This was an enjoyable bedside read. A warmly and intelligently written breviary that makes a persuasive case for slowing down and taking our time to engage in mundane but potentially transformative activities: reading, playing, observing, journaling, reminiscing. The book is a necessary antidote to the contemporary regime of hyperactivity and hyperstimulation that is eroding our agency, creativity and humanity. One of the sections I highlighted is this account of the good life, given by Confucius's grandson Tsesse:
"He imagines someone whose life is neither celebrated nor obscure, neither indolent nor hectically active. This person reads, but not too much, is informed and capable, but neither a scholar nor a specialist. Each night, he sleeps long and well, and wakes up rested, blessed with a revivifying dream. Slowly, he makes his way towards his study, settling himself down before a bright window and a clean desk. At that moment, he finds himself inspired, free as all of us would like to be, to write good essays, good poems and good letters, free to paint good paintings, and to write good inscriptions on them. The world opens itself to him, in all its myriad beauties, and he responds with a full heart."