How do you focus?

There's an old saying about the glass being half-full or half-empty. It's true that some of us opt for seeing the bad side of experiences and events forgetting about the good things.

What people do (some people)d is to focus unhealthily on one negative detail, excluding a host of positives that surround it. That kind of person is usually more prone to depression and you don't need a Psychology graduation to see why.


Our contemporary way of life doesn't help. Being more about having than being, underligns appearances and tends to make us blind to small and pleasureable details in our lives. The ancient Greek philosophers were aware of this nasty tendency and took pains to caution people about it.

If you don't feel like reading Plato or Aristotle - and they can give you great moments of reflexion - there are contemporary authors who write about the same issues in a more modern way. Alain de Botton and A. C. Graylings come to mind immediatly. Both can be found in Amazon.

 

Finding moments of happiness (note I wrote "moments of happiness" and not happiness) is not a question of being merry and oblivious to reality. It's a question of intelligence.

 

Social anxiety

 

I believe social anxiety is one of most spread types of anxiety. It can range from a certain awkwardness to real panic. I know of young people that don't just go anywhere socially speaking out of fear of not knowing how to behave.

Of course these fears are very much augmented but that's not the point. The point is that one needs to feel all right with herself/himself to be able to enjoy being with others, chatting, etc. It has to do with self-confidence. Psychotherapy and life-coaching are quite useful - you can get visible results in a few months (unless you're severely depressed or have another psychiatric condition).

Now, and in a more lighter vein, check out this funny advice from buzzfeed.com and have a good laugh:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/katienotopoulos/an-illustrated-guide-to-conquering-social-anxiety

 

 

Being ourselves

Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, spent years of her research on subjects like vulnerability, shame, human connection and authenticity.
In this TED video she talks about the temptation to numb our emotions and about being (or: daring to be) ourselves.

http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

Photography: plane and moon

Photography is the art of the efemerous. You'll never find another moment exactly like that one.

The photographer is unknown. I found it via Likecool.com.

 

The video in St. Pancras

Art and creativity

Our colleague Helena Meadows is a psychologist and hypnoterapist who lives in London but comes every month to Lisbon. She asked me to post this for her, about a very interesting event taking place in St. Pancras:

"London is a place where art and creativity are in every corner.

And the pianos installed recently on the concourse at St Pancras International rail station are just one example of this vibrancy:  they are there for anyone who wants to play them.

This passenger stops to play "The Girl from Ipanema", his partner waits.  And then they continue on their journey to who knows where, whilst jollied on their way.

Definitely, it is not just the destination that counts."

Check out the video