The Atlantic

A Once-in-a-Lifetime Chance to Start Over

It’s time to prepare for a new and better normal than your pre-pandemic life.
Source: JAN BUCHCZIK

How to Build a Lifeis a weekly column by Arthur Brooks, tackling questions of meaning and happiness.


Arthur C. Brooks will discuss the science of happiness live at 11 a.m. ET on May 20. Register for “In Pursuit of Happiness” here.


M I met a woman who had had the kind of experience you ordinarily only find in fiction. As a young adult, she was in a serious car accident, resulting in a head injury. She suffered a period of total amnesia, followed by months of convalescence. When she recovered, she was never the same: Her family relationships weakened; she cut out former friends and found new ones; she moved halfway across the world; her interests and tastes changed; she became more outgoing and

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