We all know that a guiding principle of positive psychology is that “Other people matter.” What is it that makes other people matter to us? Empathy.
Empathy is commonly defined as the ability to …

Invitation to Positive Psychology: Research and Tool for the Professional by Robert-Biswas-Diener is a workbook that allows a student to study a six-week self-directed course that touches on the main themes of positive psychology.
Pairing …

I think I can, I think I can.” That was the motto of the Little Engine that Could.
n the fable, a long train with many cars tries to find a steam engine that will pull …

s an undergraduate, I studied Art History. My favorite painters were the Impressionists. I loved their work because their pictures captured moments, places and feelings so beautifully, whether it was Degas’ dancers, Van Gogh’s Starry …

I watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart religiously. Instead of CNN, Fox or MSNBC, my news source of choice is Comedy Central. Why, you may ask? Don’t I want to be a well-informed citizen? Shouldn’t I be reading the New York Times and taking things seriously. Maybe. But in today’s environment, I desperately need a laugh.

In 1845, Thoreau went to live for three months in the woods near Walden Pond. When asked why, he responded, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived… I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life…”

Silas Marner by George Eliot is the story of a miserly, misanthropic weaver who loses his stash of gold but gains a young orphaned baby girl with shiny golden hair. The love affair between the weaver and the child is extremely poignant, and it has gotten me thinking about a very specific kind of love: altruistic love.

On February 12, 2008, I wrote an article for PPND called What is Love Anyway? In that article I questioned why we seek a scientific explanation for love, or if we should allow ourselves …

Recently married, I have had cause to write numerous thank you notes lately. And with the holidays coming up, we will all have reasons to thank people for gifts. We know that Miss Manners insists that we write thank you notes, but aside from common courtesy, what are the benefits of thank you notes?

We are facing a time in history unlike any other. Headlines tell us of the worst economic crisis in years. Our political system seems anemic. In times like this, one is forced …