Collection
The Aspen Ideas Guide to a Healthy Mind, Body, and Spirit
![The Infrastructure of Joy](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null78491f1d-8809-438b-91e5-dfb458080e19/AdobeStock_61718675.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1624%2C0%2C3618%2C3618&w=400)
Happiness, says designer Ingrid Fetell Lee, is a broad evaluation of how we feel about our lives over time.
![Making Meaning in an Era of Disconnectedness](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulla626fe60-80e1-4b29-8270-7f2acf2d1541/48146318952_d462bb6d72_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1600%2C901&w=400)
The dramatic rise in suicides, violence, and addiction signal a society disconnected from meaning and a social fabric fraying at its seams. With participation in organized rel...
![The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulle2ac6c14-0d27-4c6e-a03b-2ca49620f44f/48146445867_da73611009_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1599%2C900&w=400)
During a personal low point of loneliness and pain, David Brooks wanted to write his way to a better life. For five years, he did just that, researching and writing about peop...
![The Art and Science of Remembering Everything](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null56e7fb23-aa73-4eca-a441-124650bb30f1/48138903943_9a5b86d0e2_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4000%2C2251&w=400)
While researching an article on the US Memory Championships, writer Joshua Foer was equally dubious and intrigued by one contestant’s claim that even an average memory, if use...
![The Science of Endurance and Superhuman Feats](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null6c21ca21-a805-4bae-80f8-ec232326ab0b/48133341997_dee7ab4b1c_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=2946%2C0%2C3329%2C4988&w=400)
The ability to endure is the essential trait in every extreme athletic endeavor. Hundred-mile races, Himalayan Mountain expeditions, and cross-continental treks all require hu...
![Can We Spend Our Way to Happiness?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null43318672-3d0d-48a5-9a84-d9770737b92f/spend_our_way_happiness_aif19.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2560%2C1440&w=400)
It’s hard to be dispassionate about money. Whether we have a lot, not enough, or a comfortable amount of it, our emotional relationship with money is often fraught. Fascinatin...
![Fads Versus Facts: Busting Myths about Nutrition and Exercise](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null1a184d13-3c11-420b-87a6-39a07738f28e/48127841461_fb289ea8c3_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=12%2C186%2C1263%2C711&w=400)
For decades, diet and exercise fads have promised to shrink waistlines, build muscle, detoxify, and so on. But evidence is mounting that there’s no one diet or routine that wo...
![My Life Is Awesome, so Why Can't I Enjoy It?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null00fc19f5-2cc4-4e2a-91a8-4019d6a11e84/my_life_is_awesome_aif19.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2560%2C1439&w=400)
Despite decades of economic growth, the population as a whole — and surprisingly — is slightly less happy. On paper, many have lives that appear awesome, but they're just not...
![Joy is a Form of Resilience](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d11e24ce-004c-46b4-b904-7eb6f55e3714/AdobeStock_172903374.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=984%2C0%2C3333%2C3333&w=400)
Small moments of joy are often the first to go when we're stressed or in a crisis. But they're actually a tool to restore our emotional well-being, says designer Ingrid Fetell...