a daily blog on well-being and how to feel better by Mark Barger Elliott…

We were enjoying one of our favorite book stores in Harvard Square when we came upon a table with twenty books wrapped in sand-colored paper with labels that read, “Blind Date with a Book. “(You’ll find a picture at on-emotions.com.) Each book had a sharpie written quote to entice you to go on a blind…

There is a word in Tibetan Buddhism that describes what we’ve all felt at one time. It’s the word shenpa.  Shenpa can be translated as “attachment,” but as author Pema Chödrön explains, it can also be thought of as feeling “hooked.” It’s when we experience, as she observes, a “tightening, a tensing, a sense of closing down……

We were standing on a bridge marveling at a small freshwater lake covered entirely in water lilies when we noticed a single turtle resting on one of the waxy-coated leaves.  We have seen turtles sunning themselves on tree limbs that had fallen into the water or along a shoreline, but never on a lily pad…

Gabrielle Reece was a successful volleyball player and named one of the “20 Most Influential Women in Sports” by Women’s Sports & Fitness.  Podcaster and author Tim Ferriss asked about her secrets to being successful and Reece shared how one of the things that has made her life more fulfilling is she tries is to…

We could all use encouragement, but what happens when there is no one around to encourage us? Last week as I was scrolling through Instagram, I came across a Reel of a little girl pushing her father down a sliding board. When she sat down to take her turn, she paused and reached her hands…

When Professor Dacher Keltner taught a course called “Human Happiness” at UC Berkeley, he would invite students to imagine that a Happiness Button had been invented. If a person chose to press it, they would become happier. He then asked his students: “Would you press the button?” Can you guess what percentage chose to press…