Aren Henry
Aren’s first love is writing about existential positive psychology. She’s been studying and writing about positive psychology since 2007. She’s the owner of a private practice, Henry Healing, in beautiful upstate New York, U.S.A. As a certified Reiki Master and holistic life coach, Aren applies the healing arts and sciences to her practice.
Her research and writing have to do with the juxtaposition between theory and application of not only positive psychology but also philosophy, spirituality, mature happiness, joy and the study of noetics. Karen’s interested in universal energy as a source of raising consciousness.
This qualitative researcher holds a master’s degree in community psychology. She’s also ABD PhD with research in organizational membership. She’s a former college professor who created and taught positive psychology for almost a decade at several colleges and a university. Aren’s currently enjoying her solo exploration and almost empty nesting.
Aren’s Blog
The Light Life Applied to Mental Illness
30% of the population lives with mental illness. That’s a statistic shared with me in an early 2000’s introduction to positive psychology. Today, Johns Hopkins reports that 26% of Americans suffer from a mental illness. Globally, it is reported that 11-18% of the...
The Light Life Applied to Darkness
What happens when we use applied positive psychology on the darkness in the world today? This is something I’ve been contemplating for several years now. While working with people who were truly suffering, I attempted to apply positive psychology. I was in a...
The Light Life Leans on Languishing
The light life leans on languishing. The NYTimes recently published an Adam Grant article about how so many of us are languishing as a result of the relentless pandemic. Of course, once one major news source picks up a key concept, a flood of others follow suit. So?...
The Light Life Gets Personal
The light life gets personal. It’s hard to imagine that 2007 was fifteen years ago, but that’s how long I’ve been in the positive psychology business. First, as a doctoral student, then university teacher, and finally, as a mental health coach. I...
The Light Life Love
How deep is your love? Do you love yourself? How about your metaphorical neighbors? Your parents or family? The stranger on the bus, trying to make their way home? Humans are disconnecting from each other through our labels, categories, and fundamental belief...
The Light Life is Holistic Healing
The Light Life is going to focus on the science of holistic healing for 2022. I am a firm believer in energy work. It is both scientifically backed and quantifiably verified. So why then, do so many people in the psychology industry, rebuke the effectiveness of the...
The Light Life is Curious
This journey into our 2022, the light life is curious. But I’m also wary, which makes for an eclectic mix of questions at this juncture in the journey through our positive psychology. The parts of ourselves that were rattled with grief, remain pain points for...
The Light Life Diamond Sky
Rhianna has a song that reminds us all to, “Shine bright like a diamond in the sky …” encouraging her listeners to be the glow up of their own choosing. All the challenges in the world can’t take your light from you, but they sure do try from...
The Light Life Energizes
The light life energizes us to be open to living our best life. But, that’s not the only way to be. Have you ever felt like you don’t have any energy left? 2021 drained a lot of people of a lot of energy. We were tested with healing on multiple levels this year. ...
The Light Life Honors the Shadow
In our work, we must not forget to honor the shadows. Life is not always full of light and love, nor is it full of shadows or darkness. The balance sways in one direction or another over the course of our lifetime. On any given day, we could be weathering a storm...
The Light Life Flow Up
To Flow up is to glow up. I love pop culture references in synergy with the positive psychology terminology. When we glow up, we are reinventing ourselves in the best of ways. I’ve decided to reinvent the reinvention and call my own journey a ‘flow...
The Light Life in Transitions
Life is a series of transitions. It skips a beat sometimes. Whenever we have a legal holiday on a Monday, I spend all day Tuesday, thinking it’s Monday. Today, is such a day. When we’re going through transitions, our routine has hiccups. My decision to...
The Light Life and Happiness Noir
Happiness Noir came about after working with clients who were suffering, but had strikes against them beyond what they could help or control. They were female, in a male world. They were fiscally disadvantaged (not all, but most) compared to the rest of the world....
The Light Life as an Artisan Human
Artisan humans live in poetic motion. To live well, we don’t have to be happy, but we do have to want to be happy enough. Most of the time. The satisfaction is in the nuance of what ‘happy’ looks like for each of us individually. It will not be the same for...
The Light Life Circle of Fire
The circle of fire symbolizes so many things in our human history. It could be the circle of life or perhaps the enso, a symbol that indicates that the mind is free for the body to create. Some even say the earth itself was made in a ring of fire. What fuels our...
The Light Life Reignite
She reignites the fire to light the path on a new adventure. People have to take time away from their daily “normal” in order to hit the reset button. They have to give themselves space and time to replenish their interest in their lives as a whole. We’re all talking...
The Light Life Went Dark
The Light Life went dark for a while. I had to pull back from writing in order to remember why I was writing in the first place. If I use the terms “purpose” or “meaning” or even, “grit and resilience” anymore, it’ll feel so...
