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Image Credits
Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society, 14, © AF archive/Alamy Stock Photo.
Death and Life by Gustav Klimt, 25, © FineArt/Alamy Stock Photo.
Ikiru, 32, © Photos 12/Alamy Stock Photo.
David Bowie applying Ziggy Stardust makeup, 39, © Roger Bamber/Alamy Stock Photo.
Death dice, 44, © Roman Krznaric.
Fight Between Carnival and Lent, 49, © Artepics/Alamy Stock Photo.
Display of trainers, 58, © Nik Taylor Sport/Alamy Stock Photo.
Maya Angelou, 71, © Everett Collection Historical/Alamy Stock Photo.
Don McCullin, 78, © epa European pressphoto agency b.v./Alamy Stock Photo.
Ashley Madison, 96, © Maurice Savage/Alamy Stock Photo.
Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, 102, © World History Archive/Alamy Stock Photo.
Mabel Loomis Todd, 108, © Todd-Bingham Picture Collection (MS 496E). Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library.
Surfing action, 141, © Buzz Pictures/Alamy Stock Photo.
Picasso draws a centaur, 158, © Gjon Mili/Getty Images.
The Old Fisherman by Pablo Picasso, 160, © 1997 Estate of Pablo Picasso/Artists Rights Society.
Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, 168, © Curved Light Australia/Alamy Stock Photo.
Roman’s diary, 174, © Roman Krznaric.
Worker bee, 177, © Roman Krznaric.
Berlin Wall juggler, 183, © Yann Forget/Wikimedia.
Protest graph, 190, © Isabel Ortiz, Sara Burke, Mohamed Berrada and Hernán Cortés. ‘World Protests 2006-2013’, Initative for Policy Dialogue and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung New York Working Paper, 2013.
The ballerina on the bull, 194, © Adbusters #occupywallstreet poster.
School of Santa Catarina Palopo, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, 211, © Globe Stock/Alamy Stock Photo.
Kitchen workshop, 224, © Roman Krznaric.
Alberto Giacometti, 230, © René Burri/Magnum Photos.
Carpe Diem mandala, 232, © Roman Krznaric.
Acknowledgments
This book has been created not just by its author, but by its readers. Rather than take up the offer of a regular publishing deal, I made a seize-the-day decision and opted to crowdfund the book instead. I owe enormous thanks to the over 480 people who gave their incredible support to the project, and am especially grateful to those who made major contributions, including Berry Liberman, Danny Almagor and Richard Raworth. There was also a group of intrepid readers who signed up to be Editorial Advisors, giving comments on chapter drafts. They all deserve special thanks for their incisive thoughts: Anne Fawcett, David Hare, Dom Emery, Jon Emery, Kath Boddy and Teresa Elwes.
None of it could have happened without the fabulous team at the crowdfunding publisher Unbound: my editor John Mitchinson, Dan Kieran, DeAndra Lupu, Phil Connor, Amy Winchester, Jimmy Leach, Isobel Frankish, Georgia Odd and Tamsin Shelton. Mark Bowsher made a superb video for the crowdfunding campaign and Mark Ecob created a breathtaking cover. Huge thanks to my wise and wonderful agent Maggie Hanbury and my fantastic US publisher Marian Lizzi, as well as my US agent Robin Straus, Harriet Poland, Ruth Killick, and the team at ILA. I’ve also been lucky to have Sophia Blackwell’s masterful editorial scalpel work over the text.
This is the first time I’ve ever worked with researchers on a book project: Tim Smith-Laing and Chris Whalen both used their sharp brains and scholarly nous to brilliant effect. Another first was holding dinner debates on the text with various friends and experts; thanks to good-humoured critiques from Adam Swift, Gina Cowen, Ita Mac Carthy, James Attlee, Martin Kalungu-Banda, Martin Stott, Rebecca Wrigley, Sophie Roell and Sue Gerhardt.
