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Personal — Society

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This is password-protected as it describes gruesome medical events I have recently experienced. If you wish to read it, you can guess the password with this clue: It is a colloquial name given to the sensitive body parts that have been affected; also objects commonly used in sports. You have been warned.

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Culture — Current affairs

How to make this winter not totally suck, according to psychologists — Sigal Samuel — Vox

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I really like the evidence-based advice in this article. It shows how the pathway to true happiness is to, in a way, forget about yourself.

Instead of thinking about the myriad negative feelings you want to avoid and the myriad things you can buy or do in service of that, think about a single organising principle that is highly effective at generating positive feelings across the board: Shift your focus outward.

I often feel uneasy about how much advice from self-help gurus encourages people to focus inwards on themselves. Humans naturally crave social interaction and feeling part of a wider purpose, beyond narrow self-interest.

This article offers practical suggestions for how you can find that, to help you feel better through what’s going to be a tough winter.