• France,  Traveling

    Megève: Ski, après-ski & jazz

    It’s only been a few years since I took up skiing, now one of my favorite hobbies. So far, I have been on five ski holidays: in Méribel (France), Courchevel (next to Méribel), Zell am See (Austria), Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy), and Megève. In fact, I have just returned from Megève, and I would like to share my tips for this beautiful French resort, which is also home to an international jazz festival. But before I do so, I would like to point out that this was the first ski holiday entirely organized by my friend and myself (rather than a tour operator). This turned out to be a great decision,…

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  • Wellbeing

    Self-isolation, social distancing and wellbeing

    I’ve recently written a couple of posts about the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, the situation has dramatically changed since then; the number of cases and coronavirus-related deaths has sharply increased around the world. As I am writing this post, the death toll has reached 422 in the UK alone, whereas the total number of confirmed cases is now 8,077 across the country. On a global level, so far we have had 18,251 fatalities and 407,678 confirmed cases. As many countries are now in lockdown (including the UK as of this week), the terms ‘self-isolation’ and ‘social distancing’ have entered our daily vocabulary. In these challenging times, we should not forget our…

  • Reading,  Wellbeing

    15 Books about Happiness For All, Forever

    Happy International Day of Happiness! Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s remember that today is the International Day of Happiness. The theme this year is ‘Happiness For All, Forever’. According to the United Nations World Happiness Report, which was published today, Finland is the happiest place (for the third consecutive year). The Finnish capital, Helsinki, is the happiest city in the world. Perhaps it is obvious that I enjoy reading articles and books about happiness. In fact, informed by such books about happiness, as well as my professional background as a Psychiatrist, I have previously written extensively about mental well-being and happiness. I have often considered happiness from different perspectives, including…

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  • Reading,  Wellbeing

    The 7 Secrets of Happiness: An Optimist’s Journey

    What an awesome title for a book! Happiness, optimism, and a journey, all in the same sentence. In the introduction, Gyles Brandreth writes about his personal journey looking for happiness, a journey that took him to different places around the world where he met some very remarkable people: the Pope’s exorcist at the Vatican, Buddhist monks in Cambodia, Archbishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa, Quentin Crisp in New York, and the Queen of Denmark in Copenhagen. But it was in Dublin where he discovered the 7 secrets of happiness thanks to the late Dr Anthony Clare, Professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College, widely known for his radio interviews: In the…

  • General

    Is the coronavirus good for our mental health?

    Last week, I reflected on the fact that the media (at least in the UK) appear to have forgotten about Brexit and have focused almost exclusively on the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, such a pandemic is worth reporting on the news. However, it appears to have given rise to panic and mass hysteria; for instance, as the coronavirus spreads to the UK, the toilet roll and hand wash demand has risen to unprecedented levels, with the supermarkets notoriously running out of supplies. I personally largely blame the media for this over-reaction. Today, as the number of UK cases of coronavirus has risen to 319 and the number of fatalities to…

  • General

    COVID-19: a new case of mass hysteria

    Up until the 31st of January 2020, I would wake up every morning to news about the –then-upcoming Brexit. Sadly, this is now a done deal. A bloody done deal, as half of the Brits would say. I live in London, England, and I listen to the news on BBC Radio 3 (in case you’re wondering, BBC stands for British Broadcasting Corporation, and Radio 3 is one of the many radio stations operated by the BBC, but mostly playing classical music). Come February, and most mornings I have been waking up to updates on the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first reported from Wuhan, China, on the 31st of…

  • London & UK,  Reading,  Wellbeing

    Best London bookstores, tsundoku & bibliotherapy

    Today is the World Book Day. To mark the occasion, last year, I went back to ancient Greece and shared my reflections on ‘Aristotle’s Way: How Ancient Wisdom Can Change Your Life’, a book by Edith Hall. This year, however, I am going to discuss my personal relationship with books and reading, rather than focus on a specific book. I’m therefore going to stay home and simply visit some of my favorite London bookstores. I will then go to Japan to discuss the concept of tsundoku, as well as Marie Kondo’s tips on how to tidy up books. I will also visit Greece to discuss the concepts of bibliomania, bibliophilia,…