Insights & Stories

PhiloLife Blog

Reflections on philosophy, wellbeing, and the art of living well.

Sep 3, 2026Dr. Joelle Samaha

When Anger Becomes Information: From Emotional Reaction to Inner Coherence

What if the intensity of our anger is not only about what happened, but about what the situation made us feel about ourselves? Someone questions a decision you made. Something goes wrong despite having given 100%. Someone offers feedback. A partner expresses disappointment. Your child struggles, and suddenly you find yourself wondering what others will think of you as a parent. On the surface, the emotion may be anger. But from a coaching perspective, there is often value in becoming curious about the process occurring between what happened and how we responded. Because sometimes, what was said and what we heard internally are two very different things.

Education

Jul 10, 2026Dr. Joëlle Samaha

Educating for Vital Coherence: Redefining Wellbeing Education Through Philosophy, Mindfulness and Skills for My Life

Long before a child sits their first exam, they have already begun forming a philosophy of life. They develop beliefs about who they are, how safe the world feels, how to respond to failure, whether their voice matters, and what it means to succeed.

The Day a Coin Taught Me to Trust the Path

Storytime

Jun 18, 2026Dr. Joëlle Samaha

The Day a Coin Taught Me to Trust the Path

In early March, on a flight to Mauritius, my earbud slipped under my seat. A small, ordinary annoyance, until I reached down to retrieve it and found something else instead: a coin. I assumed it was local currency, slipped it into my pocket, and didn’t think about it again. What I couldn’t see in that moment was how unaligned I felt with the trip itself. Externally, I was traveling. Internally, I was in resistance.

Events

Jun 18, 2026Dr. Joëlle Samaha

What is Normal?

The more I have studied health, wellbeing, disease, and human experience, the more I have found myself returning to a deceptively simple question: What is normal? It is a word we use every day. Your test results are normal. Your reaction is normal. This is normal for your age. This is normal in your culture. This is normal in your family. But have we ever stopped to ask what we actually mean by normal?