Woman reading with coffee in her hand, podcast episode about the good life and enoughness with Professors Andreas Elpidoru & Avram Alpert

The Secrets of Good-Enoughness and The Good Life

Original Air Date Wednesday, October 26, 2022 

There is a wide gap between feeling not enough and good enough. The secret to feeling good enough is using boredom and frustration to propel us forward toward achieving our goals. We become frustrated when we face obstacles to getting things we care about and it forces us to try another way of something new. By embracing our imperfections, and relinquishing our need to be right, we can all lead a good-enough life.

To discover how to use our emotions in a way that creates a greater good for ourselves and our community, Harvesting Happiness Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two professors and authors about how to live a good life.

The author of Propelled: How Boredom, Frustration, and Anticipation Lead Us to the Good Life, Professor Andreas Elpidorou describes how boredom and frustration are often misinterpreted and can be real opportunities for improving life experiences.

And, the author of The Good-Enough Life, Professor Avram Alpert shares his secrets for good-enoughness and how being a part of the social construct offers a greater good for all.

Tune in:

Meet Our Guests:

Guest of The Secrets of Good-Enoughness and The Good Life with Professors Andreas Elpidorou & Avram Alpert

Andreas Elpidorou is a Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Louisville. He specializes in the philosophical study of the mind with an emphasis on emotions and consciousness. Author of Propelled: How Boredom, Frustration, and Anticipation Lead us to the Good Life, his work on the nature and value of boredom has received worldwide media attention.

Book: Propelled: How Boredom, Frustration, and Anticipation Lead Us to the Good Life

Andreas Elpidorou — The Good Life:

  • Andreas explains why happiness can not be a stable condition. {1:42}
  • In his book, Propelled, Andreas shares how boredom and frustration have useful roles in our lives. {5:40}
  • The connection between boredom and depression. {10:15}
  • Frustration arrives when we encounter an obstacle to something we want to accomplish. {15:03}
  • The deliciousness of anticipation. {20:00}

Follow Andreas Elpidorou:

Guest of The Secrets of Good-Enoughness and The Good Life with Professors Andreas Elpidorou & Avram Alpert

Presently a Fellow at the New Institute in Hamburg, Germany, Avram “Avi” Alpert received his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught at Princeton and Rutgers and is the author of three books. In 2018 he co-founded the Interdisciplinary Art and Theory Program at Jack Shainman Gallery where he now serves as an advisor.

Book: The Good-Enough Life

Avram Alpert — The Secrets of Good-Enoughness:

  • In his book, The Good-Enough Life, Avram describes what it means for life to be good enough. {26:33}
  • The importance of community and civic responsibility in living a good-enough life. {32:48}
  • How embracing imperfections allows us to feel good enough. {39:19}
  • Living the good-enough life reminds us that humans all share certain values and it is in those values that we find empathy for each other. {44:57}

Follow Avram “Avi” Alpert:

Shareables:

“Happiness can not be a stable condition.” @aelpidorou on @HHTalkRadio  Share on X “We are trying to engineer our lives and try to construct the best life we can.” @aelpidorou on @HHTalkRadio  Share on X “Part of where our happiness comes from is through our drive to improve our experience.” @avramalpert on @HHTalkRadio Share on X “Democracy is an appreciation of our imperfections.” @avramalpert on @HHTalkRadio Share on X

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Grab More Joy Below:

Are We Happy Yet? Eight Keys to Unlocking a Joyful Life — A boot camp manual for greater emotional fitness. Happiness waits for no one and sometimes we all need support. What is getting in the way of your happiness right now?

H–Factor: Where is Your Heart? — Lisa’s documentary film explores the journey of human happiness. Emotions are contagious and happiness is a universally desired state. We tend to forget we all have the freedom to be happy or the liberty to be miserable each day.

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