The Light Life Dims Once in a While
The Light life dims once in a while. The same is true for our emotional health. Imagine you walk into an art studio to see a dim light from a single flickering candle. Around it are 13 artists, each learning how to capture the light on canvas with paint. You will see...
The Light Life Sun Rise
Every morning, if we are lucky, the sun will rise. We are but one in seven and a half billion people who live that shared experience. This, and death are the only two things that we, as humans, share entirely and in certainty. For 200,000 years, humans who looked most...
The Light Life Glow Up
‘Glow up’ is a new term to me. To Glow up is to go through a major transformation in the best possible way. Physically. Rebel Wilson, according to my Google search, has gone through a major Glow up. Neville, from Harry Potter, went through one of the most...
The Light Life, Lighten Up
Sensitive humans are frequently told to ‘lighten up‘. Some experts say it’s a disorder. I say it’s a super power. It’s exhausting to feel everything in a world filled with loud crowds. It’s not easy to live a quiet life in our...
The Light Life, Internal Energy
Our internal energy is the fuel of our light life. They say that human beings have 27 emotions, depending on genetics. The neuropsychology of sentient beings taps into how our electrical wiring connects us to all other experiences in life. We have at our disposal,...
The Light Life Lighthouse
Did you know that the state of Maine, USA has 80 lighthouses? No one is more significant than the others. Lighthouses are the perfect metaphor for how our field works. To me, the psychology industry is supposed to be a lighthouse for healing more than a stand alone...
The Light Life Reflection
This last day of the calendar year 2020 offers us a reflection of all that came to pass. This year is particularly poignant. We didn’t all make it. The intensity of feelings are stronger. People have been living on the edge of their emotions while ardently...
The Light Life Twinkle
It twinkles and sprinkles our lives with happiness. This thing we call the pursuit of peace. You thought I’d say happiness, right? Nope. It’s not happiness that is the ultimate goal for millions of people. Especially in times of suffering. Happiness is a by-product of...
The Light Life Flash Dash
A flash fiction, is fiction, written quickly, on the fly or, in the moment for a writing sprint exercise. I’m currently taking part if the NaNoWriMo, a yearly competition for novel writers to get to a goal of fifty thousand words ~ done in one month. It’s...
The Light Life on Fire
When we spend our days focusing on turmoil, we can feel the fire of negative emotions coursing through our thoughts. Our emotions are running high these days. We feel an urgency to do … something. We are experiencing an emotional surge that is one part,...
The Light Life Sparks
Sparks fly when we are connected to the universe in such a way that no matter what’s happening, we know we’ll be okay in the end. This seems to be a statement that will have people disputing it. Especially when the world feels upside down to many. But, it...
The Light Life’s Touch
In the interest of a positive psychology movement, a light touch is sometimes needed. We are a small community that influences the ever- popular global ‘positivity’ movement. There are flaws. But there are flowers. No garden is perfect in its ordered...
The Light Life Learn
She learns, and then she creates a world she wants to live in. We are not a singular being, yet until we define who we are as individuals, how can we possibly become part of the whole, let alone become part of the greater good? We are collectively giving in to the...
The Light Life Listen
Put it all away. Turn off the sound. Listen. Breathe in and then out. What do you hear? What is around you? What have we taken for granted as an organic contribution to your aesthetics? Does the natural sound of where you are contribute to your overall sense of well...
The Light Life Glow List
It’s been said, ‘you glow differently when you’re actually happy.’ I think that, when you glow, you flow, which is beyond the general well-being toward a eudaimonia level of happiness. We flow when we are glowing or, we glow when we are in alignment through mind, body...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Education
The history of teaching and education, my journey. I’ve just graduated again. This time, an advanced graduate certificate in mental health counseling. I don’t need all the formal education any more. Now? I want it because ‘love of learning’ is...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. 21
Do you know how much we can get done with 21 days in staycation? Lock down? Social distancing? Physical distancing? SO MANY things! In 21 days, we can kick a sugar addiction ~ knit a blanket for a friend ~ write a novel ~ change the trajectory of our goals ~ befriend...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Honor
Breathe in. Honor the feeling of your full lungs. Breathe out. Feel the power of knowing that from the moment we are born to the moment we die; our lungs will continue to work without us giving them any thought. Honor the whole of who you are. Honor yourself as a...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Cultural Consciousness.
Cultural consciousness is a powerful awakening and something not often fully embraced. We become complacent in our daily lives. Some of us are content, while others create chaos out of discontent. We have the capability to foster growth, no matter where the seed was...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Worldview?
