101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think

Wiest offers action items to take when irrational thoughts feel consuming. They begin with “stop,” “ask,” “let go,” “focus,” and much more. For example, she urges the reader to create something, speak to others, accept the truth of their negative feelings, plan, write, and experience other things to compare them to this feeling. The final one begins with “trust.”

This essay focuses on the act of creating and how it is core to the human experience. Wiest believes that art reveals truths about the world and oneself. The best way to reach this state of Zen is to let yourself get there naturally without judgment.

Wiest argues that the decision to see life as an opportunity for growth and change is the thing that ends suffering. Without creating one’s own meaning in life, one will constantly suffer.