Episode #123: Chop Suey! Happiness, mistakes we've made, and light but deep books.
Welcome to another Chop Suey episode! The Book Friends Forever talk about three random topics, catch up on each other’s lives, and share what they are grateful for. This week, Grace and Alvina talk about the two types of happy people, mistakes they've made on the job, and non-dark books that are also deep.
“How have you’ve been?”
Alvina talks about hurricane Henri coming through NYC and Grace goes on a beach trip to Watch Hill, RI and a friend almost drowns! She has also been working on her Maya Lin book for the She Persisted Series.
Two Kinds of Happy People:
Grace and Alvina talk about an article in the Atlantic by Arthur C. Brooks. It opens with, “Some of us strive for a virtuous life. Others strive for a pleasant one. We could all use a better balance.” The book friends define and discuss Epicurus vs Epictetus as Brooks mentions in the article:
“I have found that most of the serious approaches to happiness can be mapped onto two ancient traditions, promoted by the Greek philosophers Epicurus and Epictetus.”
Grace and Alvina figure out which tradition of happiness they fall under. They talk about Stoicism, goal setting, how to be happy, the meaning of life, the meaning of work, and wonder if pain is actually beneficial.
Mistakes We’ve Made:
From having pregnancy brain to being an assistant on the job and messing up someone’s coffee, the book friends talk about three of their mistakes in work that they’ve made. Hear about leaving original art work on a subway, drawing 6 toes instead of 5, (A Big Mooncake for Little Star), mis-spelling someone’s name on a book cover, and a few more!
Non-dark books that are also deep:
Gratefuls
Alvina is grateful that she didn’t have flooding in her basement and that Stephen can help prevent it. Grace is grateful for husband also because he has helped build her new zoom room for school visits! She’s also grateful for a fun new project with Phyllis Chen! She’s going to be creating art for her musical composition.
If you would like to share YOUR OWN grateful, you can do so as a Patreon member of this podcast! Please considering joining today!
Thank you for tuning in! Thank you to Hachette Audio, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, and Alex at Pacyworks Studio for producing and editing this podcast. Be sure to rate and review us on Apple Podcasts and tell a friend about us. (Use the hashtag #bookfriendsforever.)
You can find Alvina @Planetalvina on Twitter and TikTok and @Alvinaling on Instagram
You can find Grace @Pacylin on Twitter and Instagram and @gracelinauthor on TikTok and @authorgracelin on Facebook
Order the 2022 WTMMTM CALENDAR: https://shop.carlemuseum.org/category/books/autographed-books/grace-lin
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