The Week on the PAHM: 31 October 2026

The Week on the PAHM for 31 October 2026 is five headlines from the week, each placed on the map. The map is the Present Attention and Happiness Matrix from my book, The Return of Attention: past, present or future, combined with liking, disliking or neutral, which makes the nine attention states. The book's claim is that only one of the nine, the present with nothing added, is in contact with what is actually happening, and that the other eight each cost something now. Each placement below ends with that cost.

The short version

• Halloween spending rose again, and most of it was spent before the night arrived.
• Milwaukee won its first World Series; on the map, an arrival is where the next want begins.
• AI is saving many workers an hour or more a week, and the work expected of them is rising too.
• Thirteen happiness researchers described what their work changed in their own lives.
• A Barcelona trial found loneliness eased in both of the groups it compared.

Which of these does your mind visit most? See your mind score - free.

1. Halloween, bought in advance

Americans were expected to spend about $13.5 billion on Halloween this year, up from $13.1 billion last year, or roughly $115 a person on costumes, decorations and candy, according to National Retail Federation figures reported this week. Source

On the map: the weeks of choosing a costume are Future + Likes (anticipation), and the doorbell on the night is Present + Likes (holding). The cost of the first, in the book's account, is the one behind I'll be happy when: attention spends the evening before it comes, and the night is then measured against the picture.

2. Milwaukee arrives

Last week's edition placed Milwaukee's eight days of waiting under Future + Likes. On Wednesday the Brewers beat the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 to win the first World Series in the club's history. Source

On the map: the arrival is Present + Likes (holding), one of the pleasant positions nobody tries to leave. Its cost is a quiet one: the feeling starts to fade while it is held, and attention moves on to the next thing it wants, next season included.

3. The hour AI saves

A Hubstaff survey of 1,068 full-time US workers, released on Tuesday, found that 79 percent use AI tools at work. Among those who reported saving time, 76 percent save at least an hour a week; 39 percent say they finish earlier, 26 percent take on more work, and 46 percent say the workload expected of them has gone up. Source

On the map: a freed hour has no position until attention goes somewhere. Spent planning what comes next, and ended with an action, it is Future + Neutral (planning), which the book treats as functional. Spent rehearsing the next demand, it becomes Future + Dislikes (worry), and its cost is the present hour it was supposed to free.

4. What happiness researchers do at home

In a paper in the Journal of Happiness Studies, reported on Tuesday, thirteen well-being researchers led by Lara Aknin of Simon Fraser University described how their work has changed their own lives: more time with the people they love, less weight on income once basic needs are met, and a view of happiness as adapting when circumstances change rather than a constant good mood. Source

On the map: the researchers are not using our map, and their conclusions are their own. The nearest place on it is Present + Neutral (presence), where the book locates the happiness that does not depend on conditions. In the book's line, eight places pull you away; only Presence costs nothing. Its cost: none.

5. Loneliness, in two groups

A randomised trial in twelve Barcelona neighbourhoods, published in The Lancet Regional Health, Europe, followed 320 adults who said they felt lonely. Half joined a nine-week nature-based group; half had one motivational conversation and a list of outdoor activities. After three months, loneliness had eased by about 10 percent across the whole sample, but the group programme did not do measurably better than the lighter option, and almost a third of participants dropped out. Source

On the map: much of what is called loneliness sits in Past + Likes (nostalgia): attention on company that was, set against the room as it is. Its cost, in the book's account, is that the present is judged against a memory and found short. The trial does not say why both groups improved, and we will not guess.

One practice for the week

What this does not do

This post uses the Present Attention and Happiness Matrix, the author's own model from The Return of Attention. It describes experience, not a diagnosis. How the matrix works.

The map describes where attention goes. It does not diagnose anything, and placing a headline on it is a reading, not a finding about the people in the story. Loneliness and low mood can be serious. If low mood has lasted two weeks or more, if you have lost interest in things you used to enjoy, or if you have thoughts of harming yourself, a doctor or a crisis line is the right first conversation.

Common questions

What is the Week on the PAHM? A weekly post that takes five headlines from the past seven days and places each one on the map: where the story sends attention, and what that position costs now, in the book's account.

Why place news on the map at all? Because a headline is a quick way to see the positions in daily life. Reading about Halloween or a World Series is attention going somewhere; naming the square makes the movement visible.

Does a placement say anything about the people in the story? No. It is a reading of where the story points attention, not a judgement of anyone in it.

Which square costs nothing? In the book's account, Present + Neutral (presence). The other eight each carry a cost now, including the pleasant ones.