3 X 5's: Index Card Wisdom from Best of Books

DIGITAL WELLNESS Caitlin Krause (2025). Digital Wellbeing. Krause has an MFA in Fine Arts and has presented/consulted/collaborated on digital wellbeing projects for over a decade. The book is a conversation about digital wellbeing that includes interviews with experts in the field, lots of questions for consideration, and novel ideas for exploring. Overall, the writing is short on practice and pragmatics...i kept writing "HOW?" in the margins...there is also an underlying assumption that people have access to the software and hardware for these new technologies like VR, AR, MR...there are many exaggerated claims that need qualification (the long term benefits of digital wellbeing remain to be tested)  parts were surprisingly hard for me to read, i kept asking, "SO WHAT?"...most/many of the digital wellbeing outcomes can be had for FREE without digital devices, e.g., noticing walk, actively notice new things to increase mindfulness--i don't need an app or virtual...

PLAYING THE ODDS Nora Roberts (1985). Serena: Playing the Odds, &                                             Caine: Tempting Fate. Roberts is a high school graduate (having attended Catholic school with nuns prior to that) with no formal college education. She worked as a secretary and clerk before raising 2 sons. With this background, she became one of the most prolific and famous women novelists of all time.  These two novels are part of Robert's MacGregor series rooted in the war for Scottish freedom...these novels are set in modern day America. Justin Blake (casino owner) meets Serena MacGregor (from a wealthy family, working as a card dealer on a cruise ship)..."love, she realized, was the ultimate adventure"...poker, odds, betting, gambling are themes...in love, you risk it all. Diana Blade (Justin's younger sister--a Harvard lawyer) meet...

PRAGMATIC William James (1907). Pragmatism. James earned an MD in 1869, yet he is most well known for his writtings in psychology, philosophy, and religion. The book is a compilation of 8 lectures on pragmatism which are highly philosophical and intellectual--ironically (given the title "pragmatism"), the lectures have little concrete practical advice for everyday living which i found disappointing...i was so frustrated part way through reading the book that i took to reading only topic sentences...his book, Principles of Psychology , may have been a better choice for finding something pragmatic...i was fooled by the title. i turned to ChatGPT to extract something practical from the lectures and came up with (edited from chat): if two different beliefs have no important/meaningful differences in the actions they imply, then cease debating about which belief is better! for any advice or belief, ask: what changes in how i would live if i would enact this advice/belief? if nothi...

VOLUNTARY CONTROLS Jack Schwarz (1978). Voluntary Controls:                                               Exercises for Creative Meditation. Appears to have a Doctor of Naturalpathy associated with the Aletheia Foundation  (no public documents verifying his degree, no formal degrees), was involved in legitemate mind-body research experiments, especially with the Meninger Foundation. No teachers or formal dogma...he relies on his own experience and suggests that one must be active in experimenting with life, that we are the ultimate judge if an activity/practice/method is helpful for us...if the activity fits/aligns/benefits, fine, if not, change it to suit your particular needs, or drop it. practices projection screen...run your upcoming day as a movie on a screen from beginning to end (can also review at day's end in reverse to discover areas ...

1 THING DIFFERENT Bill O'Hanlon (1999). Do One Thing Different. O'Hanlon has an MS in Family Studies and has written over 30 books at the time of this writing. This is a pragmatic book that provides principles and examples of how to apply them based on "solution-oriented" therapy. Some of the practices: *if what you're doing isn't working, do 1 thing different that moves you in the direction of the desired outcome, evaluate the results, if not working, try something else, if working, keep doing that and/or improving on that...experiment with doing something different right before the "problem" begins. in personal relationships, when experiencing a "problem," accept what is going on (doesn't mean you like or agree with it), do not blame the other person, ask for what you want using action language treat the behavior part of sexual relationships like back scratching, direct the other person to scratch the itch...risk telling them what fee...

PARTY PANTS Loretta LaRoche (2003). Life is Short--Wear Your Party Pants . LaRoche has a BA in Speech Therapy and Communication, and an honorary doctorate for all her work in consulting and lectures/workshops on laughter and positive living. LaRoche provides practical advice for living the good life, citing research and supporting her ideas with entertaining stories from her own life. Some of the best advice (practices): find the source of stress and deal with it celebrate with your party pants/hat/attitude slow down, savor...this moment is life, feel and live it learn and grow from mistakes get inspired by good movies, poetry, books, music, art... accept what is, then try to improve on it be playful, exaggerate a situation until it becomes ridiculous, find the funny and laugh create a hat collection to change things up and elevate your mood turn the volume down and make space for quiet time invite your neighbors to coffee (or tea) at your house, find out about their life, how can you ...