
Often the best and easiest way to improve your own sense of well-being and meaningfulness is to switch your lens: Concentrate less on yourself and more on being connected with others, says philosopher and psychology researcher Frank Martela. Identify the people who give you vitality, strength and love, and spend time with them.

Andrew Solomon regularly writes — beautifully — of people coping in unthinkable conditions: a woman who learns to love the daughter she bore after being raped; the father who tries to come to terms with his murderous son. Figuring out a way to cope with purposeless tragedy poses a real challenge for meaning-making humans. Thu Ha digs in.