La Belle Vie Show

With this episode, we are wrapping up our class, “The Meaning of Life,” as well as season 2 of La Belle Vie Show. We take a look at the teachings of the Native American holy man, John Fire Lame Deer and the 14th Dalai Lama. Both emphasize the critical need for our connection to the world around us and having compassion and respect for all living beings. We conclude that as many of the thinkers in this course has shown us, contemplating life’s big questions is a key to finding meaning in life and we look forward to continuing to do that on the show. Lastly, we share our words for 2019, words that we want front of mind in this new year. NOTED The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions, the Great Courses John Fire Lame Deer the 14th Dalai Lama karuna: the perfect virtue of compassion Take Off Your Shoes by Ben Feder Tidying Up with Marie Kondo Featured Image: Apple Blossoms, Charles-François Daubigny, 1873     Please help us spread the word about our show! The best way to do that is to subscribe and to leave us a rating/review in iTunes so more people can find us. Thank you so much!    

We continue our discussion of the course “The Meaning of Life” and the concept of true freedom as defined by two seemingly unrelated figures, Friedrich Nietzsche and Mahatma Gandhi. We felt liberated by Nietzsche’s idea of being the heroines of our own autobiographies but then felt the brakes applied by Gandhi’s call to conscience. He had us reevaluating our values and generally reassessing our lives, all of which may be uncomfortable but necessary for a meaningful life. NOTED The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions, the Great Courses Friedrich Nietzsche Mahatma Gandhi Gandhi (1982) Featured Image: The Cultivation of Ideas, Rene Magritte, 1928   Please help us spread the word about our show! The best way to do that is to subscribe and to leave us a rating/review in iTunes so more people can find us. Thank you so much!  

We continue our discussion of the course “The Meaning of Life” and with the theme of death in a lecture on Tolstoy’s the Death of Ivan Ilyich. Tolstoy shows us that instead of confronting death and reflecting on whether we are living as we should, we are preoccupied with everyday matters that are trivial in the end. This message resonated strongly with us. We also touch on John Stuart Mill’s emphasis on liberty and self-expression and Immanuel Kant’s idea of advancing knowledge for a meaningful life. We end this episode on a personal note with Kristen recommitting to a meditation practice and schooling Ally on some new exercise ideas to get her out of her lethargic state. NOTED The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions, the Great Courses The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy John Stuart Mill Immanuel Kant Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast rebounders Plate28 Featured Image: Kallmünz, Regentag, Wassily Kandinsky,1903   We need your help to spread the word about our show. The best way to do that is to subscribe and to leave us a rating/review in iTunes so more people can find us. Thank you so much!      

We are continuing our discussion of the course “The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions” with a look at Hume’s emphasis on society as the basis of finding happiness and why it is reasonable to believe in things that may not necessarily be rational. We then delve a little into the topic of aging, caring for elderly parents, and finding meaning at the end of life (which was a more uplifting conversation than it may sound)! NOTED The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions, The Great Courses David Hume (1711-1776) Featured Image: Creation of Crow, Rick Bartow, 2014

We continue with our discussion of the course “The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions” with a look at Buddhism. We focus in on the central concept of the impermanence of all things and how this connects us with the meaning of life. This has renewed our enthusiasm for practicing mindfulness and commitment to being more present. NOTED The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions, The Great Courses koan: a paradoxical anecdote or riddle to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment awar?: fleeting beauty Featured Image: Almond Blossom, Vincent van Gogh, 1890

We continue our discussion of the course “The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions” with an exploration of Confucianism and Daoism.  While Confucianism focuses on formality and culture and Daoism takes an almost opposite view emphasizing simplicity and subjectivity, it seems to us that taken together, they can get us closer to finding meaning in life, even in contemporary existence.   NOTED The Meaning of Life: Perspective’s from the World’s Great Intellectual Traditions, The Great Courses wu-wei: spontaneity or effortlessness; effortless excellence Zhuangzi Featured Image: Impression, Sunrise, Claude Monet, 1872   We need your help to spread the word about our show. The best way to do that is to subscribe and to leave us a rating/review on iTunes so more people can find us. Thank you!