Silence isn’t just an absence of sound.  It creates a spaciousness and clarity that opens up our perceptions in new ways. And far from being a empty void, it has a fullness, richness, and an inviting warmth, in my experience. This book, In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise by George Prochnik, sounds interesting. The book excerpt at the end of the article is especially delicious. It reminds me very much of my experience on my two-month ordination retreat, where the most ordinary things felt imbued with sacredness.

This little quiz is a little taste from Richard Davidson’s latest book, The Emotional Life of Your Brain. It’s a self-assessment test to identify your emotional style along six dimensions:

Resilience: How quickly you recover from adversity.
Outlook: How long you are able to …