The Fix For a “Boring Life“ - Sei Shonagen - The Pillow Book

It feels natural, at times, to lament how boring our lives are. We do the same things each week, nothing special or exciting ever seems to happen. We enviously compare our dull routines to the adventures of others. An antidote to our sense of tedium can be found a thousand years ago in the work of Sei Shonagon, a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Place in Kyoto. Sign up to our mailing list to receive 10% off your first order with us: For books and more from The School of Life, visit our online shop: Our website has classes, articles and products to help you lead a more fulfilled life: If you want to keep working on your mental well-being and self-understanding, download our hugely helpful new app now: For information on The School of Life’s learning and wellbeing solutions for businesses, including workshops and talks, visit Email business@ or join our monthly business newsletter: Join this channel to get access to exclusive members perks: FURTHER READING You can read more on this and other subjects on our blog, here: “It feels natural, at times, to lament how boring our lives are. We do the same sorts of things each week, nothing special or exciting ever seems to happen. We enviously compare our dull routines to the adventures of others. An antidote to our sense of tedium can be found in the work of Sei Shonagon. Around a thousand years ago, she kept a journal of the decade or so she spent as a lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Place in Kyoto, then the capital of Japan. Despise the high-status of her job, her daily life was, externally, deeply uneventful: an afternoon’s carriage ride outside the walls of the court compound might be the highlight of a year; a day trip to hear a sermon in a temple seems to have been the farthest extent of her travels; she spent all most all of her time indoors, in just two or three rooms; she saw the same few people month after month; her work largely involved keeping respectfully silent, knowing when to bow and remembering the complex titles of various officials…” MORE SCHOOL OF LIFE Watch more films on EASTERN PHILOSOPHY in our playlist: SOCIAL MEDIA Feel free to follow us at the links below: Facebook: Twitter: Instagram: LinkedIn: CREDITS Produced in collaboration with: Zedem Media Title animation produced in collaboration with Vale Productions