The Art of Living Reflections on Mindfulness and the Overexamined Life

In The Art of Living, beloved cartoonist Grant Snider—author of The Shape of Ideas and I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf—has created a humorous, uplifting look at mindfulness in this collection of one- and two-page comics that map his inner thoughts, poetic observations, and frequent failures at living mindfully.

Find a quiet spot away from all distraction / Listen to your breath / Watch your thoughts float past you / Forget the obligations of today / Try not to consider your eventual decay / Let yourself drift away / Arise, connected with the Earth / Awakened to the Universe.

With both humor and a touch of reality, The Art of Living centers on mindfulness, but also empathy, relaxation, gratitude, and awareness—evergreen subjects that are more important and relevant now than ever. In a striking package, the reflections Grant Snider shares are an extension of the themes of his first two books—which explored the creative process and the love of reading—and is the perfect gift for those in a need of reflection, commiseration, hope, and a little extra self-care. Above all, Snider’s cartoons will inspire and encourage a more thoughtful way of experiencing the world.

Grant Snider is an orthodontist by day and an artist by night. He is the author of The Shape of Ideas and I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf, along with several picture books for young readers, including Blue Floats Away by Travis Jonker. His comics have been featured in the Kansas City Star, the New York Times, and the New Yorker, as well as The Best American Comics 2013 anthology. He lives in Wichita, Kansas, with his wife and five children. Visit him online at incidentalcomics.com.