My worldview is evolving. GGG @ TPPP is cutting back to bi-monthly as a result. Why? This writer is in a winter-hibernation-worldview-reflection time. The solitude is deafening, and yet necessary. Mastering contentment with silence is needed in order to truly know who...
Grit, Grace, Gratitude 2020
2020 means perfect vision. A perfect balance of all that allows one to see both the near and the far. I’ve been thinking about my part in helping the positive psychology people develop, along with other journeys in the growth of the field of positive psychology....
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Silence
The sound of silence. There’s a ringing in my ear. The hype of pending holiday. It’s growing very near. This year is very different. The atmosphere’s been changed. There is no joyous noel. The memories remain. The children are all grown now. The...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Paper.
Paper Moon. Paper Dolls. Paper Houses. Paper Towns. When we offer trust, but someone betrays us, the analogy is the crumpled paper. Once smoothed, it’ll never be the same, but it will still exist. We have always known that we are more than what the world sees....
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Choice
“It is my choice” is ownership. One of the most self-empowering declarations we can make, is the ownership of self. Follow through on those choices are liberating. Empowerment is not something we can be given. Nobody else can give us the choice to do...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Transcendence
When we heal, we experience transcendence. People who fully live in the present are able to navigate from past experiences toward a more meaningful life. Those who feel that sense of wholeness or completeness are able to transcend the lessons we learned along the path...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Abundance
Abundance ‘I have abundance of …’, finish that sentence in your own voice. ‘I am abundant in …’, finish that sentence. Turn it into an action word, and now, a present day, ‘now’ phrase. The self-help industries tell us to envision it, as if we already...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Genuine Heart
The genuine heart speaks to the soul of others. This one is for you Lesley, from the heart. It’s not business. It’s personal. Grit, grace and gratitude grew organically out of 4 years of writing for the Positive Psychology People. It came from living...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Freedom
This post will be from a place of “freedom”; an existential concept I’ve been working on in my studies. “Freedom” is the inescapable aspect of the human condition; we are the authors of our lives and therefore are responsible for our...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Beautiful.
Eunoia (n.) a pure and well-balanced mind, a good spirit. “Beautiful Thinking” Beautiful thinking will get you everywhere. Grit, Grace and Gratitude are navigators, but the Eunoia is the driver that clears the mind’s path toward living. I’ve lived in the darkness of...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Wabi-Sabi
Wabi-sabi (n.) the discovery of beauty in imperfection; the acceptance of the cycle of life and death. Wabi-sabi is a Japanese phrase that’s become popular amongst the trending wordsmiths in search of meaning. It also represents the goal of a grief cycle. The...
Grit. Grace. Gratitude. Duende.
Duende (n.) the mysterious power of art to deeply move a person. “Heightened sense of passion.” It is incredibly brave to sit in the stillness of something beautiful. We dare to open our hearts to the isolation of depth within our own mind’s eye. Our emotions can be...
Grit, Grace, Gratitude. Philosophy
One philosophy tells us that our lives are predetermined. Another says that we have free will. Another still, tells us that life is meaningless, and we are an accident of atoms smashing together in the great cosmos of a lucky toss of the dice. So why do we continue,...
Grit, Grace, Gratitude plus sneakers
Grit, grace and gratitude are our trinity. Grit is the key ingredient to standing up in a world full of trauma and drama. Grace, the glue to hold it all together. And gratitude? Gratitude is a gift we give ourselves in good times and in bad. We in the positive...
Noetic Nomad Avoiding Anger
When we avoid anger, is it necessarily a bad thing? When someone wants absolute peace in their lives, they are going to choose to avoid anger. Not the emotion of anger, but the acts of angry people. The peace-seeker doesn’t do this because they can’t handle it, but...
Noetic Nomad Navigating Noise
For two solid weeks, the earth’s energy has been high. The personal days have been sparking strong emotions. I’m sitting in my favorite coffee house on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, listening to the roar of coffee grinders and trendy music, sprinkled with emotional noise...
Noetic Nomad Building Birthdays
I like to think of birthdays as building blocks of consciousness. I don’t look at them as an end date looming in the nearing distance. I look at them as knowledge-building opportunities for growth. I think we get the celebration of life all wrong. We are terrified of...
Noetic Nomad Dreaming of Dragonflies
This noetic nomad is dreaming of dragonflies. Living in a balanced exploration of ordinary life in a miraculous way. Not everyone understands or sees that. This blog for example is fifty two new opportunities to discover something wonderful about life. Thrilling,...
Noetic Nomad Aligning Algorithms
Want to be happy? Align your algorithms. Our lives are predicted by the company we keep online. At least, that’s how the online community sees us. They know what we like and sadly, what and whom we don’t like. Some people love to throw those Pan Am smiles and fake...
