Happiness and meaning while connected, don’t seem to be the same thing. We can imagine a paradigmatic meaningful life that is unhappy and vice versa. For example, one might seek truth, do good things, or produce beauty—paradigms of meaningful lives—and still be unhappy. Or one might have health, wealth, friends, and knowledge—things associated with happy lives—and yet live a meaningless life, Continue reading Happiness and the Meaning of Life →

A Harvard study followed 268 undergraduates from the classes of 1938-1940 for 75 years, regularly collecting data on various aspects of their lives. The findings were reported in a recent book by the Harvard psychiatrist George Vaillant: Continue reading Summary of the Harvard Grant Study: Triumphs of Experience →

William James, in his famous book The Varieties of Religious Experience, drew a contrast between what he calls “once born” and the “twice born” people.  Once born people appear biologically predisposed to happiness. Continue reading William James: Once Born and Twice Born People →

A colleague recently sent me a link to an article which claims that having nature in your surroundings extends life and increases happiness. Continue reading The Positive Effect of Nature →

Loneliness by Hans Thoma (National Museum in Warsaw)

The longest running study of human development by Harvard researchers confirms that satisfying personal relationships are the key to human happiness. Moreover, personal relationships are just as important to your health as diet and exercise. (Note – I wrote about this study previously here.) Continue reading Summary of the Harvard Grant Study →