ARCHIVE - Lauren's blog

ARCHIVE - Beautiful Day

Lauren — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:50:52 -0800

Ever since we received the Living Positive Psychology interventions, I had looked forward to the “Beautiful Day” exercise. I started brainstorming weeks in advance about what activities would comprise the perfect day. My number-one-most-perfect-day-ever consisted of this:
➢   Wake-up and lay in bed for about a half an hour, letting my brain wake up at its own pace.
➢   Workout for about 45 minutes. Running on the treadmill, beating my previous time.
➢   Eat a delicious breakfast at the Bread Peddler. Savoring deliciousness and not thinking about how many calories are in Mornay sauce.

ARCHIVE - EMP

Lauren — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 01:00:30 -0800

On Saturday, February 23rd students of the 2008 Positive Psychology program visited the EMP—or Experience Music Project—and Science Fiction Museum in Seattle. Our assignment was to identify real-life examples of concepts learned in class.
Our three vans left the Evergreen bus loop at 9:30 a.m. Saturday morning, and arrived at EMP at around 10:30 a.m. An EMP employee gave our group a brief overview of the museum’s layout and suggested activities that we might find relevant to our assignment.
Once inside the museum, we broke up into smaller groups to explore. My group consisted of: Brandon, Jill, Lisa, and Lisa’s daughter. We decided to begin with the “On Stage” activity, in which participants pretend to be a performing rock band. As we waited in line, we were joined Taurell—who added a much-needed cowbell to our stirring rendition of I Love Rock n’ Roll, by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.

ARCHIVE - Gratitude letter

Lauren — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:14:26 -0800

I chose to write my gratitude letter to my little brother, Daniel. Before reading it to him I was really nervous. When expressing any kind of sappy emotion to a fourteen year old boy, there is always the danger that they will laugh in your face and tell you that you are “gay.” Granted, Daniel has a lot more sensitivity and heart than most teenage boys I’ve met, but he still has his stereotypical “dude” moments. So I was unsure of the reaction that I would get.
Dear Daniel,
Thank you for being an amazing little brother. Thank you so much for making me laugh all the time and for giving me an excuse to go see cheesy superhero movies. I am so proud of you for growing up to be such a smart, kind, funny, thoughtful, loveable guy. I really enjoyed talking to you when I came home for Christmas break and it made me so happy to see what a good head you have on your shoulders. Despite peer pressure, you unapologetically remain your own person, which is more than can be said for most people twice your age. I hope you know how grateful I am that you are my brother. Thanks for thinking I’m cool even when I‘m a huge nerd. And THANK YOU for taking such good care of our mom. I know I don’t have to worry too much because you’re there to make sure she’s okay. No matter how many times you hit me with a shoe, I will always be glad that you are my little brother!

ARCHIVE - Resilience Factor Response

Lauren — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 22:52:08 -0800

I thought that The Resilience Factor, by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte, did an incredible job of clearly laying out the necessary steps for building resilience. Despite the book’s complicated and highly specialized subject, all the information—and there was a lot of it—was accessible and easy for the layperson to understand. I found it hard to just sit down and read this book within the time allotted, because I could easily have spent weeks on each chapter, practicing each exercise and activity until it was second nature, before moving on to the next.
Another thing I liked about this book was the attitude with which Reivich and Shatte presented their material. Right off the bat, they establish realistic expectations with the reader and make it know that “the skills imparted in this book… are not a quick fix.” (p.5) They let the reader know that learning the skills will require a lot of hard work and dedication, while keeping the overall tone hopeful and encouraging. Many other “self-help” books struggle to achieve this type of balance, and most err on the side of hope, leaving hard work by the wayside.

ARCHIVE - Three Blessings

Lauren — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:11:54 -0800

I was looking forward to doing the “Three Blessings” activity because, through my study of positive psychology, I have come to realize that I am prone to fixating on negative events and minimizing positive ones. I figured that this exercise could help even out the balance.
At first, it was somewhat difficult to come up with really good things that had happened, but once I got started it was easy. On evenings that I was cranky or in a bad mood, the exercise helped to lift my mood and made it easier for me to relax and fall asleep.
On two of the nights I tried the dreaming option. I don’t think it worked the way it was supposed to. On both nights I had strange dreams, like black-and-white movies. George Clooney was in one of them. I’m not sure what that’s all about.

ARCHIVE - Activities 1&2 Elevator Ride

Lauren — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 21:06:30 -0800

Often times when I am grouchy or sad or stressed out and have some time on my hands, I find that the absolute, number one, best strategy for lifting my mood is this:
Step One: I go down to the gym in my apartment complex. Luckily most of the other tenants are old and like to smoke, so I have the room to myself. I play some awesome, super-amped-up tunes on my ipod, hop on the treadmill and run as fast as I can for as long as I can. Then I figure, since I’m already down here I might as well work out anyways. This gets the endorphins going and gets rid of any anxiety.
Once I’m done with that, Step two is to take a really long, hot shower. If there is any better mood lifter than a hot shower, I don’t know what it is, and I also don’t care. After the shower, I do my clay facial mask and a bunch of other girly stuff involving things that smell good. This has the added benefit of making me pleasant to be around, increasing my social activity, and thus my long-term happiness. If I don’t have enough time to do all this, watching a couple of funny videos on the internet works, too.

ARCHIVE - Gemeinschafsgeful "Do Unto Others"

Lauren — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 20:14:12 -0800

My two hours in “assisting others” didn’t turn out the way I had expected. After going back and forth about what would be “noble” enough, a friend called me, she was pretty upset and didn’t know what to do. “Finally,” I thought. “This is my chance to be helpful and altruistic and whatever that ridiculously long word says!” I did what any good friend would do I bought a six-pack of good beer and went over to her house.
She is still fuming when I get to her house and hand her a beer. The problem, it turns out, is her boyfriend. She feels that he’s been disrespectful but she doesn’t know how to fix the situation. After making the usual “oh no!” and “what a jerk!” and the “ he did what!” contributions for a while. I say that “Maybe he doesn’t realize what he did upset you. You should talk to him about it and let him know how you feel...” and so on and so forth, blah blah blah. You know how this goes.

ARCHIVE - Response

Lauren — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:39:48 -0800

I wish more people knew about Positive Psychology. Most people don’t realize how much power they have to shape their experience. When people believe that things just “are the way they are” they become passive observers in their own lives. This increases susceptibility to depression and other mental illness and creates a victim culture, in which the individual is void of personal responsibility for their actions. People see life as all or nothing, you’re either successful and self-motivated, or you’re not. If not, too bad for you! Despite what we’ve all been taught, the evidence confirms that the valuable life skills necessary to thrive are almost entirely learnable. Positive coping strategies, happiness, optimism, even talent!