savoring

Who needs meds to be happier when we have SPRING at our fingertips? Take a look and a listen, folks: savor the buds & the birds: in case you haven't noticed they're baaack!. A momentary pause when you hear the tweet-tweet or pass a bud in bloom can add serious deposits into your psychological bank account. The concept in positive psychology is savoring (cheesy, I know), but give it a try. Serious, serious benefits because it helps us be present minded -- you know, in the moment -- there, always where we need to be when we're there. Based on the work...

“Boy, it went fast,” seems to be the sentiment of summer’s end. But is it really over? According to the calendar, we have 20 more days so my vote is strongly in favor of not seeing it as over, just soon to be in transition. So what should we do? Savor now! [Imagine Mr. Costanza’s Seinfeld voice inserted here.] [caption id="attachment_319" align="alignright" width="224" caption="A view from Block Island, RI"][/caption] I am having (notice present tense) an excellent summer. Spent most of August away from home on a beach tour that started (and will end this weekend) in the Hamptons, included a stay...

[caption id="attachment_303" align="alignleft" width="190" caption="circa 1980"][/caption] 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 Housewives of NJ), overweight and pseudo-overachieving. I lost my brother Todd to suicide when I was 12. He was 19. Awful, tragic, sad. But I remember where I was standing that day of his death, at the edge of our driveway,...

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 of our ideas for how to ensure this - about how to have a joyful season, included: * Keep a growth mindset (things change, people change) * Appreciate what's already good (what you look forward to each year - dig deep if need be) * Consider 'best' possible...

[caption id="attachment_138" align="alignleft" width="286" caption="Me with Ariana (left) and Cruz (right)"][/caption] I spent the past weekend in Florida visiting some old and new friends. It was amazing to spend time with Joe and Terry (the old ones) and their two-month old fraternal twins, Ariana Michele and Cruz Aiden (the new ones). How amazing it was to meet these little guys for the first time – so precious and sweet and innocent. So easy to love. I admire the measures Joe and Terry took to even have these babies. Given they are two men, these measures were creative, far from convention,...

Hello Mother, Hello Father Greetings from summer sleep-away camp. Really, I write this tucked away in the woods in northeastern Pennsylvania – a tiny spot of heaven called Camp Happy Times – aptly named for a place where two hundred kids who have or have had cancer come for a week’s time of fun, fun, and more fun. They come here to celebrate the joy of life. Essentially, they come here to be kids, not just the “kids with cancer”. [caption id="attachment_132" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="This is me (center) in the middle of the table in a cake eating contest. I...

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