Conversations with Matthieu Ricard, Nigel Warburton and Sheldon Solomon were invaluable, as were comments from David Lewis, Lisa Gormley and Quentin Spender. I also received help and advice from Angelika Lueckert, Cecilia Macfarlane, Danielle Coombs, George Monbiot, Gijs van Hensbergen, John-Paul Flintoff, Peter Antonioni, Sophie Raworth, Ted Hunt and Uri Gordon.
My partner Kate Raworth gave me extraordinary support – reading chapters, challenging ideas, providing inspiration, solace and sustenance – all while writing her own book at the same time. Thank you for all the varieties of love you bring to my life. And to our children, Casimir and Siri, it’s now time for us all to seize the day together.
Index
About Time, (i), (ii)
Adams, John, (i)
Adbusters magazine, (i), (ii)
advertising, (i)
After Life, (i)
alcohol, (i), (ii)
Alexander II, Tsar, (i)
Algerian independence, (i), (ii)
Amazon, (i), (ii), (iii)
Amherst College, (i)
Amin, Idi, (i)
Angelou, Maya, (i), (ii), (iii)
Anti-Social app, (i)
Apple, greenhouse gas emissions, (i)
Arab Spring, (i), (ii)
Arabian Nights, (i)
‘Archimedes, screw of’, (i)
Arendt, Hannah, (i)
Ariès, Philippe, (i)
Aristotle, (i)
Ashley Madison website, (i), (ii), (iii)
assembly lines, (i)
Augustus, Emperor, (i), (ii)
Austen, Jane, (i)
Avaaz, (i)
Aztecs, (i)
Bacchanalia, (i), (ii)
Bacchus, (i)
Bach, Johann Sebastian, (i)
Baedeker, Karl, (i)
Bagwell, William, (i)
Baird, John Logie, (i)
Bassline, Tobias ‘TB’, (i)
Beatles, The, (i)
Beauvoir, Simone de, (i), (ii), (iii)
Becker, Ernest, (i)
Beckett, Samuel, (i)
Belfort, Jordan, (i)
Bell, Joshua, (i)
Bellow, Saul, (i)
Berger, John, (i), (ii)
Berli
n Wall, (i), (ii), (iii)
‘biotechnology of group formation’, (i)
Black Friday, (i), (ii)
Borges, Jorge Luis, (i)
Bosch, Hieronymus, (i)
Boston Tea party, (i)
Bowie, David, (i)
Boyhood, (i)
Brand New Testament, The, (i)
Brand, Stewart, (i)
Branson, Richard, (i)
Brennan, Gerald, (i)
British Journal of Sports Medicine, (i)
British Library, (i), (ii)
Britten, Benjamin, (i)
Bucket List, The, (i)
bucket lists, (i)
Buddhism, (i)
concept of impermanence, (i)
and mindfulness, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
and reincarnation, (i)
Burning Man festival, (i)
Burrroughs, William, (i)
Burton, Richard, (i)
Burton, Robert, (i)
Caligula, Emperor, (i)
Camus, Albert, (i), (ii), (iii)
Canetti, Elias, (i)
cannabis, (i), (ii)
Capone, Al, (i)
Carlyle, Thomas, (i)
Carnegie, Andrew, (i)
carnivals, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
Brazilian, (i), (ii)
and political activism, (i)
carpe diem, five interpretations of, (i)
Carpe Diem hostel, (i)
Carpe Diem Mandala, (i)
Carpe Diem nightclub, (i)
Carpe Diem software, (i)
Casanova, (i)
Castells, Manuel, (i), (ii)
Chaikovsky Circle, (i)
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, (i)
Chesterton, G.K.., (i)
Chōmei, Kamo no, (i)
Christianity
contemplative traditions, (i)
