Picture it: 1978, Pascack Valley Hospital, Westwood, NJ - I was born an unexpected twin, breech, the youngest of four children. “Doctor you have another baby in there,” the nurse said as she was cleaning up after Christine was born. “WHAT?!??! my parents screamed.”
I grew up in the suburbs of NYC (not far from the [...]
I’ve been working with the Governor’s Committee on Scholastic Achievement to give talks around New York to high school and college students - giving them nuggets of positive psychology that could help change the course of their lives.
The best part of these programs is that they not only involve the young adults, many of whom [...]
I’ve wanting to order a new Penn sweatshirt for quite sometime. The one (and only) that I own is getting a little ratty, like it may have been washed one too many times. The tassels are worn and even that little, plastic guard has come off. It’s time.
But although I’ve been thinking about getting a [...]
I’m getting ready to spend Easter with my family today. Deep breaths. While I’m excited to see them, I’m a bit apprehensive. It was two years ago that I launched my life’s work really - the creation of Social-Emotional Leadership - the idea that groups change when people within those groups stand up and say, [...]
It is silly to assume that the more I do, the more I’ll have (or be). When we find a nice harmony between doing and being, the Universe will show us what we need to know. It must start with being. What I’ve found is that when I get caught in the whirlwind of doing [...]
Certainly, we know more today about the benefits of social and emotional learning than ever before. Largely, many schools are taking on the task of teaching these skills in the classroom. But what happens beyond the classroom, in real life? Is the culture of our athletic fields or music rooms, our families, or our city [...]
Last week, our meetup discussed ways to really have a banging holiday season this year. A mighty group of us talked about how to use Positive Psychology (the science of happiness & success) to make this happen. We started by asking, “How do we want to be feeling on January 1?” Inspired? Excited? Rested? Hopeful?
Some [...]
I propose we attempt to set up learning organizations wherever possible to support a more positive evolution. According to Peter M. Senge, Director of the Systems Thinking and Organizational Learning Program at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology:
Learning Organizations are places where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they [...]
An amazingly positive profile of a gentler who heals horses and people from his wheelchair in Wyoming. A great story of resilience and inspiration. Click here for his story in the New York Times October 2, 2009.
Aim: To become more mindful of everyday language, to create meaning.
Point: What we know of positive psychology is that other people matter. <roll eyes here>. Certainly, these words have been overused so much so, they’re becoming empty. Other words we use are empty, too. For example, when someone asks, “How are you?” answers like “fine” [...]