I’ve been writing about happiness recently. This is the third (and final) installment in a series of pieces on this subject. The first installment can be found here and second one, here. While prepping myself to write this, I began to think of analogies. Can happiness be cultivated in the same way a farmer prepares for a good … More Repost: Can Happiness Be Cultivated?
Two years ago, I published two short posts about the difference intrinsic or true self-esteem and merely contingent self-esteem; the importance of intrinsic self-esteem; and the problem with only having contingent self-esteem. I think it’s time to revisit this topic. Having reviewed the old posts, they seem good to me. However, some of the comments … More Intrinsic Self-Esteem: What It Is and Why We Need It
Early on in my technical career, I was contracted by Microsoft to write some of their certification exams. When they were releasing a new product, it was a brilliant way to push the technical partners to train and adopt the new product and also convince their customer base that there were partners ready and able … More Writing Outside of the Box
Am I the only one having difficulty sustaining the energy to write? … More Writing On Empty: My Writer’s Block Tantrum
When people in the United States intentionally sought to become happier, they tended to fail. … When people in East Asia intentionally sought to become happier, they tended to succeed. … What people actually do when they seek happiness, in the U.S. and in East Asia, differs sharply in one key way. … More Effective and Ineffective Pursuits of Happiness: Investing in Relationships with Others Is an Anti-Depressant
On a recent podcast, Dan Harris was telling a story about when he suggested to his wife, a physician who graduated top in her class from a prestigious medical school and has practiced at some of the best teaching hospitals, that she might suffer from Imposter’s Syndrome. His wife’s response made me laugh out loud. … More The Imposter Syndrome in Blogging
A few days ago, I had a Zoom meeting with Omar, my nephew by marriage. It’s been a while since I last mentioned that I married an Egyptian woman—a truly beautiful person named Azza—a little more than twelve years ago, back when I was living in Cairo, Egypt, and teaching at the American University in … More I Wish You Well, Omar
Dear, Readers, I’m speaking for all Wise & Shine writers when I say that we so appreciate your continued support of this blog. To show how thankful we are, we want to ask you to share a link to your blog or site in the “thoughts” or comments section at the bottom of this page. … More Sharing is Caring
Today I want to talk about one major cause of depression and the prospect of counteracting or removing that cause. This cause is disconnection from others, or loneliness (more on that shortly). I’m basing this largely on Johann Hari’s investigation and discussion of these matters in his amazing book Lost Connections, which I wrote about … More Disconnection from Others and Loneliness: One Social-Environmental Cause of Depression
I’ve been thinking about our WP community, how important it is; what purpose it serves and extending from that, do we, the more experienced bloggers, have a role in helping and guiding new bloggers so that they stay within the blogging world and become contributing members of the community who, in turn, will then help future bloggers. Do you think about the less experienced bloggers? I suspect for many of us, we think about our own needs. What is required for our own blogs and being in touch with our friends and contacts within the Community. … More Communicating with the Community
What do the lengthening days pf spring have in store for you? Read on… … More Your Spring Horoscope
Most of us are familiar with the old saying, “When it rains, it pours.” I’ve been thinking a lot about that adage recently because there’s been quite a lot of pouring rain in my life over the past few months. A few weeks ago, I wrote about needing to take a leave of absence from … More It’s Been Pouring
The idea of a non-pharmaceutical anti-depressant might be the single most important thing in Johann Hari’s amazing and fairly recent book: Lost Connections. It radically reframes the entire dominant way of thinking about the treatment and prevention of depression, and does this by radically expanding, in a hopeful, realistic, and evidence-based manner, the way we’ve come to assume depression will be treated. … More The Idea of a Non-Pharmaceutical Anti-Depressant
I wrote this post early Monday morning. Around 3:43am that is. I have all sorts of things I do in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep. Mostly worry. Then I review my to-do list. Then I go back to worrying some more. Usually after about a half an hour of tossing and … More Writing In The Dark
Ping! Email notifications. Ping! Calendar reminders. Ping! Family duty calls. Ping! Alarm rings! Work beckons! Repeat. We live in a world where information moves faster than it ever has before. Your niece with a lisp just got married. Nigeria held its elections and the brodas (Nigerian pidgin for brother) were treated to a Nollywood blockbuster. … More BELOVED, REST
Hiking means enjoying a revitalizing moment. People increasingly appreciate the benefits of slowness and simplicity. Walking is a wonderful way to discover the natural environment too. Here are 5 reasons why you should start hiking: 1. It is an extremely healthy activity. Hiking can improve your general physical health and under many aspects is comparable … More 5 Reasons Why Hiking Is Good for the Body, Soul and Spirit
“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. Proficiency and results come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity.” – Aldous Huxley Drown-Proofing When it comes to our psychology what’s happened is this. Our hands … More Stalling: Why Letting Go Is the Key to Regaining Lift
I wonder. A lot. About a lot. To what extent are coincidences unplanned, uncoordinated and unrelated? To what extent are planned occurrences deliberate, independent and timed? Ramblings much? Perhaps. Onto something? Maybe. The enterprise of writing , after all, has always involved a degree of madness. With more than 7 billion people on the planet, … More THE LAW OF UNRELATED THINGS
Hi, all. Wise & Shine is looking for a few new writers. If you’d like to apply to join the team, send samples of your writing via our “Contact” form. Please familiarize yourself with the sort of things our blog publishes before contacting us. We’ll send a set of writing guidelines to those who send … More Want to Write for Wise & Shine?
At the end of last year, this site started a podcast. We came up with a few topics and scheduled conversations, almost entirely among ourselves (those of us who publish our writings on the site). We then recorded those discussions and posted them. We were going at a great clip in the beginning. We managed … More Whatever Happened to the Wise & Shine Podcast?