Category Archives: Emotions
To Be or Not To Be a Risk Taker
Would you be thrilled to drive a race car, sky dive, swim with sharks? Or do you prefer the excitement of trying a new ice cream flavor, a different route to work, or painting your living room a creamier shade of white? We are complex beings and our capacity for risk has wide variations.
Long History
Risk is an inherent part of human growth, from our birth to our final moment of life we are involved in the ongoing task of navigating risk. As humans we have a long history of facing risk and learning to triumph. Homo neanderthalensis had … Read the rest
Introverts and Extroverts: Straight Talk
What is an introvert? An extrovert? The famous psychologist Carl Jung introduced the terms extroversion and introversion. He described these core elements of personality:
- Introversion is a focus on one’s inner world
- Extroversion is a focus on the outer world.
If you are interested in finding out what your personality type is using these concepts, you can take a free online test at HumanMetrics.
Research has found that introverts’ brains process information very quickly compared to extroverts’ brains. So introverts can get overwhelmed by too much incoming stimuli (e.g. a crowded party, lots of loud noise) while extroverts are … Read the rest
Humor Heals: A Look At Anxiety Through A Comic Lens
Anxiety can be a debilitating disorder . The Nation Institute of Mental Health estimates that 40 million American adults have an anxiety disorder. Taking a light hearted look at anxiety can be a welcome and therapeutic experience. BuzzFeed collected 24 comics that depict the frustration of anxiety disorders.
The artists capture the key elements of anxiety and bring the themes alive with fun graphics. They illustrate key components of anxiety extremely well:
- The seemingly superhuman power our minds has over us by depicting Anxiety Girl who is able to jump to the worst conclusion in a single bound.
- How
Float Away Your Troubles
What are Floatation Tanks?
Floatation tanks are becoming a novel new way to gain inner peace and deep relaxation. Floatation or isolation tanks were initially used by John Lilly, a neuropsychiatrist, in 1954 to explore what happens when our external sensory input is significantly reduced. Basically, the sensory deprivation tanks are big, closed tubs filled with water and a large amount of Epsom salts.
The high concentration of salt makes it possible for you to comfortably float with your face above the water. Since the air and water temperature are the same temperature as the skin, you can begin to … Read the rest
How To Be A Gentleman
Chelsea Fagan has written a fun and informative post entitled 24 Rules For Being A Gentleman In 2014.
Some examples include:
… Read the rest4. Always text back promptly, even if it’s to let someone down gently. The worst thing you can possibly to do someone is leave them hanging so they can torture themselves with worst case scenarios.
9. Do not refer to things as “gay” that aren’t homosexual human beings. People who call things “gay” as a pejorative are truly the raisins in the trail mix of life.
20. Do not sleep with anyone who wants a relationship from you
Trust and Pixie Dust
All the world is made of faith, trust, and pixie dust.
J.M. Barrie
The Eternal Boy
In the well loved children’s tale Peter Pan, Scottish author J.M. Barrie wrote about the adventures of a never aging, mischievous boy with the ability to fly. From a psychological perspective Peter never completes the task of growing up. He remains a puer aeternus. This is a Latin phrase that means “eternal boy”1.
Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung saw the eternal boy as an archetype: an innate, universal human concept. Jung also drew attention to the fact that, like … Read the rest
