Good to hear from you! ;-) What Kierkeggard is saying is essentially pretty much what Schopenhauer said and not far off what Dostoevsky would have said. In essence, to achieve a heightening of your mental/emotional clarity, do the following:

1. Listen to excellent music. Example: David Bowie's "Space Oddity".

2. Watch high quality films. Examples: "Songcatcher" and "Howard the Duck".

3. Focus your attention on great lives: Examples: William Shatner, Don Cherry (the Canadian hockey commentator), and Winona Ryder.

4. Get a superior breed of dog for a house pet. Example: Dachshund, smooth, longhaired or wire-haired.

5. Avoid total, absolute crap that will shut down your critical faculties and reduce you to drooling idiocy. Examples: Vaugh Bode's "Cheech Wizard", the NASCAR races, football games, the Superbowl, American Idol, Britain's Got Talent, and "Judge Judy". In fact, avoid TV altogether if you possibly can...

;-D