Jars of Joy

A mother, who is also trained in spiritual formation and is a Presbyterian ‘Stephen’ Minister, created a wonderfully thoughtful way to help her teenage daughter find meaning and move through some adolescent challenges. Pam Robertson wrote out a month’s worth of inspiring quotes on strips of paper, put them in a glass jar, and placed […]

What Makes You Happy?

What Do You Associate With Happiness? Before you begin reading this, think of three words that come to your mind when you think of happiness. ************ Some new, yet to be published, research by scientists at Yonsei University in Korea and U C Santa Barbara compared the words 500 university students associated with happiness with […]

New Research on Personality and Well Being

Personality has long been related to happiness and well-being. Studies of the “Big Five” personality traits (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Openness to Experience) consistently show that extraverts are happier than introverts, as are agreeable individuals compared with those who are less agreeable. In contrast, neuroticism is associated with less happiness and fewer feelings of […]

On Happiness

Lyubomirsky, Sonja, (2008). The How of Happiness: A Scientific approach to getting the life you want. New York: The Penguin Press.  (ISBN 978-1-59420-148-6) In this book psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky draws on her own research and that of others to present a very positive and practical guide for people interested in taking simple concrete steps to enhance […]