Interdisciplinary Psychology:

You know those commercials on TV, the ones for the exercise equipment that promises to give to rippling mussels if you work out for just five minutes a day. Whenever I see those commercials I always wonder, “do people actually buy into that?” I suppose some people must. I’m basing this assumption off the fact that every garage sale I have ever been to has had one of these “quick fix” exercise machines available for purchase. Sometimes I worry that a lot of the mood altering techniques we have read about in this class may be viewed by people in the same way as those exercise machine commercials.

Activity 2: “Do Unto Others.” 

            I am greedy. There I said it. I wouldn’t say that I’m the stingiest person I know but I’m definitely not the first guy in the bar to start buying drinks for people. This has always been a problem for me. I’m pretty sure it has to do with the fact that when I was growing up my parents always stressed the importance of money. They would tell me, “Sure, follow your dreams we will always support you (emotionally that is). But you have to realize that most musicians are poor, and Brandon coming from two people who know you pretty well, being poor isn’t something we think you’d enjoy.” 

Activity 1: Elevator Ride.

            A while ago, I created this weekly morning routine for myself in order to add more structure to the start of my day.  You see, I work nights in a restaurant / bar that has fairly late hours. To be specific this means that on average I arrive at work at about 5:00 PM and make it back home around 11:30 PM. By the time I actually get into bed to fall a sleep it’s generally around 2:00AM.

            An In introduction to Positive Psychology was one of the more enjoyable textbooks I have read throughout my college career. William C. Compton choice to format his book in small sub-sections with in the chapters made the information much easier to process and retain. The comprehensive history of positive psychology that Compton provides throughout the book was also a great addition. Having a historical account to reference allowed me to gain a much clearer understanding of what elements of “traditional psychology” lead Seligman and others to create this fairly new field of positive psychology.