1. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
  2. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
  3. Abo, Akinori 9
  4. aesthetics 19
  5. agile 30
  6. Albers, Josef 17
  7. Alexander, Christopher 135
  8. Alexander, Scott 5
  9. Allsopp, John 4
  10. Ammer, Ralph 6
  11. Anderson, Gretchen 7
  12. anxiety 9
  13. Appleton, Maggie 5
  14. Aptekar-Cassels, Wesley 5
  15. Arango, Jorge 4
  16. architecture 110
  17. art 86
  18. Asimov, Isaac 5
  19. attention 17
  20. Auping, Michael 6
  21. Aurelius, Marcus 14
  22. Bachelard, Gaston 12
  23. Baker, Nicholson 10
  24. beauty 58
  25. Behrensmeyer, Anna K. 7
  26. Bell, Larry 3
  27. Bjarnason, Baldur 8
  28. Blake, William 5
  29. blogging 22
  30. body 11
  31. Boeing, Geoff 7
  32. boredom 9
  33. Botton, Alain de 38
  34. Brand, Stewart 4
  35. Bringhurst, Robert 16
  36. Brooks, Frederick P. 22
  37. Broskoski, Charles 6
  38. brutalism 7
  39. building 16
  40. bureaucracy 12
  41. Burnham, Bo 9
  42. business 15
  43. Byron, Lord 14
  44. Cagan, Marty 8
  45. Calvino, Italo 21
  46. Camus, Albert 13
  47. care 6
  48. Carruth, Shane 15
  49. Cegłowski, Maciej 6
  50. Cervantes, Miguel de 7
  51. chance 11
  52. change 16
  53. Chiang, Ted 4
  54. childhood 6
  55. Chimero, Frank 17
  56. choice 8
  57. cities 51
  58. Clark, Robin 3
  59. Cleary, Thomas 8
  60. Cleary, J.C. 8
  61. code 20
  62. collaboration 18
  63. collections 31
  64. Collison, Simon 3
  65. color 23
  66. commonplace 11
  67. communication 31
  68. community 7
  69. complexity 11
  70. connection 24
  71. constraints 25
  72. construction 9
  73. content 9
  74. Corbusier, Le 13
  75. Coyier, Chris 4
  76. craft 66
  77. creativity 59
  78. crime 9
  79. Critchlow, Tom 5
  80. critique 10
  81. Cross, Nigel 12
  82. Cross, Anita Clayburn 10
  83. css 11
  84. culture 13
  85. curiosity 11
  86. cycles 7
  87. Danielewski, Mark Z. 4
  88. darkness 28
  89. Darwin, Will 10
  90. data 8
  91. death 38
  92. Debord, Guy 6
  93. decisions 10
  94. design 131
  95. details 31
  96. Dickinson, Emily 9
  97. Dieste, Eladio 4
  98. discovery 9
  99. doors 7
  100. Dorn, Brandon 11
  101. drawing 23
  102. Drucker, Peter F. 15
  103. Duany, Andres 18
  104. Eatock, Daniel 4
  105. economics 13
  106. efficiency 7
  107. Eisenman, Peter 8
  108. Eliot, T.S. 14
  109. emotion 8
  110. ending 14
  111. engineering 11
  112. Eno, Brian 4
  113. ethics 14
  114. euphony 38
  115. Evans, Benedict 4
  116. evolution 9
  117. experience 14
  118. farming 8
  119. fashion 11
  120. features 25
  121. feedback 6
  122. flaws 10
  123. Flexner, Abraham 8
  124. food 16
  125. form 19
  126. Fowler, Martin 4
  127. Franklin, Ursula M. 30
  128. friendship 6
  129. fun 7
  130. function 31
  131. games 13
  132. gardens 26
  133. Garfield, Emily 4
  134. Garfunkel, Art 6
  135. geography 8
  136. geometry 18
  137. goals 9
  138. Gombrich, E. H. 4
