This is an issue of The Wonder Reader, a magazine in which our editors recommend a set of stories to pique your curiosity and delight you. Register here get it every saturday morning.
In his 2022 essay on how to want less, Arthur C. Brooks recalls a line from Ralph Waldo Emerson about the danger of thinking that a new place or something shiny will fix life’s problems. “At home I dream that in Naples, in Rome, I can be drunk with beauty, and lose my sorrow,” Emerson wrote in his essay “Independence.” “I carry my trunk, hug my friends, go to sea, and finally wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the harsh truth, the sad, merciless ego, right, that I ran away from.”
Staying at home may not easily produce the intoxicating beauty that Emerson describes. But once you agree to spend the day inside—with a good movie or the right book, or just dancing in the kitchen with your loved ones—you’ll find that the beauty is there, too. As those experiences increase, you may even come to see your everyday environment as a place for adventure rather than a static one. Today’s newsletter explores how to create happiness, no matter how many or few plans you have for the weekend and summer.
Enjoying Home
Five Books That Will Redirect Your Attention
By Rhian Sasseen
When malaise occurs, the book can break the spell—if you choose the right one. (From 2025)
How to Want Less
By Arthur C. Brooks
The secret of contentment has nothing to do with success, money, or other things. (From 2022)
Boredom Is The Price We Pay For Meaning
By Daniel Smith
When I became a father, I had to think about the emotions that took over my days.
Still Curious?
Other detours
PS
I recently asked readers to share a photo of something that makes them wonder in the world. Carol G, 58, sent this photo of an orchid at the American Botanic Garden in Washington, DC
I will continue to focus on your responses in the coming weeks.
— Isabel
