The recent death of actor Leslie Nielsen touched me with sadness; he was a good actor and a funny man, and his films made me laugh till my cheeks ached. It made me reflect on how — if at all — any of us can expect to be remembered after our death and whether our existence will be marked in any meaningful way.

Call it “voluntary simplicity”, call it “lifehacking”, call it “downshifting”, or call it what you will, bigger is no longer better. Now “less” is chic and trendy. If you can whittle the sum total of your possessions down to 100 or less, you could be the next Internet celebrity. But the simplicity movement, like most movements, has a shadow. Let’s take a look at what can go wrong when you hop on the simplicity bandwagon.

Ask the Psychologist contributor Dr Jim Bierman has passed along a special code good for 50% off his book Of Sound Mind to Marry. The discount is paid for partly by authors giving up their royalties on the sales, so thank you Dr Bierman!

Even though we’re not always inclined toward empathy and generosity or to live out our best ideals, perhaps the biggest blessing we all share is that we live in a world where so many people really do care for one another.

Death and mourning are both ubiquitous and yet unique. We are all bound to go through it sooner or later, and for each of us, it will be a singular and individual experience. Yet modern life demands that the laying to rest of loved ones must, by necessity, proceed according to imposed schedules. And that can mean a clash between the needs of the individual for time to mourn and those of society to provide funeral services for all.

Are emotions like a cold? Can you be caught by others’ emotions? I think so. Just like we have some immunity to colds, and we won’t get one every time we are exposed, we can develop some immunity to others’ emotions.

It’s been known for centuries that animals have an important part to play in promoting feelings of wellbeing amongst people with emotional problems or physical ill-health. And it doesn’t have to be in a formal setting either; making positive contact with other people, and the good feelings this can foster, can sometimes be an awful lot easier if you have a four-legged friend alongside you.