  139. goodness 12
  140. Graham, Paul 37
  141. graphics 13
  142. Greene, Erick 6
  143. Hamming, Richard 45
  144. happiness 17
  145. Harford, Tim 4
  146. Harper, Thomas J. 15
  147. Hayes, Brian 28
  148. heat 7
  149. Heinrich, Bernd 7
  150. Herbert, Frank 4
  151. Heschong, Lisa 27
  152. Hesse, Herman 6
  153. history 13
  154. Hoffman, Yoel 10
  155. Hofstadter, Douglas 6
  156. home 15
  157. Hoy, Amy 4
  158. Hoyt, Ben 5
  159. html 11
  160. Hudlow, Gandalf 4
  161. humanity 16
  162. humor 6
  163. Huxley, Aldous 7
  164. hypermedia 22
  165. i 18
  166. ideas 21
  167. identity 33
  168. images 10
  169. industry 9
  170. information 42
  171. infrastructure 17
  172. innovation 15
  173. interaction 10
  174. interest 10
  175. interfaces 37
  176. intuition 8
  177. invention 10
  178. Irwin, Robert 65
  179. Isaacson, Walter 28
  180. Ishikawa, Sara 33
  181. iteration 13
  182. Ive, Jonathan 6
  183. Jackson, Steven J. 14
  184. Jacobs, Jane 54
  185. Jacobs, Alan 5
  186. Jobs, Steve 20
  187. Jones, Nick 5
  188. Kahn, Louis 4
  189. Kakuzō, Okakura 23
  190. Kaufman, Kenn 4
  191. Keith, Jeremy 6
  192. Keller, Jenny 10
  193. Kelly, Kevin 3
  194. Keqin, Yuanwu 8
  195. Ketheswaran, Pirijan 6
  196. Kingdon, Jonathan 5
  197. Kitching, Roger 7
  198. Klein, Laura 4
  199. Kleon, Austin 13
  200. Klinkenborg, Verlyn 24
  201. Klyn, Dan 20
  202. knowledge 29
  203. Kohlstedt, Kurt 12
  204. Kramer, Karen L. 10
  205. Krishna, Golden 10
  206. Kuma, Kengo 18
  207. language 20
  208. learning 30
  209. life 59
  210. light 31
  211. loneliness 12
  212. love 25
  213. Lovell, Sophie 16
  214. Lupton, Ellen 11
  215. Luu, Dan 8
  216. Lynch, Kevin 12
  217. MacIver, David R. 8
  218. MacWright, Tom 5
  219. Magnus, Margaret 12
  220. making 77
  221. management 14
  222. Manaugh, Geoff 27
  223. Markson, David 16
  224. Mars, Roman 13
  225. material 39
  226. math 16
  227. McCarter, Robert 21
  228. meaning 33
  229. media 16
  230. melancholy 51
  231. memory 28
  232. metaphor 10
  233. metrics 19
  234. microsites 49
  235. Miller, J. Abbott 10
  236. Mills, C. Wright 9
  237. minimalism 10
  238. Miyazaki, Hayao 30
  239. Mod, Craig 15
  240. modularity 6
  241. Mollison, Bill 31
  242. morality 8
  243. Murakami, Haruki 21
  244. music 16
  245. Müller, Boris 7
  246. Naka, Toshiharu 8
  247. names 11
  248. Naskrecki, Piotr 5
  249. nature 51
  250. networks 15
  251. Noessel, Christopher 7
  252. notetaking 35
  253. novelty 11
  254. objects 16
  255. order 10
  256. ornament 9
  257. Orwell, George 7
  258. Ott, Matthias 4
  259. ownership 6
  260. Pallasmaa, Juhani 41
  261. Palmer, John 8
  262. patterns 11
  263. Patton, James L. 9
  264. Pawson, John 21
  265. perception 22
  266. perfection 7
  267. performance 17
  268. Perrine, John D. 9
  269. Petroski, Henry 24
  270. philosophy 6
  271. photography 20
  272. physics 6
  273. Pinker, Steven 8
