Borrow it
Coverart for item
The Resource A fragile life : accepting our vulnerability, Todd May

A fragile life : accepting our vulnerability, Todd May

Creator
Author
Summary
It is perhaps our noblest cause, and certainly one of our oldest: to end suffering. Think of the Buddha, Chuang Tzu, or Marcus Aurelius: stoically composed figures impervious to the torments of the wider world, living their lives in complete serenityand teaching us how to do the same. After all, isnt a life free from suffering the ideal? Isnt it what so many of us seek? Absolutely not, argues Todd May in this provocative but compassionate book. In a moving examination of life and the trials that beset it, he shows that our fragility, our ability to suffer, is actually one of the most important aspects of our humanity. May starts with a simple but hard truth: suffering is inevitable. At the most basic level, we suffer physicallya sprained ankle or a bad back. But we also suffer insults and indifference. We suffer from overburdened schedules and unforeseen circumstances, from moral dilemmas and emotional heartaches. Even just thinking about our own mortalitythe fact that we only live one lifecan lead us to tremendous suffering. No wonder philosophies such as Buddhism, Taosim, Stoicism, and even Epicureanismall of which counsel us to rise above these plightshave had appeal over the centuries. May highlights the tremendous value of these philosophies and the ways they can guide us toward better lives, but he also exposes a major drawback to their tenets: such invulnerability is too emotionally disengaged from the world, leading us to place too great a distance between ourselves and our experience. Rather than seeking absolute immunity, he argues most of us just want to hurt less and learn how to embrace and accept what suffering we do endure in a meaningful way. Offering a guide on how to positively engage suffering, May ultimately lays out a new way of thinking about how we exist in the world, one that reassures us that our suffering, rather than a failure of physical or psychological resilience, is a powerful and essential part of life itself
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
viii, 221 pages
Contents
  • Our lives and our vulnerability
  • The weight of our past and the weight of our future
  • Invulnerability
  • From affirmation to acceptance
  • Living vulnerably
Isbn
9780226439952
Instance
Label
A fragile life : accepting our vulnerability
Title
A fragile life
Title remainder
accepting our vulnerability
Statement of responsibility
Todd May
Creator
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
It is perhaps our noblest cause, and certainly one of our oldest: to end suffering. Think of the Buddha, Chuang Tzu, or Marcus Aurelius: stoically composed figures impervious to the torments of the wider world, living their lives in complete serenityand teaching us how to do the same. After all, isnt a life free from suffering the ideal? Isnt it what so many of us seek? Absolutely not, argues Todd May in this provocative but compassionate book. In a moving examination of life and the trials that beset it, he shows that our fragility, our ability to suffer, is actually one of the most important aspects of our humanity. May starts with a simple but hard truth: suffering is inevitable. At the most basic level, we suffer physicallya sprained ankle or a bad back. But we also suffer insults and indifference. We suffer from overburdened schedules and unforeseen circumstances, from moral dilemmas and emotional heartaches. Even just thinking about our own mortalitythe fact that we only live one lifecan lead us to tremendous suffering. No wonder philosophies such as Buddhism, Taosim, Stoicism, and even Epicureanismall of which counsel us to rise above these plightshave had appeal over the centuries. May highlights the tremendous value of these philosophies and the ways they can guide us toward better lives, but he also exposes a major drawback to their tenets: such invulnerability is too emotionally disengaged from the world, leading us to place too great a distance between ourselves and our experience. Rather than seeking absolute immunity, he argues most of us just want to hurt less and learn how to embrace and accept what suffering we do endure in a meaningful way. Offering a guide on how to positively engage suffering, May ultimately lays out a new way of thinking about how we exist in the world, one that reassures us that our suffering, rather than a failure of physical or psychological resilience, is a powerful and essential part of life itself
Cataloging source
ICU/DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1955-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
May, Todd
Dewey number
128/.4
Index
index present
LC call number
BF698.35.V85
LC item number
M39 2017
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
Vulnerability (Personality trait)
Label
A fragile life : accepting our vulnerability, Todd May
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Our lives and our vulnerability -- The weight of our past and the weight of our future -- Invulnerability -- From affirmation to acceptance -- Living vulnerably
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
viii, 221 pages
Isbn
9780226439952
Isbn Type
(cloth : alk. paper)
Lccn
2016022667
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Other control number
99970813133
System control number
  • ocn950084121
  • (OCoLC)950084121
Label
A fragile life : accepting our vulnerability, Todd May
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Our lives and our vulnerability -- The weight of our past and the weight of our future -- Invulnerability -- From affirmation to acceptance -- Living vulnerably
Dimensions
23 cm
Extent
viii, 221 pages
Isbn
9780226439952
Isbn Type
(cloth : alk. paper)
Lccn
2016022667
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Other control number
99970813133
System control number
  • ocn950084121
  • (OCoLC)950084121

Subject

Library Locations

    • Vancouver Public Library, Central LibraryBorrow it
      350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 6B1, CA
      49.280188 -123.114755

Library Links

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Vancouver Public Library. Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.