and cult of efficiency, 47, 49–50 and death, 24 and hedonism, (i), (ii)
climate change (global warming), (i), (ii), (iii)
Clinton, Bill, (i)
coca, (i), (ii)
cocaine, (i)
coffee, (i)
‘coffee shops’, Dutch, (i)
coitus interruptus, (i)
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, (i), (ii), (iii)
‘collective effervescence’, (i)
Comfort, Alex, (i)
concentration camps, (i)
‘concrete assignments’, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
Cooper, Andrew, (i)
Corbyn, Jeremy, (i)
Corkin, Suzanne, (i)
corroborree dances, (i)
Cosmos, (i)
Critical Mass movement, (i)
Crummack, Matthew, (i)
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, (i)
Curtis, Richard, (i)
dance craze, European, (i)
Dante, (i)
Darwin, Charles, (i)
Darwinism, (i)
Davis, Angela, (i)
Day of the Dead festival, (i)
de Bono, Edward, (i)
De Quincey, Thomas, (i)
Dead Poets Society, (i), (ii), (iii)
death and dying, (i)
Death Cafés, (i)
Death Dice, (i)
Debord, Guy, (i)
Dench, Judi, (i)
‘destructiveness of the crowd’, (i)
diaries, (i)
Dickinson, Austin, (i)
Dickinson, Emily, (i), (ii)
Dionysus, (i)
Dolphy, Eric, (i)
dopamine, (i)
‘double awareness’, (i)
Douglas, Lord Alfred, (i)
Drake (rapper), (i)
drug use, (i), (ii)
Duncan, Ronald, (i)
Durkheim, Emile, (i)
Eagleman, David, (i)
Earhart, Amelia, (i)
Ebola epidemic, (i)
Ecstasy, (i)
ecstasy, collective, (i), (ii)
efficiency, cult of, (i), (ii)
Ehrenreich, Barbara, (i), (ii), (iii)
ekstasis, (i)
El Greco, (i)
electronic dance music, (i)
Elephant Man, The, (i)
Eleusinian Mysteries, (i)
Eliot, George, (i)
Eliot, T.S., (i), (ii)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, (i), (ii), (iii)
Eminem, (i)
emotional state theory, (i)
Empathy Museum, (i)
Enlightenment, (i), (ii)
Enron, (i)
Epicurus, (i), (ii)
Erie Railroad, (i)
‘eternal recurrence’, (i)
ethics, and choice, (i)
EU referendum, (i), (ii)
eudaimonia, (i)
Evgarius Ponticus, (i)
‘existential vacuum’, (i)
existentialism, (i), (ii), (iii)
‘experience’ (the word), (i)
exuberance, (i), (ii), (iii)
Fanon, Frantz, (i)
Feast of Fools, (i)
feminism, (i), (ii)
Feynman, Richard, (i)
Fisher, M.F.K., (i)
FitzGerald, Edward, (i), (ii)
Fitzgerald, F. Scott, (i)
Flaubert, Gustave, (i)
Flintoff, John-Paul, (i)
flow, (i), (ii)
FOMO (fear of missing out), (i)
food, (i)
football, Brazilian, (i)
Ford, Henry, (i)
Forster, E.M., (i)
Foucault, Michel, (i)
Fox News, (i)
Frahm, Nils, (i)
Frankl, Viktor, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
Franklin, Benjamin, (i)
freedom, and spontaneity, (i)
Freeman, Morgan, (i)
Freeman, Walter, (i)
Freud, Sigmund, (i)
Freyre, Gilberto, (i)
Friends of the Earth, (i)
Fromm, Erich, (i)
Front National, (i)
Frost, Robert, (i)
G8 summit, (i)
Galeano, Eduardo, (i)
Gandhi, Mahatma, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)
Generation Y, (i)
Geographical Society, (i)
Giacometti, Alberto, (i)
Glastonbury festival, (i)
Global Justice Movement, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)