  274. place 14
  275. planning 15
  276. Plater-Zyberk, Elizabeth 18
  277. poetry 13
  278. politics 9
  279. Pollan, Michael 6
  280. practice 10
  281. problems 31
  282. process 22
  283. production 7
  284. productivity 12
  285. products 21
  286. programming 9
  287. progress 16
  288. Pye, David 42
  289. quality 26
  290. questions 8
  291. Radić, Smiljan 20
  292. Rams, Dieter 16
  293. Rao, Venkatesh 14
  294. reading 16
  295. reality 13
  296. Reichenstein, Oliver 5
  297. religion 11
  298. Rendle, Robin 12
  299. repair 28
  300. research 17
  301. Reveal, James L. 4
  302. Richards, Melanie 3
  303. Richie, Donald 10
  304. Rougeux, Nicholas 4
  305. Rowe, Peter G. 10
  306. Rupert, Dave 4
  307. Ruskin, John 5
  308. Satyal, Parimal 9
  309. Saval, Nikil 13
  310. Sayers, Dorothy 32
  311. Schaller, George B. 7
  312. Schwulst, Laurel 5
  313. science 17
  314. seeing 36
  315. Sennett, Richard 45
  316. senses 11
  317. Seuss, Dr. 14
  318. Shakespeare, William 4
  319. Shorin, Toby 8
  320. silence 9
  321. Silverstein, Murray 33
  322. Simms, Matthew 19
  323. Simon, Paul 6
  324. simplicity 14
  325. Singer, Ryan 12
  326. skill 17
  327. Sloan, Robin 5
  328. Smith, Cyril Stanley 29
  329. Smith, Justin E. H. 6
  330. Smith, Rach 4
  331. socializing 7
  332. society 23
  333. software 68
  334. solitude 12
  335. Somers, James 8
  336. Sorkin, Michael 56
  337. sound 14
  338. space 20
  339. Speck, Jeff 18
  340. spirit 10
  341. streets 10
  342. structure 13
  343. Strunk, William 15
  344. Ström, Matthew 13
  345. style 30
  346. Sun, Chuánqí 15
  347. symbols 12
  348. systems 18
  349. Sōetsu, Yanagi 34
  350. Sōseki, Natsume 8
  351. Tanaka, Tomoyuki 9
  352. Tanizaki, Jun'ichirō 15
  353. taste 10
  354. Taylor, Dorian 16
  355. teaching 21
  356. teamwork 17
  357. technology 41
  358. texture 7
  359. thinking 31
  360. Thoreau, Henry David 8
  361. time 54
  362. Tolkien, J.R.R. 6
  363. tools 32
  364. touch 8
  365. transportation 16
  366. Trombley, Nick 44
  367. truth 15
  368. Tufte, Edward 31
  369. Turrell, James 6
  370. typography 25
  371. understanding 32
  372. urbanism 68
  373. ux 100
  374. Victor, Bret 9
  375. Viollet-le-Duc, Eugène 4
  376. vision 7
  377. visualization 34
  378. Voltaire 4
  379. wabi-sabi 8
  380. walking 23
  381. Wallace, David Foster 33
  382. Wang, Shawn 6
  383. war 7
  384. waste 12
  385. Watterson, Bill 4
  386. Webb, Matt 14
  387. Wechler, Lawrence 37
  388. whimsy 11
  389. White, E.B. 15
  390. Wirth, Niklaus 6
  391. wisdom 20
  392. Wittgenstein, Ludwig 7
  393. Woolf, Virginia 11
  394. words 35
  395. work 81
  396. writing 55
  397. Wurman, Richard Saul 18
  398. www 88
  399. Yamada, Kōun 5
  400. Yamashita, Yuhki 4
  401. Yudkowsky, Eliezer 17
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  403. ⁘  ⁘  ⁘
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Happiness

