February 2025 booklet

Here are the titles and brief descriptions from this month's booklet.

• Arrogance: Explores how ego creates false self-images and how embracing imperfection and error allows for growth and authenticity. The author reflects on the dangers of clinging to a sense of perfection in one's work.
• On Luxury: Examines how material possessions and comforts fail to fill internal voids. The author questions the pursuit of luxury and comfort while being disconnected from societal issues.
• Self Interest: Discusses how society's focus on individual self-care and wellness can distract from addressing broader social problems. The author argues for recognizing our interconnectedness.
• Contagion: Explores how ideas spread and are filtered through cultural "memetic microbiomes." The piece considers how reclaiming attention allows for new ideas to take root.
• On Publishing: Questions the motivations behind publishing written work and critiques ownership concepts like copyright, suggesting they serve industry more than artists.
• The Names of the Giants: A meditation on the metaphorical "giants" whose shoulders we stand on, suggesting their true nature has been lost or obscured.
• Learning to Listen: Reflects on the frustration of social interactions dominated by people who talk without listening, and explores how to create more contemplative conversation spaces.
• Inalienable: Examines what it means to "feel like oneself" and how this feeling relates to context, environment, and self-perception.
• Give it Away: Considers the appeal of metaphysical beliefs beyond materialist worldviews and questions attachment to property and ownership.
• What Serves You: Critiques the self-help language of experiences "serving" a person as promoting self-alienation and consumerist approaches to emotions.
• Forty Hours: Laments how employment occupies human time and energy in ways that don't align with workers' values or interests, leading to an "impoverished culture."
• Protest Energetics: Reflects on finding sustainable energy for activism and social change, inspired by revolutionary figures who maintained connection to deeper purpose.
• Silk: A detailed exploration of silk's history, production, properties, and cultural significance, touching on themes of exploitation, luxury, and transformation.