What it means to truly pay attention (w/ Kevin Townley)

Chris Duffy· Host0:00

[upbeat music] You are listening to How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host, Chris Duffy. One thing that people have been asking me a lot these days when they find out that I wrote a book about humor is, "How do you find things to laugh at when the world is so dark and so ominous? Where is the funny when we live in such unfunny times?" And I think that is actually a very good question. It's one that I have been asking myself a lot. What's the role of art or beauty or joy right now? Today's guest, Kevin Townley, is a person who I think gives a very compelling answer. Kevin is one of the funniest and cleverest people I know, but he is also a longtime meditation teacher, and he is the author of the book Look, Look, Look, Look, Look Again: Buddhist Wisdom Reflected in 26 Artists. Today, Kevin is gonna talk to us about some of the deep lessons about life and suffering and survival that we can find in art. He's gonna share how looking closely and carefully at works of art and the world around us can allow us to get into some of the deepest existential questions that humans wrestle with in religion. But as you'll see, he's also gonna make us laugh along the way. To get us started, here's a clip of Kevin reading an excerpt from his book about why he believes creativity and spiritual discovery are parallel paths.

Kevin Townley· Guest1:19

"After falling in love with art, I obviously developed an abiding soft spot for tortured artists. You know, the poor individuals for whom the protective membrane