Noetic Nomad Prioritizing Purposefully
Is there really such a thing as a life’s purpose? Are we prioritizing our lives purposefully, or does life simply happen? Do we HAVE to be consciously aware of all things in order to be happy? Look at happy babies. Most babies before the age of becoming cognitively...
Noetic Nomad Initiating Intimacy
Initiating intimacy can be terrifying. I’m not talking about procreation. Though certainly, it’s a topic that resulted in seven billion + people in our world. I’m talking about true intimacy. The sort that creates long lasting relationships. The sort that enabling...
Noetic Nomad Elevating Energy
Elevating our energy to align with our highest purpose is such a compelling dance between the scientific world and the spiritual world. I try to imagine the global world and our quest for understanding who we are, where we came from and why we all want to know how to...
Noetic Nomad Creating a Loving Calm.
I like things in three’s. It’s a calm, loving, simple recipe for creating the life we all say we wish for. Calm is a vital pillar in personal development. Loving oneself is a second pillar. A third pillar is having a vision of your own life that is so clear, you will...
Noetic Nomad Proposing a Repurposed PP
How can we craft a repurposed positive psychology? Our field created somewhat of a happiness monster. In truth? I find it a little annoying, not to mention more difficult for some people. I like the balance between the positives and the negatives. I don’t like...
Noetic Nomad Cultivating The Willow
A willow tree, for those who have not experienced one, is a miracle in perfect harmony with everything I love about nature. It doesn’t argue with the wind or fall to the water. It doesn’t mind the cold, or heat. It dances so very well with the sky. It is...
Noetic Clarity Thinking of Something Else
Thinking something else? I’ve been stuck in a thought rut. A thinking loop. A problem brain, rather than a solution brain. The same thoughts have dominated the inside of my head for far too long. Have you ever gotten stuck in your own life? Sometimes, we become...
Noetic Clarity Cultivating Change
To cultivate change, we must embody the philosophy. We’re changing here in the US. We started filling the shelves with Christmas ‘stuff’ before summer was over. Everyone makes a mad dash for the sale of the century. No matter how many times It’s a Wonderful Life or...
Noetic Clarity Cultivating The Center
Centering. Cultivating the center of our being. That is how we thrive. We’re inundated with pretend, fabricated, artificial, inauthentic, ingenuine, insincere, and yes, fake everything. It’s hard to tell who is true these days. It’s hard to tell who to trust....
Noetic Clarity. When was the last time you noticed yourself?
Noetic clarity. Understanding clearly. The choices we make. The consequences those choices bring us. They say that every day we open our eyes, is the first day of the rest of our lives. For years, I’ve been blogging about how to define clarity through...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … coupling
No! Not that sort of coupling. 😉 Upon the celebration of a renaissance of my blog writing (I’ve been blogging for ten years now as a whole), I am coupling my two favorite topics. “Clarity Is” was my Positive Psychology People blog for two years. ‘Noetic Nomad in...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Heart
Heart. An adjective, a noun and a verb. We’re unable to live without a beating one. We’re lead by it more than we care to admit. We try to eliminate or dissect it’s relevance in our often emotional decision making. We often refer to our emotional pain as a broken...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Truth
Truth is, if you look me in the eye and lie to me, I’m not going to say anything, or question it, but I am going to know you did it. Truth is, if you like me, I’m going to know that too. Again, I won’t do anything about it, but I will be conscious of the truth...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … knowing.
I am. It is a place of knowing. It is enough. We can feel whole and complete and full with these two simple words. It is where I found authentic happiness. It is a place of freedom and fresh air with a constant flow of oneness with Source for the soul. This is my …...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Membership
I’ve recently rejoined IPPA and renewed my membership with INPM. I’m also a member of a writer’s organization and I volunteer for our local animal shelter. I choose to restructure my time and attendance to what matters most to me. What do you do to invest in your...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Memoirs
Memoirs are the powerfully moving stories written by people who’ve lived through extraordinary lives. They help shape our culture, our heritage, our learning about each other’s worldview. They are often moving but sometimes terrifying. My story over the past three...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Gorillas.
Look around. Gorillas are everywhere. We see them everywhere we go, no matter what country, or community. They live amongst the wealthy, and the poor. They exist in cities and in the rural villages. Did you ever see that social experiment where the scientists asked...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Altruism
Is altruism selfless or selfish? How does altruism actually work? We don’t have to give up parts of ourselves to become part of something bigger. That just naturally happens. Gladly, when done right. Altruism has become big business, but it’s so much more than that....
