How do adventure, curiosity, and exploration contribute to well-being? Why do some of our most treasured memories come from experiences that weren’t pleasant at the time? Why do some researchers believe we need an additional dimension of well-being beyond happiness and feeling that life is meaningful?

The importance of connectedness to others is the focus of the September 2023 issue of MAPP Magazine. How does virtue grow as it resonates among friends? Why are some health care providers prescribing activities such as attending concerts and art museums and dance classes? Why does Sonja Lyubomirsky believe connectness is so important to happiness?

Let’s look at this year’s stellar IPPA World Congress from a Transcendent Strengths perspective. The transcendent strengths are those that help us connect to the larger universe. Expression of these strengths enhances the sense that life is meaningful: appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humor, and spirituality. Let me highlight some speakers and experiences that made this event a high point of personal and professional transcendence.

The message of an Aesop’s fable, “A man is known by the company he keeps,” is often repeated as a cautionary tale. Stay away from the idle and the gluttonous, or you too may rejected by finer folk. But what if we took a Positive Psychology on that fable? What if being known by the company you keep is an opportunity for well-being?

The 8th IPPA World Congress on Positive Psychology wrapped up on a less than positive note: Eco-anxiety. Social inequality. The Replication Crisis. Co-Chair Andrew Soren shares why the key to well-being may be a focus on well-doing.