Close
  • Laughter

    —and my heart laughed within me.

    Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
    • happiness
  • I'm reminded of their faces

    Mrs. Shimada is very cheerful, and Mr. Shimada is very intelligent; he is able to perceive things objectively, and discern what is precious. I get the sense they live critically, evaluating what is important. Keeping these characteristics in mind, I think about what kind of plan should be provided, in what proportions, and in what kind of house—to best suit these people. I'm constantly reminded of their faces as I prepare the plans. I'm always thinking about human happiness. If it doesn't make you happy, I don't think it's worth building.

    Akinori Abo, Kigumi House
    • making
    • happiness
    • architecture
  • When our forces are resolved

    When a person’s forces are resolved, it makes us feel at home, because we know, by some sixth sense, that there are not other unexpected forces lurking underground. He acts according to the nature of the situations he is in, without distorting them. There are no guiding images in his behavior, no hidden forces; he is simply free. And so, we feel relaxed and peaceful in his company.

    Each of us knows from experience the feeling which this quality creates in us.

    And for this reason, each one of us can also recognize this quality when it occurs in buildings.

    Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building
    1. ​​The doctrine of salvation by bricks​​
    2. ​​A sense reflected in the plans​​
    • happiness
  • If I had The Sads

    Image from melanie-richards.com on 2020-05-01 at 9.22.14 AM.png

    Back before COVID-19 hit the global scene, I thought it would be pleasant to have a list of the good things in life. This list wouldn’t be an exhaustive account of all the checked boxes on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, but rather would document small pleasures which evoke some kind of clear and specific emotional response. If I had The Sads, I could pull up this list and sink down into the sensory details of, say, that strong hit of pine scent you randomly get on a hiking trail.

    Now that we’re all in the thick of this pandemic, this new tiny side project—Good Things—has offered me a peaceful little portal to things I miss. Your mileage may vary, but I’ve found that reading my personal list of good things can be comforting as I help protect my community by sheltering in place.

    Melanie Richards, Good Things
    melanie-richards.com
    1. ​​Five Nice Things​​
    • happiness
    • life
    • goodness
    • collections
  • Joy in the merely attainable

    But the really fundamental problem with desiring the unattainable is that as soon as you actually get it, it stops being unattainable. If we cannot take joy in the merely available, our lives will always be frustrated.

    Eliezer Yudkowsky, Rationality: From AI to Zombies
    • happiness
    • desire
  • The threat of happiness

    Dr. Saavedra had diagnosed a case of anhedonia, a disease defined by the British Medical Association as a reaction remarkably close to mountain sickness resulting from the sudden terror brought on by the threat of happiness. It was a common disease among tourists in this region of Spain, faced in these idyllic surroundings with the sudden realization that earthly happiness might be within their grasp, and prey therefore to a violent physiological reaction designed to counteract such a daunting possibility.

    Alain de Botton, On Love
    • happiness
  • A strangely negative character

    Utility has a strangely negative character. We speak of the secret of happiness, for its causes are elusive; but there is no secret about the causes of unhappiness: thirst, hunger, want of sleep, exhaustion, pain, constraint of movement and too great heat and cold, are evils which can effectively prevent happiness. Utility has a negative character, because useful devices are adopted in the main for the sake ultimately of avoiding such evils.

    From the fact that deadly injury, pain, and exhaustion prevent the fulfillment of the universal wish for happiness, we have always tended to infer that if only life were safe, comfortable, and effortless, we would be happy. It does not follow.

    David Pye, The Nature and Aesthetics of Design
    • function
    • happiness
  • A being-without

    Not having a toothache is no goal for a lifetime. Happiness, however one defined it, is not something negative, a being-without.

    David Pye, The Nature and Aesthetics of Design
    • happiness
  • The search for happiness

    If the search for happiness is the underlying quest of our lives, it seems only natural that it should simultaneously be the essential theme to which beauty alludes.

    Alain de Botton, The Architecture of Happiness
    • happiness
  • More by accident

    In an intentional bout of concentrated major thinking, where you sit down with the conscious intention of confronting major questions like 'Am I currently happy?' or 'What, ultimately, do I really care about and believe in?' or— particularly if some kind of authority figure has just squeezed your shoes—'Am I essentially a worthwhile, contributing type of person or a drifting, indifferent, nihilistic person?', then the questions often end up not answered but more like beaten to death, so attacked from every angle and each angle's different objections and complications that they end up even more abstract and ultimately meaningless than when you started. Nothing is achieved this way, at least that I've ever heard of. Certainly, from all evidence, St. Paul, or Martin Luther, or the authors of The Federalist Papers, or even President Reagan never changed the direction of their lives this way—it happened more by accident.