The Noetic Nomad in Search of … Internal Peace
Take a warrior pose for this blog about internal peace. On my journey from teaching positive psychology to my newly defined life as a pp holistic practitioner, nothing stood out as the foundation more than commanding my own internal peace. The steps, pillars, paths …...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Love
Love. Martin Luther King Jr. said it best. “Hate can not drive out hate, only love can do that”. It’s true for our new trend in mindfulness as well (well, ‘new’ in that the Western civilizations have finally accepted it from the ancient wisdoms of...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Spring
Spring means new life, fresh starts and budding beginnings. Of course, as I write this, I’m also watching snow fall on all the newness. We say, “I’m really ready for spring”, meaning, I’m done with the cold season. There’s no doubting that weather plays a role in our...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Respect
R.E.S.P.E.C.T. Find out what it means to me. The master, Aretha Franklin sang it into our hearts. Today, two hard limits come to mind when I think about people living their best lives. Or, teaching others to live their best lives. Dignity Respect They go hand in hand....
Noetic Nomad in search of … watershed’s
How many of you have experienced a watershed moment? “A turning point or historic moment”. People have them too. We have a history, so why wouldn’t we have historic moments in our own lives? I have to remind myself that at any given moment, we can live a completely...
Noetic Nomad in search of … sincerity
Sincerity is fearless. There is a great deal of beauty in someone revealing their less than flattering side. It’s one of the things that most attracts me to movies made in Great Britain. They are not afraid of their physical imperfections. We see wrinkles, the ugly...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Thoughts
Our thoughts define how we live. The way we think shapes our world. The noetic, thought provoking conversations we have in our head lead us to everything else. Attitude. World views. Happiness levels. People we align with. The way we live our lives. The food we eat....
Noetic Nomad in search of … universal energy
I’ve been studying universal energy known as Reiki for the past year and a half. I’ve become a Reiki master, which simply means that I’ve studied three levels of Reiki. The micro, meso and macro levels of how energy can transform a pain body into a non-pain body. Not...
Noetic Nomad in search of … simplicity
I’m about to turn 54. Simplicity is my only mission. I’m told not to talk about my age. I’m told that I’ll have fewer chances. I have experienced being aged out. It came on the back of a wave of trauma, so I didn’t notice it at first, but...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … permission
I give myself permission to ‘be’. I also give myself permission ‘not to be’. It’s not really a question. It’s a must! Hard limits on what we will or will not allow in our lives. Soft limits on what we welcome in to our experiences are part of...
Noetic Nomad in search of … Temperance?
Temperance. To manage our thoughts, our passions and our desires. To balance our lives. There is a time, and there is a season. Moderation is the key to life. That’s what they say. Balanced people seem to get the most done. Patterns are reliable when it comes...
Noetic Nomad in search of … confidence
Confidence is a universal value. Is it more important than happiness? Can one be happy without self-confidence? It’s a trait that solves the most basic of human struggle. When we own who we are, we become free to thrive, to love and, to live as we optimally can....
Noetic Nomad in search of … life’s playlist
My never ending quest for all things begins and ends with my life’s playlist. At the moment, I’m listening to the full playlist from the movie, Pride and Prejudice. When I write a novel, the first step is to create a playlist as a guide for the scenes in...
Noetic Nomad in search of … attraction.
The attraction of thinking a thing into manifestation is very alluring, isn’t it? One philosophy tells us to think positive thoughts. Another? Let all thoughts go. The finite nuances between what our thoughts are and are not have been debated throughout time. I am in...
Noetic Nomad in search of … money
Have you ever experienced a money-moment of clarity? That moment when you’re doing something for both money and experience, and they ‘forget’ to pay you. Others doing the same job say, “oh! do we get paid to do this? I have no idea how much....
Noetic Nomad in search of … Om
Meditation = flow + Om. The mantra I use when entering into my fugue state for a writing session, or Reiki session. It takes discipline, focus and yes, to some degree, joy. It’s also extremely difficult when in a place with constant noise and interruptions. The...
Noetic Nomad in search of … warmth
I’ve been thinking about warmth a lot lately. I’ve decided not to live without it at all. I live in a place where until the past few years, we anticipated snow by October and a final frost all the way into April or May. Is it one of the happiest places on...
The Noetic Nomad in search of … alignment
How do you create the life you wish for? I wish to be in alignment with peace, with contentment, with comfort and with joy. My thought flow about these four things led me to a holistic practice in healing as a venue for coaching. My study and practice of positive...
Noetic Nomad in search of … happiness?
My doctoral dissertation was on happiness. I studied professional female writers’ perception of happiness in relation to their affiliation with an enabling institution. By the time I stopped, it was no longer ‘the thing’ in the field. A lot has...
Noetic Nomad in search of … cheer!