global warming, see climate change
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, (i), (ii)
Golden Dawn, (i), (ii)
Goleman, Daniel, (i)
Gorbachev, Mikhail, (i)
Gould, Jay, (i)
Gove, Michael, (i)
Goya, Francisco, (i)
Graduate, The, (i)
Graeber, David, (i)
Great Depression, (i)
Greaves, Jimmy, (i)
Greer, Germaine, (i)
happiness, (i)
Harold and Maude, (i), (ii), (iii)
Harris, Tristan, (i)
Harrison, Tony, (i)
harvest festivals, (i)
hedonism
Christianity and, (i), (ii)
Romans and, (i)
Hemingway, Ernest, (i)
Heraclitus, (i)
Herrick, Robert, (i), (ii), (iii)
Hesiod, (i)
Hillel the Elder, (i)
Hinduism, (i)
HIV/AIDS, (i)
Hoare, Eve, (i), (ii)
Hobsbawm, Eric, (i)
Holocaust, (i)
homosexuality, criminalisation of, (i)
Hong Kong ‘Umbrella Revolution’, (i), (ii)
Horace, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv)
and mindfulness, (i), (ii)
and political activism, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)
and spontaneity, (i), (ii)
horizontalism, (i), (ii)
Housman, A.E., (i)
Hurst, Geoff, (i)
Huxley, Aldous, (i), (ii), (iii)
‘hybrid public space’, (i)
Ikuru, (i),
(ii)
improvisation, (i), (ii)
Indignados movement, (i), (ii), (iii)
Industrial Revolution, (i), (ii), (iii)
information overload, (i)
‘intermittent variable rewards’, (i)
iPhone, (i), (ii)
Iroquois Great Law of Peace (Kaianerekowa), (i)
Irvine, William, (i)
Islam, and death, (i)
J18, (i)
Jäger, Harald, (i)
Jamison, Kay Redfield, (i)
Jaspers, Karl, (i)
Jobs, Steve, (i)
Johnson, Boris, (i)
Johnstone, Keith, (i)
Jordan, Bernard, (i), (ii)
Jordan, Michael, (i)
Judaism, and death, (i)
Kabat-Zinn, Jon, (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)
Kabuki theatre, (i)
Kahneman, Daniel, (i)
Kama Sutra, (i)
Kamikaze pilots, (i)
Kant, Immanuel, (i), (ii)
Karnatak music, (i)
Kemp, Lindsay, (i)
Kenney, Padraic, (i), (ii)
King, Martin Luther, (i)
King James Bible, (i)
Klein, Naomi, (i)
Klimt, Gustav, (i)
Koch brothers, (i)
Koka Shastra, (i)
Kringelbach, Morten, (i), (ii)
Kropotkin, Peter, (i)
Kurosawa, Akira, (i)
Laing, R.D., (i)
Lakoff, George, (i)
Lao Tzu, (i)
Larkin, Philip, (i), (ii)
Le Pen, Marine, (i)
Leigh Fermor, Patrick, (i), (ii)
Leipzig, (i), (ii)
Lennon, John, (i)
Leonardo da Vinci, (i)
Lewes, G.H., (i)
Libitina, (i)
Life magazine, (i)
Linklater, Richard, (i)
Livy, (i)
Locke, John, (i), (ii)
logotherapy, (i), (ii)
Lombardo, Guy, (i)
London International Financial Futures Exchange, (i)
Lonely Planet, (i)
loss aversion, (i)
LSD, (i)
McCullin, Don, (i)
McCullin, (i)
McEnroe, John, (i)
Macfarlane, Cecilia, (i)
Machiavelli, Niccolò, (i)
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, (i)
Malcolm X, (i)
Man on Wire, (i)
Man Who Fell to Earth, The, (i)
management consultancy, (i)
Mander, Jerry, (i)
Marcus Aurelius, Emperor, (i)
Marley, Bob, (i), (ii)
Marvell, Andrew, (i), (ii)
Marx, Groucho, (i)
Mason, Paul, (i)
Matrix, The, (i)
Carpe Diem Regained Page 27