2008
I was blessed to have the opportunity to attend a two-day seminar on “Caring in Education” led by Nel Noddings, professor emeritus from Stanford University. I had known of her work for many years, and was excited to hear her thoughts in person.
To care for young people and to be cared for […]
2008
It was 1976. I was in the fifth grade. The fifty-yard dash record for Lake Bluff Elementary School in Shorewood, Wisconsin was set in the mid 1950s. I had a chance to break it. I walked past my classmates and stepped up to the starting line. I looked at my gym teacher, Mr. (Buddy) Wolf. He blew his whistle and I took off running. I pumped my legs and arms as fast as I could. 6.5 seconds later I leaned into the finish line and I heard the click of Mr. Wolf’s stop watch. I turned around just as fast as I could to hear Mr. Wolf say: “You just broke the school record!”
2008
“How do you propose we share positive psychology with strangers?”, a participant at one of my recent seminars asked. The question took me by surprise but in a flash, I answered intuitively “Be nice”. That succinctly covered all the ways I could think of in 2 seconds. Two weeks have passed and I think of the myriad of […]
2008
They weren’t PhDs. They didn’t have millions in NIH grants, or access to well-oiled research and development labs. In fact, neither Augusto nor Michaela Odone had even a basic background in biology. Despite their lack of resources, the couple landed a spot in history; they are known for developing a treatment that successfully halts the […]
2008
I’ve been a bit of a grump today. Not a bad, grump. Just some tacky, negative comments. I said as I started out this morning that I was feeling that way, and I know I was a bit terse with my staff a time or two during the day. When I got home this evening, I was still […]
2008
Last summer, the journal Insulin published What people with diabetes want their caregivers to know: Development of the TCOYD patient concensus statement” based on the results of a workshop I ran at the 2004 Raleigh Taking Control of Your Diabetes conference. I’m going to look at three items from the patient consensus statement and show […]
2008
“Raindrops on roses and
Whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and
Warm woolen mittens”
Julie Andrews sang about them. Oprah has them. And so I now want to do a fun column about “My Favorite Things,” too, to pay homage to some of the things that bring happiness and contentment to my life in the hopes […]
2008
My husband and I took my godmother’s new dog, a 10 month old schipperke, for a long walk across Duke East Campus, as far as the statue of Sower. What pleasure this wiggling, active, curious, explorative little creature is giving my godmother! It made me wonder what positive psychology can tell us about […]
2008
Florida State University researcher K. Anders Ericsson is best known for his work as the expert on expertise, studying top performers in fields as diverse as medicine, athletics, chess and music. Ericsson set out to find out what makes some people the “best of the best.”
What he has discovered may contradict everything you have come […]
2008
I love peanuts. I like them salted or unsalted. I like them sweet or savory. You can put them in my dinner or in my dessert. I never met a peanut I didn’t like. It is a joy to eat peanuts!
It’s also a challenge to eat peanuts. Peanuts pack a caloric punch. Too many peanuts […]