Why are we always trying to cheer everyone up? We seek good cheer during holidays. We wish, ‘cheers’ in hopes of special occasions. Some cultures use, ‘cheers!’ as a good intentioned sign off in email. Do we have an internal wish for positive...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Novelty
Dorothy, in the Wizard of Oz craved novelty. She was bored with simplicity. She forgot where her real power was. To seek novelty in lieu of our routine helps us gain perspective. When we want something to change, we have to begin doing something we’ve never done. It’s...
Noetic Nomad in search of cultivation
We’ve gotten into a habit of cultivating chaos where peace should live. Especially, this time of year. Holidays are hard on people. For those of us who live in a consumerism culture, we feel pressure to give gifts beyond our means. We feel obligation to give...
Noetic Nomad in search of … stamina
Today was a fast Tuesday. Have you ever had one of those? A day that seemed faster than others? Or, slower for that matter. Flow has a lot to do with losing track of time. Engagement has a lot to do with appreciating the remains of the day. Physically, it was an easy...
Noetic Nomad in search of … friendliness
It’s a simple concept. Friendliness. One would think that it would be easy enough to find. A friend. People who are friendly for no reason, with no agenda. I have found this is not necessarily the case. Is it cultural? Perhaps. Is it common place? Not in our...
Noetic Nomad in search of … consistency
I must confess, I’m a strong pull to the right brain big picture thinker. My organization skills are very predictable, but they lack consistency. Things like ‘planning’ and ‘strategy’ and ‘organization’ look very different for...
Noetic Nomad in search of … nothing
For everything there is a season, and a season for everything. We live in a place where the very thought of doing absolutely nothing for any length of time is beyond our imagination, but also perhaps a dream come true. There is a great deal of life available in the...
Noetic Nomad in search of … darkness
A nyctophilia is someone who loves darkness or night. They find relaxation or comfort in the darkness. The silence that comes with being the only one awake in the middle of the night can be the most comforting feeling in the world. I waited to publish my noetic nomad...
Noetic Nomad in Search of … Individuality
Do we talk about individuality in positive psychology? I know we all strive for it as we head to our professional lives that look just like what everyone else is buying and searching for. We have an ingrained need to belong to our culture. We humans are social...
Noetic Nomad in search of reality
This is the first Tuesday I’ve missed in 13 weeks. The reality is, I was busy! I forgot. Which is what happens when we have so much to do, we just can’t get to it. “Busy” is a problem that needs to be fixed. For me, it is. Have you experienced this? Most...
Noetic Nomad in search of community
We all know that it’s imperative to include a social identity in our lives. We all know that we are social creatures. We all know that we feel better knowing that in the event of a major life event, we will have someone who will be there for us. Are we an authentic...
Noetic Nomad searching for calm
Who dreams of living a calm life? Usually people who either lived through a storm. Physical or emotional storms. They’re pretty much the same thing. The hurricanes as of late are a mirror to the eye of a severely stressful mind? That is what PTSD feels like. Post...
Noetic Nomad Searching for Truth
How do you boldly say something truthful without also insulting another person? It’s so easy for people to just lie about anything they want these days. So easy for them to lie about another person. It’s nearly impossible for the recipient to defend themselves. Why...
Noetic Nomad searching for lucidity
I play a mental check-in game when I first wake up. What’s my first lucid thought? Our first thought when we wake up? It’s always a left over from our dream state. This lucidity sets the tone of the day. Making the the unconscious, conscious. We have to practice...
Noetic Nomad Searching for Grace
The world is hurting right now. People are sharing pain more than pleasure. It seems to be a challenge. In the wake of global flooding, national fires, people rising up against this, and that, it’s understandable that there is global fear. However, there is also...
Noetic Nomad searching for power
We all want to master power over our lives. We believe we have to search outside ourselves for it, but like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, we’re willing to go on epic journeys to find it. Power of healing. Power of forgiveness. Power of developing a stronger sense...
Noetic Nomad searching for solicitude
One of the most liberating, yet gentle creations of the human mind is compassion or, solicitude, the caring of another. Compassion is the cure. Sometimes for others. Sometimes, for ourselves. When we delve more deeply into the awareness of others, we open a part of...
Noetic nomad searching for peace
Peace begins with people being at content with themselves. For some, that concept is as elusive as a winning lottery ticket. We spend so much time making our lives look like what society tells us we we need to look like, that we aren’t aware of our own thoughts. We...
Noetic Nomad searching for bravery
Most of us are searching for something. Courage is not the first thing that comes to mind. Neither is bravery. Until you need to be brave. Most people search for happiness. So much so, that happiness experts pursue them right back. They say that in any solid...
Noetic Nomad searching for emotional gifts
We get swept away in our strong emotions. They can literally kill us, or change how we do everything. Strong emotions are a game changer. They are gifts to ourselves. Positive or negative emotions are passion. Passion is passion. Strong emotions can be unsettling. We...
Noetic Nomad searching for wholeness
Healing is not for the faint at heart. It’s a journey that takes strength. It takes courage. It takes drive. It takes an action plan, support system, plus a whole lot of love. I myself use Reiki as a vessel for healing. It’s a gentle yet powerful method of creating...
Noetic Nomad Searching for Questions
Tough Questions They’re not so tough. The philosophical or decision making questions that we ask ourselves all the time. What is the meaning of life? What shall I eat for breakfast? To some, both of those questions are as equally profound as the the other. Whom shall...
The Noetic Nomad, searching for clarity
Noetic Nomad, Week 1 This is a new dawn to a new day in the time of something ‘more’ for positive psychology. I began my journey in the study and practice of positive psychology in 2007. I was a charter member of IPPA, but since, allowed that membership to...
Clarity is … evolving
Clarity is …. evolving Since 2014, I’ve been writing a reflection of what clarity means to different people at different times. Many of our former and contemporary professionals also use clarity, or clarifying as a wheelhouse tool to prove a point, share their...
Clarity is … easier
Clarity is … easier My Tuesday’s have turned into the craziest, busiest days of the week. I completely forgot that yesterday was Tuesday! It was, in my brain, Monday. Not everyone has a M-F 9-5. As a matter of fact, there are millions of people in our...
Clarity is … courtesy
Clarity is … courtesy “It is good to toil for others’ sake, and happy is he who learns to make the joy of others – cure his own heart ache.” ~ Dr. Norah Perkins, Sunshine and Shadows, 1917 My most cherished possession is now a little book, self published by a...
Clarity is … transformative
Clarity is… transformative. “Just like the butterfly, I too will awaken in my own time.” ~ Unknown There comes a time in our lives when change is necessary. We can’t always control when transformation is going to happen. Marriage is almost always a...
Clarity is … exploration
Clarity is … exploration. Clarity is an exploration. A journey. A quest if we’re lucky enough to find it. Positive psychology for example. It’s not only a career, or a science to be weighed or measured. It’s an art form. It’s a lived...
Clarity is … a journey
Clarity is… a journey “A ship is always safe at shore, but that’s not what it was built for.” ~ Albert Einstein. Some careers are noble, honored time worn traditions. To be called to said career is felt in the bones. A spirit soars with...
Clarity is … aesthetic
Clarity is… aesthetic I went to a new cafe to write. This place accomplished soothing all five senses. Our aesthetic environment creates clarity. The quiet little coffee shop was beautifully created. The lighting complimented work, without offending the eye....
Clarity is… vision
Clarity is…. vision When I post on social media, it’s usually along with an image of what I ‘see’, rather than asking you to see me. That’s true of when I was in school for mass media and I loved being behind a camera. That’s true...
Clarity is … gentle
Clarity is…. gentle. There comes a time in life when a person simply leans into the fluidity of the moment. They gentle their soul to the realizations of who and what they have become. They embrace their reality. Settle into love of their own truth. They become...
Clarity is… PLayFuL
Clarity is…. PLayFuL? Pokemon Go is the latest craze. My business partner, Taylor R. Powers, leveled up when trying to explain it to me. I need games explained. My son is a total fanboy of all things YouTubers. We live in the world of online games. When I was a...
Clarity is… Courage
Clarity is… courage Courage means that we won’t stop trying to do something simply because we were worried about it. Courage means that we’ll fully evolve, grow, clarify who we are, no matter the criticisms against us. Courage means that we will...
Clarity is … egalitarian
Egalitarian – “asserting, resulting from, or characterized by belief in the equality of all people, especially in political, economic, or social life.” In my fifty two years upon this earth, there is no other life lesson more profound or realistically...
Clarity is … delicious!
Delicious The short definition of ‘delicious’ is, “highly pleasing to the senses’. It’s that time of year when people become aware of what they’re eating in combination with how much exercise they’re getting. Recipes have been all over the web for weeks now. Every...
Clarity is … quiet
It is miraculous. It is not forced. It is not the subject of something external. Having clarity means having choices. Being clear on what you will or will not allow in your life is liberating. If you can see yourself in your true form, something rare to be sure, you...
Clarity is … sometimes
Sometimes Fast. Oprah calls it an ‘A-Ha’ moment. For me, perhaps others, it’s a flash. It’s quick. Being clear on something means to sit, to ponder to wonder for a long while, then all of a sudden, it’s right there in front of you. Clear...
Clarity is … priority!
In our hectic, sometimes confusing and mixed up world, priorities are the only thing keeping us focused on what matters most to us. For many of us, prioritizing is our business. It’s our skill set that we teach or coach or instill in others. We discuss feeling ‘over’...
