What makes you happy?
I read about an experiment involving elementary school students who were asked to itemize a list of their wants. No one wrote that he or she wanted to be happy or more loving. Their wants were things and events. And the same was true when high school and college students were asked. When the researchers […]
Stuff you didn’t know you didn’t know…
Food for thought? Food for amazement? I checked these out before including them. See what you think! The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this…) the percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and life rafts have in common? All were invented by […]
Appreciate: Two Meanings
The first meaning is “to be thankful,” the opposite of taking something for granted. The second meaning is “to increase in value” (as money appreciates in the bank). Combined, these two meanings point to a truth that has been proven repeatedly in research on gratitude: when we appreciate the good in our lives, the good […]
Want to change your habits?
I read about a surprising way to form good habits and break bad ones. The article said to change your habits, change your identity. The concept was a reminder that how we see ourselves can dramatically affect our habits. A paper published in 2011 by a team of Harvard and Stanford researchers found that people […]
Why ugly and slow is okay!
My sister is a lot better at knitting than I am. It is painfully obvious when she tackles a complex pattern, makes changes in it, and then finishes it before I’ve figured out how to get my project going. She’s a regular wizard at it! And by comparison I’m slow and my projects are, if […]
Luggage or Baggage?
It’s vacation time! Are you carrying luggage or your baggage with you? (And in case you’re wondering, I don’t mean the physical stuff!) Though near-perfect synonyms of each other, baggage has several additional meanings which luggage doesn’t share. We don’t know for sure whether the “bag” of baggage is the same as the English and […]
Here comes the sun!
Summer has finally arrived, even when the weather doesn’t seem to agree! And June to me is a month of celebrating Life! The recent graduates are beginning their new lives; we celebrate the masculine influences in our lives with Father’s Day; and the summer solstice brings the longest day of sunlight. I recently saw an […]
A reminder from a dad…
One day little Jim was taking a walk with his father in the rugged roads of the mountain near their house. Suddenly, he slipped and hurt himself and screamed “AAAhhhh!” He immediately heard a voice from the mountains saying “AAAhhhh!” Jim forgot his hurt and shouted “Who are you?” and again heard that voice saying […]
Train your elephant!
In those days when an elephant would walk through a town with its keeper, the elephant’s trunk was a curious part of the equation. It had a natural tendency to explore whatever it wanted, disrupting fruit carts and kiosks as it made its way down the street. It had no qualms about helping itself to […]
The Clothesline Paradox
If you take down your clothesline and buy an electric clothes dryer, the electric consumption of the nation rises slightly. If you go in the other direction and remove the electric clothes dryer and install a clothesline, the consumption of electricity drops slightly, but there is little credit given anywhere on the charts and graphs […]