The Neurobiology of Play

People who know me well, often find me to be a playful sort, particularly if they are playful sorts themselves. Play feels good to me, and neuroscientist Jaak Panksepp explains why when he calls play “the brain source of joy.” From his research play appears to increase gene expression in the frontal lobes, the same [...]

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Vital Engagement

My best work has historically been done in partnership. Co-teaching with any variety of friends seems to lend itself perfectly to what the positive psychologists have identified as Vital Engagement, a way to characterize life as love made visible. Two friends and I – both named Ruth – have collaborated and taught many college classes [...]

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Honoring Our Own Authority

My friend Sean and his wife Jaimee took their six month old son Levi in to see a pediatric urologist last year. She’s a highly respected, well-known doctor on the San Franscisco Peninsula. Let’s call her Ursala.
“Your baby has this urinary tract infection because you didn’t have him circumcised,” Ursala authoritatively pronounced, as she looked [...]

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The Happiness Formula

Social psychologists – in particular, the positive ones – have a formula for happiness. Here it is: H=S+C+V. Happiness equals your natal Set point, plus your life Conditions, plus the Voluntary activities you choose to engage in.
It’s useful to try to quantify happiness, I think. Palliative caregivers quantify pain by asking patients to hold up [...]

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