Clarity is … penchant
Carl Jung said, “I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” In positive psychology, when we speak about our character, we speak about our strengths according to a carefully measured and weighed set of virtues and strengths. The powerhouse team of Dr....
Clarity is … hopeful
When life is difficult for us, we sometimes wish it away. We will sometimes pretend all is fine. We will exercise our right to smile through the pain. We sometimes stand to flee or fight it, depending on our natural tendencies. The pain, isolation and loneliness of...
Clarity is … unapologetic
The hardest lesson learned on one’s own. The most important lesson we can teach our children. The most profound act of kindness and love for humanity to accept without remorse. Iain S. Thomas said, “I said never apologize for how you feel. No one can control how they...
Clarity is …. ownership!
We do not learn, grow or manifest our destiny by expecting other people to make our lives easier. NOBODY else can MAKE us feel, or do, or think, or BE anything that we are not already believing for ourselves. Admittedly, this is one of the harder concepts to accept....
Clarity is … education
Michael J. Fox said, “If the child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” Education through inspiration, not intimidation. Education through sparking a curiosity in the seeker of knowledge, not blowing out the flame of understanding...
Clarity is … tranquility
A little tranquility instead? We often talk about happiness. We dream of that day when everything’s off the table and we can just… breath. We take or give classes in how to relax. But when we’re engaged in that search for the ultimate feeling of happiness, would we be...
Clarity is … subjective
Subjective Choice Each week, I make a point to revisit each of the topics from the broad based field in positive psychology, pluck one subject from the treasure trove of terms I’ve asked students to memorize, that researchers pour over, or practitioners turn into a...
Clarity is … lucid
Where are we going? Clarity is lucid. There is no greater self-indulgence than that of those who believe that they are the only ones who know a subject. There is no greater life lesson lost than that from those who argue they are the only experts. We’ve read vast...
Clarity is … compassion
Compassion in action When we’ve become who we need to be, it is time for us to turn toward helping others. In our world today, anyone with a television, radio, newspaper or social media will know that we are watching people flee for their lives in more than one place...
Clarity is … indelible
We all wear tattoos. Most are invisible to the world. There are some marks on our lives that simply can’t be removed by wishing them away. There are some marks in our lives that we hope never leave us. The hard truth about human pain or joy is that though it can, in...
Clarity is … changing
Clarity is … changing. When I was a kid, I was fast. Not because of training. Not because I focused on it. I was told I was going out for the town track meets, so I did. When I was ten (10), I raced a bunch of kids and won a gold medal. It was cool. Then, I was told that I won female athlete of the year (10). I had NO idea why. I showed up, I ran as fast as I could. I hated being behind people. That was my only motivation. I didn’t like the feeling of being behind someone else. I had to be in front.
Clarity is … deciding
Deciding “A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life” ~ Coco Chanel For years, I’ve wanted to know what it was like for women who had to cut all their hair off because of cancer related treatments. I’ve seen the wigs, the scarves, the confident bald heads...
Clarity is … love
Love What good is the science of psychology if we can’t put it into practice? Once upon a time, we couldn’t cure a common cold… now, it’s common knowledge. Why? Because we love humanity enough to have created entire fields dedicated to improving the quality of life...
Clarity is … knowing
Clarity is … knowing Clarity is knowing when you need something, and when to give it away. There are plenty of things that I want. I’ve come to realize, that there’s not much that I need. I have a way to serve others without being overtly altruistic....
Clarity is … opportunity
We have the opportunity to clearly see the path that’s darkened by our current fortune. Sounds a bit dramatic, I know. But life, for some of us, is rather dramatic. As we age, our opportunity doors begin to close. As we settle into an awareness of ourselves, finding...
Clarity is … daunting
Clarity is … daunting at times. Understanding what is truly clear to us can be in fact, a lot of mental toughness. Figuring out how to navigate through the scores of moments, knowing which to choose, knowing which to purposefully ignore, is an emotional task unto...
Clarity is … discovery
Recently, I’ve moved to a new location. Somewhere bigger. Somewhere that appreciates a more urban lifestyle, more arts and sciences, more…. everything. We (our boutique business) needed bigger. We hoped for some things to stay the same. However, we knew it was time...
Clarity is … awareness
Clarity is … awareness The entire world is now aware of itself. Sometimes, it’s too big and we panic, or feel less than worthy. Other times, we think that we are all there is, that all else matters not. We all matter. Equity stems from realizing our...
Clarity is … character
Clarity is … character I’m reading Rob Lowe’s new book, Love Life and I’m inspired. I’m also reminded that all professions have a certain level of accountability that we have to adhere to. Treating people with kindness and respect is one...