Striving for happiness as the purpose of life, as we are led to believe is a pillar of modern society, is a mistake. It leads us nowhere, except towards a bitter confrontation with unmet expectations, disappointment and disillusion. Striving for meaning and purpose in being close to others, on the other hand, is what life is all about. Our society has become an arena of peak performance: of always striving to be better, to go further, and to aim higher.

What's worse: we hardly ever stop to consider that the highs don't fill up our lows. We fail to distinguish between experiences that make us happy for a brief moment, and those that truly impart meaning to our lives, those that breed true contentment. But how can we grow to make that distinction ourselves? The answer lies in how we relate ourselves to the ones around us. That makes all the difference.

With The Art of Being Unhappy, multi-bestselling author Dirk De Wachter lays bare major issues in our society that define, direct, or change our lives, but above all, allow us to connect with others as well as ourselves - if we let them.