Consideringhappiness

This episode begins a more intensive phase of practical, down to earth tips on how to create a more satisfying, healthy, and HAPPY life.  We begin with a flaming squirrel incident that's actually a true story and move into science's top 3 tips for a Happy Life.  Join in the fun!  P.S. While taking a break from recording it appears that my cats contributed their own thoughts on the Sleep section I created. It is, in fact, gone! LOL So here is the edited version and a few articles I hope you enjoy that might provide some historical sense about how we've viewed sleep as humans and some great research about how to catch the best winks possible every night. Hope you enjoy! https://vanwinkles.com/ancient-interpretations-about-sleep https://www.livestrong.com/article/1012286-10-proven-tips-good-nights-sleep/ http://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/interactive/timeline  

What’s Love Got To Do With Happiness? Well, everything! But don’t worry if you’re currently unlucky at love. There are lots of ways to love, according to the ancient Greeks and Romans, and there are many ways we can feel love in the next 15 minutes, regardless of whether we’re currently in a romantic, loving relationship or not.  Let’s talk about love in a broader way. Though, as F. Scott Fitzgerald says,”There are all kinds of love in this world but never the same love twice.”   We also cover Lovingkindness Meditation and do one together (clothing optional). ;)

Welcome to this special Animal Edition of Considering Happiness!  In this fast-moving, “wild" episode, we digest exciting, prescient facts about the Animal Kingdom with light foray into old Hollywood. We’ll be time traveling to the Wild West, exploring the origin of the “getting your goat” expression, learning from Dogs, visiting Zebras in the grasslands and woodlands of Eastern and Southern Africa, and experiencing some more sultry hormonal sensations right before we stuff one more tool into our happiness backpacks. I did tell you this is the Animal Edition, didn’t I! ;) 

Welcome to this special, Spicy Spring Fling edition of Considering Happiness!  For the next year I’m committing to consider the Science of Happiness and Well-Being and then fill the airwaves with as many stories and seasons, faces and places of genuine happiness as I possibly can. To explore ways I’ve never thought of that I might be able to add to my happiness backpack. To learn how to smile more and fear less. To learn a million more ways or even just one more potent way to feel GOOD more often over time. Thanks for joining me! In this fast-moving episode, we’re going to explore what makes us happy and WHY it’s been proven make you more money and friends. No, really! We’ll also play a game of Happiness Jeopardy, consider some truly unique Spring Festivals ranging from the “cheesy” to the spicy, and downright shocking, and we’ll conjure surprisingly scientific Patronus Charms.

Welcome to this special Ides of March Edition of Considering Happiness! Crunching on a Caesar salad as I consider cutting edge, snackable, yet satisfying reports from that seemingly elusive world of Happiness.    For the next year I’m committing to explore filling the airwaves with as many faces and seasons, nuances and places of  happiness as I possibly can. To consider ways I’ve never thought of that I might be able to add to my happiness backpack. To learn how to smile more and fear less. To learn a million more ways or even just one more potent way to feel GOOD. Thanks for joining me!   In this fast-moving episode, we're going to explore the question of What IS happiness, actually? Why does happiness matter? And how can I experience more of it? We'll also time travel to Ancient China and Rome, listen to what dying people have to say, visit Well Seasoned Cannibals in New Guinea, discuss radical organ enlargement, explore some famous movie moments, and consider our first Tool for Creating Happiness.  

  Considering Happiness   We live in challenging times in America… If you’re like me, some days just looking at the headlines can cause your blood pressure to spike.   An unquestioned, twisted golden rule of 24/7 fearful outrage now dominates digital media.   The underlying assumption seems to be that everything is horrible, so you have no right to happiness.   On October 1, 2017, I was spending the weekend away in exotic Las Vegas. I was staying on the 23rd floor of the Luxor Hotel, with a motion picture approved view of the mass shooting site where 58 people died and 500 were injured. As the police scanner app informed us of an ever-widening swath of shooting reports and bomb threats, I remember choosing to redirect my focus from the crazy scene below, where the shooter next door at Mandalay Bay was still at large, and to gaze up toward the perfectly luminous Harvest moon, remembering that the bloodshed happening below was not likely to rock her from her serene, beautiful orbit.    Desert animals and insec