Varieties of Melancholy : A Hopeful Guide to Our Somber Moods

This is a book that celebrates the most neglected but valuable emotion we can feel: Melancholy. An insightful and consoling guide to the melancholic state of mind.Melancholy isn’t depression or anger or bitterness, it’s a serene, accepting, gentle, wise and kindly response to the difficulties and occasional misery of being alive. It steers an ideal mid-way course between despair on the one hand and naïve optimism on the other. But melancholy is a well-kept secret. Those who feel the pull of melancholy moods tend to stay quiet about their tastes. We don’t often hear melancholy being celebrated or accorded the respect that it deserves. Melancholy languishes unexplored in a hyper-competitive, noisy, frantic age. And yet the emotion heartily deserves exploration, it is one that leads to reflection and thoughtfulness. The School of Life Library: At The School of Life, we have been studying human nature for many years. We established The School of Life Press to condense our learning into a collection of wise and considered texts. Our titles are designed to entertain, educate, console and transform. This is a book that celebrates the most neglected but valuable emotion we can feel: melancholy. Melancholy isn't depression, rage, or bitterness, it's a serene, wise, and kindly response to the difficulties of being alive. It steers a mid-way course between despair on the one hand and naïve optimism on the other. But melancholy is a well-kept secret. Those who feel the pull of melancholy moods tend to stay quiet. We don't often hear melancholy being celebrated or accorded the respect that it deserves. It languishes unexplored in a hyper-competitive, noisy, frantic age. This book carefully collects and interprets a selection of the most universally recognizable melancholy states of mind, rendering us less confused by our precious yet elusive feelings. We discover the melancholy of Sunday evenings and the melancholy of adolescence, the melancholy of parties and the melancholy of crushes. Offering a varied portrait of melancholy and its range of emotions, Varieties of Melancholy leads the reader to both insight, acceptance, and self-compassion. This is a book that celebrates the most neglected but valuable emotion we can feel: melancholy. This book carefully collects and interprets a selection of the most universally recognisable melancholy states of mind, and thereby renders us less confused by our precious yet elusive feelings.