634: The Happiness Paradox & Lessons from Life's Last Room with Amy Low

Today's show is all about perspective. First, Phil offers his perspective on the news stories fans send him on social media about Icelandic cucumbers and water buffalos, and how they compare to articles he actually likes about robotic mushrooms and avoiding gluteal amnesia. Then, a recent article explores our culture's focus on products, practices, and apps designed to increase our happiness, and why focusing on happiness is a sure way to miss it. And Christine Emba's latest article in The Atlantic looks at why government support and financial incentives have failed to reverse declining birthrates in many countries. She argues the decision to have children isn't about money but meaning. Then Amy Low shares about her memoir "The Brave In-Between" and the perspective she's gained by living with a terminal cancer diagnosis for five years. Plus, Skye and Mike Erre have different perspectives about holiday decorations. Holy Post Plus: Bonus Interview with Amy Low: https://www.patreon.com/posts/111819242/ 0:00 - Intro 1:52 - Show Starts 2:52 - Theme Song 3:14 - Sponsor - Hiya Health - Go to https://www.hiyahealth.com/HOLYPOST to receive 50% off your first order 4:19 - Sponsor - Go to https://www.fromourplace.com and use code HOLYPOST to get 10% off site wide on beautiful cookware! 5:28 - Holiday Decor Disagreements 11:56 - Wounded Water Buffalo 15:11 - Tiktok Blamed for Cucumber Shortage 18:22 - Mushrooms Piloting Robot Hands 22:25 - Dead Butt Syndrome 28:09 - Does Tracking Happiness Make Us Miserable? 41:07 - Is the Decline of Birth Rates Really Economic? 58:45 - Sponsor - Faithful Counseling - This episode is sponsored by Faithful Counseling. Give online therapy a try at https://www.faithfulcounseling.com/HOLYPOST and get 10% off 59:52 - Sponsor - World Relief - Visit https://worldrelief.org/holypost/ to find out how to get two FREE e-learning courses and celebrate World Refugee Day with World Relief! 1:01:06 - Interview 1:06:01 - Why Did Amy Low Write The Brave In-Between? 1:10:10 - What Are the "Rooms" We Go Through in Life? 1:17:00 - The Honesty That Comes Out Near Death 1:23:10 - Where is the Meaning in Pain? 1:31:10 - End Credits Links Mentioned in the News Segment: Water Buffalo That Was on the Loose in Iowa Captured: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/water-buffalo-on-loose-injured-aggressive-iowa/ Viral TikTok Video Creates Cucumber Shortage in Iceland: https://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2024/09/06/viral-tiktok-video-creates-cucumber-shortage-in-iceland/ Robot controlled by a king oyster mushroom blends living organisms and machines: https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/04/science/fungus-robot-mushroom-biohybrid/index.html Sitting All Day Can Cause Dead Butt Syndrome: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/04/well/move/dead-butt-syndrome-gluteal-amnesia.html Are We Happy Yet?: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/opinion/happiness-tracking-america.html The Real Reason People Aren't Having Kids: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2024/08/fertility-crisis/679319/ Other resources: The Brave In-Between: Notes from the Last Room by Amy Low: https://a.co/d/5Hm69Ic Holy Post website: https://www.holypost.com/ Holy Post Plus: www.holypost.com/plus Holy Post Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/holypost Holy Post Merch Store: https://www.holypost.com/shop The Holy Post is supported by our listeners. We may earn affiliate commissions through links listed here. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.