtly dehumanising at times) into the lives of others mashed up with vague generalisations about woes in society and some useful quips on finding happiness and purpose through perspective taking and revisiting individual choice.
That is not enough to claw more than 2 stars as the treatment of noneuropean cultures is unforgiveable, and Case seems determined to other anyone who doesnt willfully abandon real life considerations for her own narrow view on what constitutes meaningful action.
Similar to New Philosopher, this memoir is awash with again generalised insights from white euro philosophers. the only references to eastern thought are also provided via the publications of other white academics 'specialising' in 'asia' and 'asian philosophy'.
Does not add to self-help sections, and would have benefited from literally any intersectionalist though (not belief, but at least reflection in editing and redrafting with fresh sources/new ideas following that step). The reference list enclosed for further reading indicates no such efforts were made.
2 stars only because it made me think about why I was so annoyed most of the time. I finished it at great pains to my sense of enjoyment of reading.
It is an objectifying tour through Case's limited insights (perhaps overtly dehumanising at times) into the lives of others mashed up with vague generalisations about woes in society and some useful quips on finding happiness and purpose through perspective taking and revisiting individual choice.
That is not enough to claw more than 2 stars as the treatment of noneuropean cultures is unforgiveable, and Case seems determined to other anyone who doesnt willfully abandon real life considerations for her own narrow view on what constitutes meaningful action.
Similar to New Philosopher, this memoir is awash with again generalised insights from white euro philosophers. the only references to eastern thought are also provided via the publications of other white academics 'specialising' in 'asia' and 'asian philosophy'.
Does not add to self-help sections, and would have benefited from literally any intersectionalist though (not belief, but at least reflection in editing and redrafting with fresh sources/new ideas following that step). The reference list enclosed for further reading indicates no such efforts were made.
2 stars only because it made me think about why I was so annoyed most of the time. I finished it at great pains to my sense of enjoyment of reading.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews