Happy learners

Arthur Brooks

https://www.threads.com/@focusedmind.co/post/DPu2svmEYUF?xmt=AQF0Js6VRCQhkb7GC_uv0LrvKSrTuHSLKR-BOnwm3gE7wQ&slof=1

Purposeful

https://www.threads.com/@wisdomnotess_/post/DPoL_3sAbT3?xmt=AQF0JBx7CuNMxQhDbAFkLIwMkUdTMYapSSNU3IJO_uzX8w&slof=1

The ❤️ of Dog

"It came to me that every time I lose a dog, they take a piece of my heart with them and every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog and I will become as generous and loving as they are". - Diane Keaton 🩶

https://www.threads.com/@janecataniastylist/post/DPsfms1k0NK?xmt=AQF0z1IlFvN81F7-m7Rn8idYWV0DIKzNOPib0uGO6VXxvg&slof=1

(also remembering what Annie Hall said about her Great Dane…)

Think like a dog?

"Dogs don't dwell on the past or stress about the future. They don't expect the worst, become filled with regret, or exaggerate the consequences of their actions. They live in the moment. Here's what happens when we think more like our canine friends."

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-minute-therapist/202509/think-like-a-dog

For humans, though, some moments are capacious enough to include thought of past and future. They have their place, and their point.So have the moments of pure presence. Thinking the right thoughts at the right time (and knowing when to stop thinking): that's the challenge.

🍕 party

Pilgrimage

[On Substack...]

 Since Jacob's and Avery's reports yesterday on Wanderlust, and Gary's mention of his recent trip to his old alma mater, I've been thinking of my own periodic "pilgrimages" to Columbia MO where I was an undergrad in the '70s...

The first house I lived in, on Westmount, partly constructed of materials salvaged from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair:

 

On the Mizzou campus:

 

You can go home again, Thomas Wolfe. Happily.

Also thinking about the long journey from our earliest steps to another world. We're still taking baby steps, who knows how far we can go?

  

"We humans have set foot on another world in a place called the Sea of Tranquility, an astonishing achievement for creatures such as we, whose earliest footsteps three and one-half million years old are preserved in the volcanic ash of east Africa. We have walked far." Carl Sagan, Cosmos

And the further we walk, the more we feel at home.

Also: the guy I mentioned who recently finished his walk across America for men's mental health: Tim Perreira.

And: MTSU's convocation speaker a few years ago did his own walk across America and wrote about it in Walking to Listen, Andrew Forsthoefel.

==

Is this also "pilgrimage"?

The Simple Pleasure of a Long Walk and a Fun Meal
Charlotte Ward just wanted to share photos with family and friends, but she has built a community of people documenting their journeys, and the food they eat afterward.

The concept behind Charlotte Ward’s X account is simple. Every day, Ms. Ward, 22, goes for a long walk, usually through the lush woods near her home in Yorkshire, England, before she sits down for dinner. And every night she posts three photos of the scenery from her walk along with a photo of what she ate.

Sometimes she heads to the Yorkshire Dales to hike the highlands, other days she traverses the streets of London, but the result is always the same: three photos of the walk, and one of what she ate. It has been a perfect recipe for her growing audience.

Since starting her @hikingshawty account in April 2024, Ms. Ward has amassed more than 170,000 followers and has built an audience of nearly 200,000 in an X community she created called “today i walked…” Many of the people who come across her posts express their desire to live a quieter life like hers, spending time in nature and baking cakes from scratch.

For Ms. Ward, who originally started her account to share photos of her hikes with friends, the attention has been surprising... (continues)

Nietzsche on walking and creativity

"The best thoughts come while walking…"

https://www.themarginalian.org/2021/12/12/nietzsche-walking/

A good life

What makes a good life – revelatory learnings from Harvard's 75-year study of human happiness

https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/08/23/harvard-grant-study-robert-waldinger-ted/

Fwd: Avery Eaton - Phil of Happiness PP

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Avery Eaton <aae3n@mtmail.mtsu.edu>
Date: Tue, Oct 7, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Subject: Avery Eaton - Phil of Happiness PP
To: Phil Oliver <Phil.Oliver@mtsu.edu>

Hello Prof here is my power point for my presentation!

The .pptx File is prefered! 

Eaton_Wanderlust A History of Walking.pdf

Eaton_Wanderlust A History of Walking.pptx

Fwd: Fw: [EXTERNAL] Presentation

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0?ui=2&ik=1ae14f9128&attid=0.1&permmsgid=msg-a:r-1309311798004922385&th=199bf902f91a3689&view=att&disp=safe&realattid=199bf8f424bccd248e31&zw

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Carol Edwards <cde2i@mtmail.mtsu.edu>
Date: Mon, Oct 6, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Subject: Fw: [EXTERNAL] Presentation
To: Phil Oliver <Phil.Oliver@mtsu.edu>