Book Blurb: The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F***
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F***: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life By Mark Manson
This is a popular one that has been around the block for a bit, but I feel like it could use some mention (especially before you check out the follow up book - Everything is F*****).
The title pretty much gives away Manson’s view on life - the idea that we give a f*** about way too many things and if we could just stop, maybe we’d be living better lives.
He does not however mean to throw everything to the wind and adopt a nihilistic lifestyle where one no longer cares about anything at all! No this is to care about the things that matter. The things that bring us joy and help each other and play into our hopes and dreams.
What he is cautioning against is the ever scheduled, ever connected ever growing list of minute things that turn into a world ending catastrophes or something that has to be done at all costs.
Examples:
Someone cutting you off in traffic
Needing the online like/share/follow or stranger to agree with your opinion
Needing the new shoe/bag/phone etc.
Your overpriced latte being too hot or cold
The white picket fence being eggshell
This book is then a reminder to slow down.
A reminder to reconnect to our values. To reconnect to what truly matters to us. To reconnect to our hopes, dreams, ambitions and goals.
Once we are reconnected, it can be easier to see the truth about ourselves and our lives. Manson is a fan of not making lemonade but stomaching the lemons.
Basically he is pro the idea that not everything is rainbows and unicorns and kittens. We are selfish, poorly communicating people who start wars and shove over grandmas.
This book encourages you to not cover up your skeletons but to embrace them in a way that leads you back to reconnect to what truly matters so that you can live a life for you and the people you love. While this idea is not radical, it does serve as a reminder that we are all flawed beings, and instead of putting the flaws on pedestals, maybe if we shifted our mindset, we could improve.
This improvement is certainly not easy and is not necessarily in line with the ever growing message of ‘be positive’, but it can resonate as practical.
So if you struggle to be positive and you feel like you have your care poker in too many fires, it may be time to give this book a read and truly reflect on Manson’s words.