by Aren Henry | October, 2020 | Clarity is . . ., Grit/Grace/Gratitude, Karen Henry, Noetic Nomad
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 is true. The lived experience of hope and faith promise us a balanced life. With the light of a single candle, we can see through the dark. With the spark of a single idea, we can completely change our lives. In times of total emotional darkness, a spark of hope can carry us out into the light. When we are at our saddest, a spark of a loving kindness can hold us to the promise of love for tomorrow. Sparks When we’re in love, we hear the phrase, “sparks fly” between the couple. If a couple has been married for decades, they are often asked how they made it work for so long. Some say, “We have always had a spark for each other”. A fire within to keep that light burning. Passion. Ideas. Excitement. Novelty. Determination. Intention. All forged in the sparks of our emotional attachment to a life well lived. We are experiencing some dark times right now. The social media would have us all believe that we are doomed. They are using fear to keep us glued to our technology. Manipulators want us to be afraid of “the other” as if there is not a spark of light in the dark OR, a spark of darkness in the light. Shadows On the sunniest of days, it is...
by Aren Henry | July, 2020 | Light Life
The Light Life will sparkle with joy, bliss and love. This new blog is my contribution to The Positive Psychology People. We’ve been living in some darker times for so many individuals. Some of us have lived in unabashed privilege and comfort while others have suffered in hardship and despair. I hope to bring the concept of vision by illuminating the sky in a collection of light filled life lessons. The goal is, how can we adapt the research and science of positive psychology to best serve all. I have just spent the better part of a year applying the principles of second wave positive psychology to a vastly underserved population of people in order to see if the system would accept it as equitable and just for that population. I learned a lot as I worked with individuals who rarely hear the uplifting messages we spread in our field. New Normal The new light, the new journey, and this blog are dedicated to the strong women and children who are scrambling to pull themselves out of a system of blame and shame. The inconvenient truth of our field is that it can’t easily be applied to individuals full of systemic challenges. Systems sometimes forget who we serve. We get caught up in our autopilot way of doing things. Our leaders become comfortable using tried and true ways of servicing the system, but sometimes forget that no two humans are exactly alike. We use statistics but must not believe that people become them. Vision When we clearly see someone for who they are; and when we treat them with...
by Aren Henry | November, 2018 | Karen Henry, Noetic Nomad, Uncategorized
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 Scrooge adorns our doors with the message of love, we don’t seem to be listening. It is a wonderful life. If we cultivate it as such. Even for those who don’t buy in to the commercialism. Changing Christmas John Grisham wrote a whimsical, yet poignant little book about Skipping Christmas a few years ago. It was written in fun, then turned into a movie with equal popularity. It was all about a man who was tired of all the hype, then decided he just wanted something different. The man had a point. People go over the top with spending money. Everyone over extends themselves. They pay for months after because they caved into the peer pressure of buying things they can’t afford. It’s the consumer’s holiday now. The saddest part of all? The true meaning of the season is lost on the way we all go about it. Messages I’ve been skipping Christmas for about five years now. I enjoy it. I’m still solo in my enthusiasm toward making it more personal, but I think it’ll catch on. This kindness holiday. I have faith. I’ve only just discovered Hygge and Fika. Hope! What would it look like if we offered our favorite shares in the form of a handmade book to the person we shared them with? Or, what about write a...
by Kimberley Wakefield | November, 2018 | hope
The Set Up I joined my fellow MAPP classmates from Bucks New University at the European Positive Psychology Conference expecting some fun and a bit of learning along the way. Never in my wildest imagination did I think that my classmate and I would be having dinner with Barbara Fredrickson, Lea Waters, Michael Steger, Judy Moskowitz and some hilarious guys from Denmark. As my classmate and I carefully chose a table at the gala event, an evening dinner on a boat literally sailing down the Danube. We sat down eager and nervous about our evening ahead. We wanted a good view in the middle of the action as we sat down at an empty table. Then, lo and behold Barbara and her crew sat down and joined us. I just thought “pinch me!” The Chat At first I don’t think either my classmate nor I knew what to do, could we talk to her, what would we say, perhaps for the first time both of us outgoing, extroverts were tongue tied. I’m not normally star stuck but I was now, the Canadian in me wanted to keep my polite distance but the positive psychology enthusiast knew I’d been given an amazing opportunity that I wouldn’t get again and so I’d better use it. We had a wonderful conversation that filled me with joy and gave me hope about the future. She was approachable and the team of them clearly had a lovely connection. They were generous and authentic, just as I would have imagined the leaders of our field to be. The Picture The evening wore on and I...
by Stuart Dickson | March, 2018 | self-development
Generation Snowflake I was scrolling though my Facebook wall the other day and stumbled upon an article, referencing Generation Snowflake or The Snowflake Generation. Having not heard of it before, I opened the article, despite it coming from a newspaper that I would not part with my hard earned cash to purchase. Wikipedia defines Generation Snowflake as a “neologistic term used to characterise the young adults of the 2010s as being more prone to taking offence and less resilient than previous generations, or as being too emotionally vulnerable to cope with views that challenge their own.” An underlying sense of entitlement The article concerned, was about specific comments made by a boarding school head teacher, Douglas Robb. Another newspaper picking up the story was The Telegraph. It reported that Mr Rob warned that “children are being mollycoddled” and that they have “an underlying sense of entitlement.” However, he did also state that he did not feel that they are entirely to blame based on the society that they live in and have been brought up in, highlighting things such as profuse advertising from birth, easy credit and an abundance of reality and social media stars. Even characters on popular sit-com shows can portray an unrealistic life, setting false expectations to the Snowflake Generation. Labels Is it fair for us to label generations in this way though? An insurance firm (1) have carried out some research that found 72 percent of 16-24 year olds think the term Generation Snowflake is unfairly applied, while 74 percent think it could have a negative effect on young people’s mental health. WHO (2003) found...
