In the paper, Communicating and Philosophizing about Authenticity and Inauthenticity in a Fast-Paced World, Becky DeGreeff, Ann Burnett and Dennis Cooley at North Dakota State University suggest that living life in the fast …

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living.
To which philosopher Iris Murdoch replied, “Lighten up, Socrates!” Well, I am paraphrasing a little. What Murdock really said was that people can lead moral lives …

One of my favorite things to do in Buenos Aires is pick one of the dozen cafes within two blocks of my apartment and people-watch. I usually order a cortado, a mini café con …

Last month, a reader commented on a PPND article “research has shown that pleasure, engagement and meaning contribute equally to life satisfaction for Americans whereas engagement was only important for Australians.”
This prompted Senia to …

Barbara Fredrickson shared an intervention called positive portfolio during the first Positive Psychology World Congress last month in Philadelphia. I came home inspired to start my own portfolio. In her book “Positivity”, Fredrickson identified ten …

Last week I saw (from the first row, and in 3-D) Disney Pixar’s Up , an animated film about life, adventure, and friendship. The film certainly pulled on my heart strings in a very “other-people-matter” positive-psychology way. The film also speaks to this month’s theme of fun and play. [...]

If changing just one of your daily habits was enough to make you more alert, efficient, energetic, productive and motivated, would you implement that change? According to William Dement, illustrious discoverer of REM sleep, “Sleep deprivation is the most common brain impairment.”

Something happens to many people when they hit adulthood. Life becomes serious. It loses that lightness and freedom it had during childhood. It is a choice (conscious or unconscious) that adults make based on how they interpret what happens to them and the actions they take.

Laughter is a powerful way to bring that lightness of being back into one’s life.

Chronic stress has been linked to many health disorders, including depression, heart disease, cancers, and Alzheimer’s disease. But the stress response engages a number of adaptive, complementary systems fine-tuned to find a balance between stress and solace. Take pleasure seriously, and sow it generously.

It was not an easy decision for his parents to let Blake leave high school and it continues to be a hard choice. They are attacked by critics —most of whom they’ve never met. If the Peebles had taken the expected path and insisted that their son stay in school, no one would be giving them flack – even if their son was bored, depressed or learning less. Many would tell them they were doing the right thing.