October 2009

[caption id="attachment_166" align="alignright" width="300" caption="From hearing to seeing to speaking. Assume much?"][/caption] 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” and “good” do not have significant meaning. The argument can be made that the question has no meaning either. Challenge: To be as specific as you can be when someone asks you, “How are you?”....

Last week I had the great fortune of being with the Dalai Lama three days in two cities. The second of these visits brought me to Washington DC, where the Mind Life Institute presented an annual congress on learning called “Educating World Citizens” which brought together over 2,000 international voices. The Dalai Lama participated in all sessions over two days, which engaged western scientists concerned about the good life, particularly in regard to schooling (teaching/learning). Session topics included: Envisioning the World Citizen; Attention, Emotional Regulation, and Learning; Compassion and Empathy, and Future Directions and Policy. To sum, we discussed how to educate...

She is an old soul with a young spirit who I met at a mutual friend’s cocktail party sometime last year. She and I were hanging out in the kitchen with several others talking about what we “do” – typical cocktail party banter. But when it came to Amanda’s turn to share, she had an atypical response: she told us how she was a dog-walker in Chelsea and that she loved what she did. I’ll never forget how she spoke her words with such conviction, they resonate in me still today. She was an easy pick for my newer blog...

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