60 acast.com A Life Worth Living https://shows.acast.com/a-life-worth-living en Annie Wyatt artists,creativity,making,creative practice,craft,solitude,attenton,contemplative,wisdom,examined life,artistic process,creative process,essays,writers lives,artists lives Annie Wyatt The examined life, one essay at a time Contemplative essays exploring how to live. Each episode gathers voices — artists, writers, philosophers, practitioners — who didn't just think about the big questions but did something distinctive in response to them. Attention, solitude, grief, making, mortality, love. Not advice. Not self-help. The examined life, made vivid.




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]]> Contemplative essays exploring how to live. Each episode gathers voices — artists, writers, philosophers, practitioners — who didn't just think about the big questions but did something distinctive in response to them. Attention, solitude, grief, making, mortality, love. Not advice. Not self-help. The examined life, made vivid.




Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> false Tyger Media info+6973548059468b7fac477ef9@mg-eu.acast.com 6973548059468b7fac477ef9 a-life-worth-living episodic https://assets.pippa.io/shows/cover/1769165289234-665bd1fc-9876-4c73-a3d6-22d5634f67c3.jpeg https://shows.acast.com/a-life-worth-living A Life Worth Living Why Attention Is the Rarest Gift Why Attention Is the Rarest Gift Sun, 01 Feb 2026 17:40:01 GMT 10:36 697f8f0756431a2c0f376747 false https://shows.acast.com/a-life-worth-living/episodes/why-attention-is-the-rarest-gift 697f8f0756431a2c0f376747 6973548059468b7fac477ef9 why-attention-is-the-rarest-gift Simone Weil, Iris Murdoch, and Mary Oliver on what it means to truly see full 2


Attention sounds simple. It isn't. Simone Weil called it the rarest form of generosity. Iris Murdoch saw it as the only way past the ego's distortions. Mary Oliver made it her prayer. Three voices, one question: what happens when you actually look — at another person, at a kestrel, at the world?


Show Notes:

Three thinkers who understood attention not as focus or productivity, but as a moral and spiritual practice.


Voices:

  • Simone Weil (1909–1943) — French philosopher and mystic. "Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity."
  • Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) — British philosopher and novelist. The kestrel outside the window. Unselfing.
  • Mary Oliver (1935–2019) — American poet. "I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention."

Sources referenced:

  • Weil: Gravity and Grace, Waiting for God
  • Murdoch: The Sovereignty of Good
  • Oliver: "The Summer Day," Upstream, Devotions


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]>


Attention sounds simple. It isn't. Simone Weil called it the rarest form of generosity. Iris Murdoch saw it as the only way past the ego's distortions. Mary Oliver made it her prayer. Three voices, one question: what happens when you actually look — at another person, at a kestrel, at the world?


Show Notes:

Three thinkers who understood attention not as focus or productivity, but as a moral and spiritual practice.


Voices:

  • Simone Weil (1909–1943) — French philosopher and mystic. "Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity."
  • Iris Murdoch (1919–1999) — British philosopher and novelist. The kestrel outside the window. Unselfing.
  • Mary Oliver (1935–2019) — American poet. "I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention."

Sources referenced:

  • Weil: Gravity and Grace, Waiting for God
  • Murdoch: The Sovereignty of Good
  • Oliver: "The Summer Day," Upstream, Devotions


Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> What a 96-Year-Old Buddhist Teacher Knew About Loving a Broken World What a 96-Year-Old Buddhist Teacher Knew About Loving a Broken World Fri, 23 Jan 2026 11:07:27 GMT 9:32 6973559c6982fb7698297c65 false https://shows.acast.com/a-life-worth-living/episodes/what-a-96-year-old-buddhist-teacher-knew-about-loving-a-brok 6973559c6982fb7698297c65 6973548059468b7fac477ef9 what-a-96-year-old-buddhist-teacher-knew-about-loving-a-brok full 1 Joanna Macy spent seventy years facing the worst news about the planet — and kept going. Not with optimism, which requires believing things will turn out well. With something harder: active hope. This episode explores what she learned about grief, deep time, and loving a world you cannot fix.


Show Notes:

Joanna Macy (1929–) is a Buddhist teacher, environmental activist, and scholar of systems thinking. Her work on the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and action has shaped generations of activists and thinkers.


Sources referenced:

  • Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy (with Chris Johnstone)
  • World as Lover, World as Self
  • Interviews and talks

Topics: Active hope vs optimism, the Spiral (gratitude → grief → seeing with new eyes → going forth), deep time, honouring pain for the world, staying present without numbing

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

]]> Joanna Macy spent seventy years facing the worst news about the planet — and kept going. Not with optimism, which requires believing things will turn out well. With something harder: active hope. This episode explores what she learned about grief, deep time, and loving a world you cannot fix.


Show Notes:

Joanna Macy (1929–) is a Buddhist teacher, environmental activist, and scholar of systems thinking. Her work on the intersection of ecology, spirituality, and action has shaped generations of activists and thinkers.


Sources referenced:

  • Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in Without Going Crazy (with Chris Johnstone)
  • World as Lover, World as Self
  • Interviews and talks

Topics: Active hope vs optimism, the Spiral (gratitude → grief → seeing with new eyes → going forth), deep time, honouring pain for the world, staying present without numbing

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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