DAYNA'S DOSE

A collection of columns explores health, love, and happiness.

Mason’s column for the Seattle news site South King Media is dedicated to helping her readers improve their lives in small but meaningful ways. With this book, she gathers some of those pieces under one cover, many of them written during a stressful year characterized by a pandemic, nationwide protests, and a high-stakes election cycle. Some of the columns touch on topics specific to those crises. The first essay, for example, “Good riddance to the handshake,” is an analysis of just how disgusting that act of greeting—verboten in times of Covid-19—really is. Most of the essays, though, deal with more evergreen fare: how to be happily single, how to plan a wedding, how to let go of attachments, how to grieve. There are pieces for women over the age of 50, the sober-curious, and the God-curious as well as meditations on the benefits of “healthy narcissism,” boredom, and Santa Claus. Mason generally isn’t merely opining from the gut but rather rooting her columns in the research of scientists, historians, or psychologists. The essay on Santa, for example, cites the work of developmental psychologists on the positive effects of children believing—and eventually disbelieving—in the jolly elf. She then shifts to a discussion of magical thinking in adults and how nice it is that humans are “wired to perceive our world in a state of wonder.” Mason’s prose is cheerful and engaging, even when discussing serious issues. Here she addresses the lack of love in America’s current political discourse: “By ‘love’ I don’t mean the mushy let’s all hold hands and sing a sappy song kind of love. I’m talking about the selfless, unconditional kind. The kind of love that is other-oriented and sets aside differences to work together for a common good.” The length of the columns—most are three or four pages—prevents the author from delving deeply into any one issue. But as a survey of topics, particularly ones related to contentment and fulfillment, these short bites of condensed knowledge make for a rewarding read.

An enjoyable volume of thoughtful, motivational pieces from a Seattle columnist.