    David Foster Wallace, The Pale King
    • life
    • questions
    • happiness
  • The Architecture of Happiness

    A Book by Alain de Botton
    www.alaindebotton.com
    1. ​​A few millimeters apart​​
    2. ​​Tragic colors​​
    3. ​​Classical absurdity​​
    4. ​​Ideas of a good life​​
    5. ​​The people we love​​
    • architecture
    • happiness
    • life
  • Good Things

    A Website by Melanie Richards
    goodthings.melanie-richards.com
    1. ​​If I had The Sads​​
    1. ​​Thanks Doc​​
    • beauty
    • life
    • happiness
    • microsites
    • collections

    A personal compilation of good sensory things in life.

  • Thanks Doc

    An Article by Robin Rendle & Craig Mod
    www.robinrendle.com

    A couple of months back, Craig mentioned in a video that he has a doc filled to the brim with snippets of text—nice words, compliments, and thanks that had been sent his way for his work. Whenever someone says something nice he just copy/pastes it into that doc.

    It sounds silly at first and perhaps a little egotistical. Behold! I have a document that proves how great I am!

    But I started doing it just to see what it feels like and…hey…actually? It’s so great! When I’m feeling low (often) or whenever the world feels unstable (extremely often) it’s so very nice to return to a few kind words about my work. It reminds me just how much these words of praise mean, it reminds me that I ought to pass that favor along.

    1. ​​Good Things​​
    • happiness
    • work
    • friendship
  • Five Nice Things

    An Article by Siobhan O'Connor
    forge.medium.com

    At our dinners, we sometimes played a game we called Five Nice Things. It is what it sounds like: You take turns naming things that are nice. Five is the number. It can be a thing that makes you happy, a compliment for the other person, a win at work, “This broccoli is tasty,” whatever. It’s a bit sappy, but it’s not the sappiest, and the rules were: Don’t overthink it, and be specific.

    1. ​​If I had The Sads​​
    • happiness
  • Shinrin-yoku

    A Definition
    www.natureandforesttherapy.org

    Forest Therapy, also known as “Shinrin-yoku,” refers to the practice of spending time in forested areas for the purpose of enhancing health, wellness, and happiness. The practice follows the general principle that it is beneficial to spend time bathing in the atmosphere of the forest. The Japanese words translate into English as “Forest Bathing.”

    1. ​​tree.fm​​
    • nature
    • health
    • happiness
  • The Cycle of Emotions

    An Article by Jessica Fan
    www.jessicafan.ca
    Image from www.jessicafan.ca on 2020-12-08 at 9.52.52 AM.jpeg

    When we do not cultivate our Pillars, they grow weak and our Platform of Radiance becomes unstable, causing us to fall into one of the four Pits of Suffering below.

    Each Pillar has a corresponding Pit of Suffering:

    • Love > Attachment
    • Compassion > Sentimentality
    • Joy > Elation
    • Equanimity > Apathy
    • emotion
    • life
    • happiness
  • To supersede the span of individual life

    A Quote

    Nothing gives man fuller satisfaction than participation in processes that supersede the span of individual life.

    — Gotthard Booth

    • time
    • life
    • happiness
    • wisdom

See also:
  1. life
  2. collections
  3. architecture
  4. function
  5. goodness
  6. questions
  7. beauty
  8. microsites
  9. desire
  10. time
  11. wisdom
  12. emotion
  13. nature
  14. health
  15. making
  16. work
  17. friendship
  1. Alain de Botton
  2. David Pye
  3. Melanie Richards
  4. Marcus Aurelius
  5. Christopher Alexander
  6. David Foster Wallace
  7. Eliezer Yudkowsky
  8. Siobhan O'Connor
  9. Jessica Fan
  10. Akinori Abo
  11. Robin Rendle
  12. Craig Mod