Joining the Festival mid-way? No sweat! Here's what we did in week 1:

First, a quick word on what flourishing is, and why we think it's worth designing for:

The philosophy of human flourishing is about as old as philosophy itself; the science is much newer, going back only about 30 years.

They don't always line up, but they mostly agree on three things:

• It's about growth, development, and plenty. Flourish comes from the Latin florere, to bloom or blossom. Flourishing is abundant and generous, full of potential.
• It isn't a solo endeavour, you against the world. It's about what happens when you each cause the other to develop and grow. Flourishing increases abundance for everyone.
• It's within everyone's grasp - even in the face of adversity.

We could give you a lot of theory here - a list of check-boxes, a mnemonic - but we've found that what's most useful is getting a good feel for what flourishing looks and feels like for you.

That way when you're deciding what to cultivate and what to prune, you're designing for you, not the every-person from a research paper.

The only person who can do that design work is you, but like any good design process, there's no need to get it right the first time.

What's important is getting started, and refining as you go.