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Video Highlights from Around the Web
Videos are the most information-dense form of media. There is not enough time in a single life to watch all of the inspiring and informative videos out there. So we’ve collected a handful of our favorites with themes of well-being and a life well-lived.
TED Talks
Our top 10 favorite lectures from TED.
The lies our culture tells us about what matters — and a better way to live
Our society is in the midst of a social crisis, says op-ed columnist and author David Brooks: we’re trapped in a valley of isolation and fragmentation. How do we find our way out?
There’s more to life than being happy
Our culture is obsessed with happiness, but what if there’s a more fulfilling path? Happiness comes and goes, says writer Emily Esfahani Smith, but having meaning in life — serving something beyond yourself and developing the best within you — gives you something to hold onto.
Life on Purpose: How Living for What Matters Changes Everything
Vic’s passion is purpose and his purpose is passion. For nearly a decade, he’s been on a continuing quest to help over one billion people find greater purpose and meaning in their lives.
Religion, evolution, and the ecstasy of self-transcendence
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt asks a simple, but difficult question: why do we search for self-transcendence? Why do we attempt to lose ourselves? In a tour through the science of evolution by group selection, he proposes a provocative answer.
What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness
What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it’s fame and money, you’re not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you’re mistaken.
The art of being yourself
Caroline McHugh discusses perception, ego, and the role of our own reflective identity in well-being.
A kinder, gentler philosophy of success
Alain de Botton examines our ideas of success and failure — and questions the assumptions underlying these two judgments. Is success always earned? Is failure?
Why governments should prioritize well-being
In 2018, Scotland, Iceland and New Zealand established the network of Wellbeing Economy Governments to challenge the acceptance of GDP as the ultimate measure of a country’s success. In this visionary talk, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon explains the far-reaching implications of a “well-being economy”
The new era of positive psychology
Martin Seligman talks about psychology — as a field of study and as it works one-on-one with each patient and each practitioner. As it moves beyond a focus on disease, what can modern psychology help us to become?
The surprising science of happiness
Dan Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, challenges the idea that we’ll be miserable if we don’t get what we want. Our “psychological immune system” lets us feel truly happy even when things don’t go as planned.
Animated Videos
Life and Music
An animated tribute from Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, to a talk by Alan Watts.
Success at School vs Success in Life
School of Life presents what they didn’t teach you in school, and why it’s important.
Mom – A Mother, Missing Home
A story of a woman, who was a baby, daughter, lady, wife, and mom.
Rose
A touching CGI short film about motherhood and loss.
Sidewalk
A woman walks through life, confronts her changing body, and learns to love herself.
Here’s the Plan
A married cat-dog couple of cupcake bakers dream of opening their own bakery. One day their oven breaks and they have to postpone their dream in order to earn money and replace it.
Happily Ever After
A Journey into the future of a young couple moving in together for the first time.
The Missing Scarf
A whimsical tale of love, adventure, and challenge.
Happiness (Rat Race)
A brilliant animated satire of the modern condition, begging the question “what in the world are we working for?”
Yearbook | The Screening Room | The New Yorker
With the end of the world imminent, a man is hired to write the history of human existence. Who are the people and what are the events that should be remembered?
Model Citizen
A dystopian short film that questions the role of family, love, and society in life.
Zero
In a world that judges people by their number, Zero faces constant prejudice and persecution. He walks a lonely path until a chance encounter changes his life forever: he meets a female zero. Together they prove that through determination, courage, and love, nothing can be truly something.
What Are You Doing With Your Life? The Tail End
Wrapping your mind around your life is pretty hard, because you are up to your neck in it. It’s like trying to understand the ocean while learning how to swim…
Mark Osborne’s MORE
A short dystopian tale in claymation, MORE comments (without dialogue) on the deficit of well-being in the modern rat race, the emptiness of some forms of “happiness,” and the nature of power and wealth as thieves of our childlike innocence.
Inspirational and Other Videos
What If Money Was No Object?
An inspirational video set to Alan Watts.
What room does fear have?
An inspiring dance number full of spirit and heart.
IMAX Comic Voyage: Powers of Ten
Zoom out and experience a cosmic perspective.
Carl Sagan – Pale Blue Dot
A timeless speech from Carl Sagan.
Empathy: The Human Connection to Patient Care
What if we could see through to the challenges people were facing?
Ellie and Carl from UP
So much of life is captured in this sad, moving clip from the beginning of Pixar’s Up.
Koinophobia: The Fear that You’ve Lived an Ordinary Life
A zoomed-out look at the question of living well, from a little-used word.
The Time You Have (In JellyBeans)
Seeing a life quantified visually puts into perspective the intimate, inevitable nature of death and the transience of life.
Optimistic Nihilism
This philosophy, central to the team at Kurzgesagt, is a sort of least common denominator on approaching the existential experience, and an extremely helpful starting point for any perspective on life.
Defending Your Life
An excerpt from “Defending Your Life” portrays a bureaucratic afterlife in which one must justify their actions and be placed for reincarnation.
Shots of Awe
Jason Silva on breaking free from routine and allowing ourselves to be more present in the pursuit of our true self. Curiosity or wonder is infinite.
Feel A Bit Misty?
Exposing oneself to this much wisdom (there’s an unlimited amount out there) can be a funny thing…like walking through mist, you can be exposed to droplets of wisdom without them necessarily sticking.
And, it’s not a bad thing. Surrounding ourselves with wisdom-based content can be rewarding. And there is a page devoted to just these sorts of collections. Check it out if you want more: