Coueism or a Better Story?

“Every day in every way I’m getting better and better”

Fans of The Pink Panther will recognize this line. But it actually goes back to the French psychologist Émile Coué. He created the fad of Coueism one hundred years ago, an early version of positive thinking. He encouraged people to repeat this phrase twenty or more times a day, believing that our positive thoughts could heal whatever ails us.

In “Stories to Live By,” Alan Jacobs, writing before the election, observed that people were engaged in a form of Coueism. They were writing articles about the victory of one or the other when polling offered no basis for prediction. By their stories, they were “striving to speak a desirable outcome into being.” Some were vindicated; some were desolated. But why do we do this?

Jacobs turns to the late Joan Didion to make sense of all this. She believed we created these stories to live by to make sense out of a chaotic and baffling world. According to Jacobs, it is that or therapy, alcohol, or church.

Yet we are inveterate story lovers and story tellers. What I wonder about is whether we need better stories than the political ones we tell and find ourselves caught up in. Maybe the instinct to lose ourselves in a good book in distressing times is not an altogether bad idea.

Five Articles Worth Reading

Speaking of losing ourselves in a good book, People offered this list of “15 Cozy, Comforting, Stress-Free Books for When You Need an Escape from Reality.” Some are old favorites and others look like fun. And some are children’s books, which we adults need as well.

I’ve loved the books of Oliver Sacks. Maybe it is because in some pictures, he and I could be doppelgangers (at least I like to think). This week, a collection of his letters and the New York Times review, “The Early Loves of Oliver Sacks: Medicine, Muscles and Motorbikes,” captures so much of why this man fascinates us.

The prolific Alan Jacobs also writes about a new book on the poet W.H. Auden, who left England in 1939 for America, becoming an American citizen. In “Auden’s Island” he considers the book’s focus on Auden before that departure, and his prophetic vision of England, the island nation in the twilight of empire.

Then there are those who stayed in England through the war. “We Shall Fight in the Buttery” reviews Oxford’s War 1939–1945. Specifically, it explores the war effort of Oxford academics and how “Oxford’s supposedly daft boffins [including J. R. R. Tolkien] helped win the war.”

Finally, “IYKYK: When Novels Speak a Language Only Part of the Internet Gets,” chronicles a niche of writing where “If You Know You Know” or you end up searching the internet to make sense of the work. I wonder about a genre built on such nich-y and fleeting references. But maybe fifteen minutes of fame is enough.

Quote of the Week

Colson Whitehead was born November 7, 1969. He made this perceptive observation:

“What isn’t said is as important as what is said.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I have an email awaiting a response from a writer asking me to review a book taking a position with which I know I disagree. I don’t mind and even like reading books I don’t agree with. I think I am generally fair about accurately representing the writer’s point of view. In this case, I think I’m interested enough to read the book. But I think it’s only fair to tell the author I disagree and let him decide whether to have the book sent to me.

I’m trying a new feature on my Facebook page, doing 90 second “reels” once a week where I read a piece of poetry. Eighty-eight percent of readers do not read poetry. Maybe I can help just a bit. The big challenge? Learning to read poems aloud. I’ve listened to some good ones–most of whom have some delightful accent, something I lack.

I’m reveling in the latest Louise Penny mystery–I have to pace myself or I would just gobble it up. In The Grey Wolf, Gamache tries to stop a monstrous evil but doesn’t know who is behind it nor who he can trust. And amid all this, there is still room for the sharing of good food and the antics of Ruth Zardo.

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for November 3-9, 2024!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.