Notes on a Nervous Planet: Matt Haig

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As the minimalism advocate Fumio Sasaki puts it: "there's a happiness in having less." In the early days of my first experience of panic the only things I had taken away were booze and cigarettes and strong coffees. Now, though, years later, I realized that a more general overload was the problem.

number four. you visit a homeless shelter where everybody helps out with cooking, cleaning, etc. and tries very hard to keep addictive stuff (drugs, alcohol) out. you say, and i quote: “It [the shelter] was like a distillation of the things that people need in life”. Readers who have experienced anxiety without a tangible cause will find comfort in Haig’s words and vulnerability. Haig articulates much of what isn’t working for humans in today’s world while refraining from being too cynical." — Salon To stay sane in a messy world, we need to cut out the overwhelming choice that comes with modern life.Haig writes with a familiar, soft-spoken intimacy, an accessibility and plain-spoken clarity that is free of drama. It is, make no mistake, essential reading. Toronto Star Most people know the modern world can have physical effects. That, despite advances, aspects of modern life are dangerous for our bodies. Car accidents, smoking, air pollution, a sofa-dwelling lifestyle, takeout pizza, radiation, that fourth glass of Merlot. A primer for how to live in the present moment, this book will find grateful readers everywhere.”—Nigella Lawson, author of How to Be a Domestic Goddessand Nigella Bites Reframe your idea of beauty. Be a rebel against marketing. Look forward to being a wise elder. Be the complex elegance of a melting candle. Be a map with 10,000 roads. Be the orange at sunset that outclasses the pink of sunrise. Be the self that dares to be true." We’ve considered what you can do as an individual to protect yourself from the stresses of modern life. Let’s look at what we can do together, as a society, to make the world a less stressful place for everyone. How can we improve the connection between our culture and our mental health?

Not to say that propagating a holistic approach to mental health, taking the environment and physical health into account, is not very important.An insightful, personal, practical guide on how to cope with modern-day stresses. Good Housekeeping

You haven't looked up from your phone in over an hour. You're just walking around, banging into furniture." This book has so much power to bring you the arguments that you probably thought you would never need to make you see the inevitable 'nothing' in all the craze we are involved in everyday. Imagine, for instance, if there had been social media and camera phones during the Second World War. If people had seen, in full color, on smartphones, the consequences of every bomb, or the reality of every concentration camp, or the bloodied and mutilated bodies of soldiers, then the collective and psychological experience who have expanded the terror far beyond those who were experiencing it firsthand. My aim – ‘To feel every moment, to ignore tomorrow, to unlearn all the worries and regrets and fear caused by the concept of time. To be able to walk around and think of nothing but the walking. To lie in bed, not asleep, and not worry about sleep. But just be there, in sweet horizontal happiness, unflustered by the past and future concerns.’ A personal favourite and the best reminder during the summer season… or any season, as a matter of fact.”–Meghan Markle, for British Vogue on “A Note from the Beach” from Notes On A Nervous Planet

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There's a beautiful snippet "A note from the beach" which is funny and cheeky at the same time. Effectively the beach has written an ode to us humans, about how we shouldn't obsess about who's "watching us" on the beach, about how we look, as no-one's really interested. They're all too worried about how they look.