Contemplative psychotherapy for individuals, couples, and groups in New York City.
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What if money can make you happy after all?
We hear again and again that money can't make you happy. But maybe it can after all. “Just because money doesn’t buy happiness doesn’t mean money cannot buy happiness,” says Elizabeth Dunn, a social psychologist and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia, in tomorrow's Boston Globe. According to Dunn and her fellow researchers, it all depends on how you spend it. If you spend money "prosocially"—that is, if you spend it on others—you're likelier to add to your purchase a lasting sense of well-being. More » -
64 years ago today
64 years ago today the crew of the B-29 Superfortress bomber Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb, code-named "Little Boy," onto Hiroshima, Japan. This action has come to stand for the horror of war and the deliberate killing of civilians (of which this was not an isolated instance, but it was a new way to do it) and continues to cast a long shadow over the entire world, telling every man, woman, and child: You are not safe. You can be killed at any time, without warning, without reason. This has always been true, but Hiroshima brought it home to the most comfortable, the most secure, the most secluded. Death is at your elbow. More » -
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Making our way through a sea of green
In my continuing quest to bring mindfulness to all that I consume, I've met more than a few roadblocks. As Organic! Green! and Eco-friendly! labels scream at me from the aisles of my grocery store the process has become increasingly exasperating. Further confusing me, the "Healthy Living" section of my local supermarket recently renovated their floors, replacing linoleum with polished wood to simulate the feel of an organic health food store. Detergents, toothpastes, fruits, and even potato chips now come in green packaging with grassy knolls, woodland creatures, and falling leaves decorating their labels. It all adds to my mounting confusion. More » -
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Mindfulness and Consumption, where does it end?
In a recent blog post concerning mindfulness and our consumption of food, I asked readers to consider ways in which we can be mindful as consumers. Tricycle blog reader Alan, building on the initial question, posted the following: Your question, "is it possible to remain mindful of all that we consume?” has a simple answer: No. Consider the *simple* act of posting this message: I have no clear idea as to the environmental costs of computer manufacture, internet usage, etc., nor can I, but I consume anyway. That said, I think your question makes an excellent point because so much of the advice we are given, “be mindful about consumption,” might seem to imply otherwise. Perhaps a better approach would be to ask, “Given that full mindfulness of all that we consume is impossible, how can we approach consumption most skillfully? More » -
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Mindful Consumption?
This week, Magnolia Pictures releases its new movie Food, Inc. in theaters across the US. The film, which follows in the footsteps of recent films like Fast Food Nation, focuses on the shadowy and unchecked food industry that has grown in the US over the past 50 years. But while the film targets the handful of large corporations that control much of what appears on the shelves of grocery stores, it also suggests that our blissful ignorance as consumers who toss frozen chicken breasts and packaged lettuce into our grocery carts, actually makes us complicit in the ugly underbelly of the multi-billion dollar food industry. I was lucky enough to catch an advanced screening of the film which manages to be simultaneously troubling and hopeful as it exposes the history and future of American's food consumption. More » -
What's the happiest country in the world?
Denmark, according to author and self-described grump Eric Weiner, who relies on the Eurobarometer Survey for evidence in his opinion piece in yesterday's New York Times: More than two-thirds of Danes report being “very satisfied with their lives.” The reason? Low expectations. Apparently, the Danes don't expect much to go well and when things do, they're, well, happy: Danes have low expectations and so “year after year they are pleasantly surprised to find out that not everything is rotten in the state of Denmark,” says James W. Vaupel, a demographer who has investigated Danish bliss. If this all sounds vaguely Buddhist, Weiner thinks so, too: Though not an especially religious people, Danes would make good Buddhists. More »
