Making art is good for your brain: http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2014/07/08/how-art-changes-your-brain_n_5567050.html?ir=Australia

Another stimulating comment on the cultural construct of self esteem. Perhaps it's not the unmitigated force for good we have all been told it is for decades. Could it be time for "a culture of humility" as the article proposes? When everyone thinks they are "special", there's not a lot of room left for us ordinary mortals. Having moved some time ago from Sydney, where the average level of self esteem would seem to be a lot higher (along with the average income) to Hobart, Tasmania, I do notice a cultural  difference. Of course there are lots of good people in Sydney but the rich arrogant bogans do tend to stick in one's memory. Anyway, here's the article: http://www.theemotionmachine.com/humility-the-acceptance-of-our-flawed-self

Is self esteem a flawed, possibly irrelevant and fundamentally unhelpful concept? Why must we all strive for it ( if we don't have it) ? An interesting (if rather long) discussion about self esteem from the smart recovery website:

Say no to self esteem http://www.smartrecovery.org/resources/library/Articles_and_Essays/Self-Acceptance/self_esteem.htm
http://www.smartrecovery.org/resources/library/Articles_and_Essays/Self-Acceptance/self_esteem.htm

Introduction

Hello fellow weary travelers in this vale of tears [....and joy]

I wanted to create this blog to express and exchange thoughts, ideas and interesting articles/podcasts etc in relation to books, philosophy, politics, art, healthcare, psychology and psychiatry, movies, animal rights, human rights (humans are, after all, animals too !), religion, our in-many-ways insane society, life, death etc.