Showing results by author "Emily Smith"

This wise, stirring book argues that the search for meaning can immeasurably deepen our lives and is far more fulfilling than the pursuit of personal happiness. There is a myth in our culture that the search for meaning is some esoteric pursuit - that you have to travel to a distant monastery or page through dusty volumes to figure out life's great secret. The truth is, there are untapped sources of meaning all around us - right here, right now.

Why do so few people find fulfillment in their work? A few years ago I posed this question to Amy Wrzesniewski, a Yale School of Management professor who studies these issues, and she offered an explanation that made a lot of sense. Students, she told me, “think their calling is under a rock, and if they turn over enough rocks, they will find it.”

There is a myth in our culture that to find meaning, you have to travel to a distant monastery or wade through dusty volumes to figure out life's great secret. The truth is there are untapped sources of meaning all around us: right here, right now. Drawing on the latest research in positive psychology; on insights from George Eliot, Viktor Frankl, Aristotle, the Buddha and other great minds, Emily Esfahani Smith identifies four pillars upon which meaning rests: belonging, purpose, storytelling and transcendence.

Astrid is from the planet Antalusia, five hundred light years away. Keen to study the human family, she gets a job looking after one! Harry and his mum definitely didn't expect someone with a floating suitcase, a miniature spaceship and huge hair - and she's never seen a vacuum cleaner before. Astrid is a great au pair - the only question is, how long will she stay?

Paramedic Connor Haus is good at two things - saving lives on the streets of Boston and holding her past against every firefighter she meets. The tragic loss of her partner, Kam, has left her bitter and angry; her work and fellow EMT Jake O'Harrigan the only pieces of her life she still cares about. Until rookie firefighter Logan Curtis moves to town, and onto Connor's scene, and threatens to rattle the walls Connor has long since put up.

Dr. Natalie Jenner's life is going exactly according to plan. She has the house, the family, and the perfect job. On paper, she has it all. But when she meets Charlie Thompson, the charming young paramedic, that perfect life is shaken inside out. Natalie quickly realizes what she's feeling for Charlie can't be explained by anything other than love. Natalie wages a war not only with death in the emergency room, but also with herself, as she navigates the consequences of a life with Charlie.

Recent college graduate Samantha Lee ends up trapped in a place she's always dreamed of, but she's far from alone. With a close group of single men by her side, she embarks on an adventure of a lifetime filled with laughter, romance, suspense, and a touch of erotic flair.

"Mother May I", by Lizzie Widdicombe; "The Unravelling", by Jon Lee Anderson; "Brother from Another Mother", by Zadie Smith; "Last Girl in Larchmont", by Emily Nussbaum.