I want to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has supported my Kickstart campaign this month to finance work on a second book. Through your generous contributions, I have raised $1,528 towards the cost of financing this project, which will explore the secrets of gratitude, attentiveness and human flourishing. While this is only 19% of the total required, and it will take a miracle to raise the remaining $6,282 before the campaign expires tonight. However, even if we are not successful and Kickstart returns the money to the various donors, what will not be lost is the warm encouragement people have given throughout this campaign. I have been so blessed by the people who have shared that they are learning with me how to be more grateful during times of difficulty, and more attentive during times of distraction, and to glory in being human with all the pain, vulnerability and joy that is part of the Good Life.
In the final hours of this campaign, I would be appreciate it if you could help spread the word about this project. In my recent post ‘Help Reach More People With Our Message‘, I have explained some practical steps you can do, besides pledging money, to help publicize this project.
By the way, if anyone is wondering why I set the watermark so high at $7,810 when I created the Kickstart campaign, it’s because I felt I needed to be realistic with my supporters about the time and expense involved in undertaking a project like this. Even though I will be working on this project simultaneously with continuing my other jobs, it is still a large time commitment that I don’t want to take lightly.
As we approach the end, please nobody mortgage your homes or sell your cars no matter how desperate you are for me to write this book. But if you want to sell your Xbox on Craig’s List I won’t complain.
Some of The Topics I hope to Cover in The Book
- Why comparing yourself to others may be making you more unhappy than you think;
- What Americans can learn from Asians about the role struggle plays in cultivating virtue;
- How the body is often perceived as the enemy in an age of friendly machines;
- Lessons from a Nazi concentration camp on how it’s possible to suffer and be grateful at the same time;
- How mindfulness practices can increase emotional intelligence;
- How all labor, even the most mundane, can be offered to God as worship;
- Why some people are content with what they have and others seem to never have enough;
- How modern technologies are eroding attentiveness and what you can do about it;
- How cultural assumptions change the brain through neuroplasticity;
- How the messiness, complexity and vulnerability of being human are strengths our machines can never aspire to;
- The role of beauty in classical education;
- 10 things you can do every day that rewire your brain to be more grateful;
Here’s the link to the campaign, where people can donate and where I explain in more detail about this exciting project: