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Psychologists Bring Science Of Happiness To China

UC Berkeley has helped establish a new psychology department at China's Tsinghua University. Professor Kaipeng Peng discusses the Science of Happiness.He says the social changes brought about by China's move from socialism to capitalism have made the study of psychology there more important, and that the collaboration also helps American psychologists learn more about psychological differences between cultures. Video produced by Roxanne Makasdjian, UC Berkeley Media Relation"

The ranks of China's millionaires continue to grow, but the increased wealth has done little to boost the country’s gross domestic happiness, according to psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley. They say the pursuit of prosperity in the nation is fast outpacing mental health and well-being, and are seeking to correct that imbalance by spreading the science of happiness in China.

As part of that effort, UC Berkeley psychologists, along with colleagues at Tsinghua University, are hosting in August China’s first-ever conference on positive psychology. The event is particularly relevant in the wake of China's Foxconn plant worker suicides and headline-generating knife attacks on preschoolers, conference leaders said.

"We want to switch the focus in China from the gross domestic product to happiness, from the culture of competition to the common good," said UC Berkeley psychologist Kaiping Peng, founder and director of the Berkeley-Tsinghua Program for Advanced Study in Psychology.

Read the full post here: Psychologists Bring Science Of Happiness To China by Yasmin Anwar, University of California, Berkeley

I Love You Blogs and Coffee

(Designed & copyright by Jen Ramos)

I want this print in my office STAT. I think it summaries perfectly my life at this moment in time. You can get it for $25.00 dollars at Made by Girl. I think if would be a great whimsical touch to any blogger's home office.  What do you think? Yay or Nayy?

What I am loving right know...

By looking at these pictures what type of design style you think suit me best? I'm still not sure how to name my style preference...

I LOVE the colors of this office and the black and
white pictures on the background. I think I could steal
this idea  for my office.

 I believe all white room can look GORGEOUS

if you add splashes of color like this amazing green chair.

I'm really digging the softness and femininity of this

room. For some reason I am very drawn to mirrored

 chest and side tables.  They look so glam!!

I DIE!!!! For this room. Love the floor to ceiling windows.

I love Zebra rugs, fancy crown molding and
 crystal chandeliers. Are you feeling me. I love
 how everything  is monochromatic except for the
yellow sofa. Loves it!! 

This is a dream of mine. I swear one day....

it will come true :)

     I can see my daughter enjoying a room like this.

    Love the ecletic feel.

Need to say more?

Happiness Explained: Happy people really do work harder

  "Economists have established a link between
workers' happiness and  their performance,
and say employers should take note"

A team of economists has now produced research that suggests there are clear links between workers' happiness and their productivity.

The team, led by Andrew Oswald, a professor of economics at Warwick Business School and a leading authority on the relationship between economics and mental health, said its research has important implications for the worlds of politics and business.

"We find that human happiness has large and positive causal effects on productivity," the team said. "Positive emotions appear to invigorate human beings, while negative emotions have the opposite effect."

The team conducted a range of exercises in their research. In one, students were asked to add a series of five two-digit numbers in 10 minutes. The subjects were paid an attendance fee, and a performance fee based on the number of correct answers.

Some were then shown a 10-minute film based on comedy routines performed by a well-known British comedian. The film succeeded in raising the reported happiness levels of those who saw it, compared to those who did not see it, or who watched a "placebo" film – a clip depicting patterns of coloured sticks.

Among the subjects who reported higher happiness levels after seeing the comedy film, productivity was significantly higher than for the other subjects, for both men and women. The Warwick economists noted: "Happier workers, our research found, were 12% more productive. Unhappier workers were 10% less productive." Significantly, subjects who watched the comedy film but did not report higher levels of happiness were unable to demonstrate higher levels of productivity.

The findings led the economists to claim: "The increase in productivity seems to be linked to the increase in happiness, not merely to the watching of the comedy movie per se." The team also found that those who had experienced a death or illness in their families within the past two years performed 10% worse than others.

"Given the extraordinarily homogeneous sample of our subjects, the difference in productivity was unexpectedly striking," it wrote in the latest issue of the University of Warwick's Economic Research Institute journal.

Hand printed, signed, limited edition woodblock 'Work Hard & Be Nice to People' print by Anthony Burrill available from the Pedlers webstore.

Read the full post here: Jamie Doward - The Observer - Happy people really do work harder

The Source of Happiness...

Happiness comes from spiritual wealth, not material wealth… Happiness comes from giving, not getting. If we try hard to bring happiness to others, we cannot stop it from coming to us also. To get joy, we must give it, and to keep joy, we must scatter it.

~John Templeton

Family + Food = Happiness

"Happiness and food are really highly connected, from the pleasure of cooking and eating to the changes in brain chemistry that food can bring about. Many people are made miserable by food but if we switch that around we can use food to make ourselves happier!"

As you all know I love cooking. I have never taken a cooking class in my entire life so I considered myself a home cook just like any other mom in America. My first cooking memories always takes me back to my grandmother's house. She is one of those women that  everyone around the city knew. Her cooking was sooo good that she was able to to use the earnings toward her children college fund and buy her own house.

Roasted Mediterranean Chicken

My grandmother has always been a very independent woman something that was not the norm during that specific period of time.  My grandmother's was born and raised in the Island of Puerto Rico around the 1920's. Her father was a respected member of the community, was involved in politics, and owned  a small country store. Puerto Ricans, just like my grandmother, value family life and will put their family first. They consider family a core cultural value.

The traditions and beliefs of Puerto Ricans are heavily influenced by Puerto Rico's Afro-Spanish history. Many Puerto Rican customs and superstitions blend the Catholic religious traditions of Spaniards and the pagan religious beliefs of the West African slaves who were brought to the island beginning in the sixteenth century. Puerto Rican family structure is extensive; it is based on the Spanish system of compadrazco (literally "co-parenting") in which many members—not just parents and siblings—are considered to be part of the immediate family.

 During weekends everyone visited my grandmother. As soon as she turn on the stove we all knew we were on the road of happiness.  Her food was magical. It made all your worries go away. It can even heal you. Her food bring people together, make others forgive, and others fall in love. I really miss her... I wish I can fly to Puerto Rico  

anytime soon.

Is because of these wonderful  memories that the following article cached my attention.

  

A team of ‘Happiness Ambassadors’, traveling through 206 countries in 365 days, have come up with the simplest formula in the world to make people happy. Family + Food = Happiness.

Tomatoes from my garden

The ‘Ambassadors’, who are not diplomats, have nothing to do with foreign policy and represent no one but the survey they’re engaged in, say that food is the second greatest source of happiness for people of all cultures, incomes and age-groups.

Kelly Ferris, a 23-year-old student from Brussels, Belgium, who was in India recently as part of her ‘ambassadorial’ duties, says food is a particular source of happiness for people in China, Japan, India and Malaysia. She says Asia also comes together in the joy of honoring tradition and family values.

Chicken spaghetti

The ‘ambassadorial’ survey, which is the initiative of a global soft drink company, started in the Spanish capital Madrid on January 1. It is expected to end in the American city of Atlanta on December 31. In India — the 100th country visited by the ‘ambassadors’ — the expedition was approaching halfway mark.


Ferris says that Indian adults manifestly display their happiness at the prospect of attending weddings or when bonding with the community, while Indian children manifestly love to shop and play/watch cricket.

Shrimp and Spicy Cheese Grits

But most people surveyed around the world, including India, said they were happiest with family time — catching up with loved ones at the end of the day’s work made 39% happy; eating with the family made 22% happy and chatting to friends or colleagues brought joy to 17%.

The new, evolving happiness formula underlines the truth of neuroscientists’ increasing belief that happiness is not a vague concept or mood but very real and can be measured. But where does money figure in the happiness index? Not particularly high-up, says psychologist and author Dr Richard Stevens, who has analyzed the findings of the ‘ambassadorial’ survey. “Without relationships, love, family or friendship, most people will not be content and no amount of money can fill this void,” says Stevens.

Read the full post here: Family + Food = Happiness

Rescued bluebird finds happiness with saviors

More than a month ago, Doug and Diane Willard of Midlothian found the tiny bird lying flat, featherless, freezing and breathing heavily in a neighbor's newspaper box.


A handyman, Doug Willard was helping close his neighbor's newspaper holder to deter bluebirds from nesting there. The near lifeless bird's mother had not returned to the nest in some time, and another young bird was dead on the ground.

"You could feel the body, and it was just cold," Diane Willard said. "So I brought it home, and for four weeks, I had it on a heating pad. It was so pitiful. I mean, it was just flat as a pancake."

Five-and-a-half weeks later, "Birdy" is a full-size bluebird with majestic, royal-blue wings and a hearty coat of gray feathers on her breast and back. The Willards' neighbor, Louise Nuckols, another adoptive figure in the fledgling's life, even found Birdy a cage to sleep in.

"We didn't think it would make it through the week," Nuckols said.

Nuckols said she did some research on the Internet and found that rescued bluebirds typically fly away in 19 days. Birdy was found on Mother's Day, 40 days ago. The chatty bird has yet to fly more than 25 feet before swooping back around and chirping on either the Willards' or Nuckols' shoulders.

According to Dave McRuer, director of veterinary services at the Wildlife Center of Virginia, rescued songbirds like Birdy don't typically "imprint" with humans. He said it is possible at a very young age for the bird to think it is a human or that the humans are birds like her.

McRuer added that keeping a bluebird without a permit for scientific or educational efforts is illegal and against the Migratory Bird Act. But the Willards said they try to get Birdy to fly away every day.

Until she takes flight, Birdy seems content hopping around in a strawberry box, which holds baby mealworms (she eats about 50 a day), bird seed and the fish worms that Nuckols' husband, Fred, digs out of the backyard. In the evening, Birdy joins Doug Willard on a rocking chair to watch her favorite show, "NCIS."

So that Birdy can enjoy watching her show in peace, the Willards' three cats -- Baby Socks, Goofy and Dude -- are lured away. The cats were also adopted, but unlike Birdy, they will enjoy the Willards' hospitality for life.

"It would be sad [for her to fly away]," Diane Willard said, "but we know that she's a bird."



Source: Tim Chapman, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.