A recent Facebook post by a friend introduced me to the word meliorism. It’s defined as the belief that the world can be made better by human effort. She was feeling very discourage and, given recent events, was understandably no longer convinced this was true. Nonetheless, I prefer to remain optimistic. Perhaps foolishly so, but […]
A recent article in Psychology Today addressed so-called weak social ties and their surprising importance to our emotional and physical health. Turns out that chatting with the mailman, being recognized in a favorite store, or even laughing with a stranger in line can improve your well-being. And, of course, you can be the one who […]
This year the holidays sort of snuck up on me. Or, more accurately, I was so busy ignoring the blizzard of commercialism, that I forgot to pay attention to the calendar. After I finished avoiding Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Giving Tuesday and Cyber Whatever, it was suddenly mid-December and my holiday spirit was in […]