Author: Stephanie Hills

  • Looking at things from all sides

    A wise teacher of mine used to challenge her students with the question, “What if the opposite were true?” This is a great way to prompt lateral thinking. It can help us to spot where our supposedly logical conclusions might be based on rather tenuous assumptions and help us to understand how someone else might […]

  • The Optimistic Child

    The Optimistic Child. A Revolutionary Approach to Raising Resilient Children                                                                      by Martin Seligman This classic book, first published in 1995, is by Martin Seligman, who is considered the founder of positive psychology. It outlines the school-based programme he developed to teach optimism and resilience in children, and the research behind it. The book goes on […]

  • Silly observations

    False teeth are like stars. They come out at night. * * * Two fish in a tank. One of them says to the other: “How do you drive this thing?” * * * A nine-year-old girl has disappeared after using moisturiser that makes you look ten years younger.

  • Going above and beyond

    As homelessness becomes more prevalent, many unemployed people find it necessary to make use of public spaces such as libraries, where they can find warmth, shelter and company during the day.  A young man living in his car became a well-known regular at one library.  Council staff helped to connect him with services and resources […]

  • Compassion and happiness

    It’s well known among happiness researchers that people who do volunteer work and have an altruistic approach to life are happier than those who focus on themselves. This has been shown through statistical surveys and also through brain imaging. Richard Davidson put Buddhist monk volunteers into an fMRI machine and got them listen to people’s […]

  • The Bond

    The Bond. How to Fix your Falling-Down World  By Lynne McTaggart From quantum science discoveries of entangled particles and the observer effect to the ways that we are affected by solar activity and findings that evolution appears more intentional than random – this book starts with a fascinating overview of how everything is interconnected. The […]

  • Life in puns

    I lost my job as a stage designer. I left without making a scene. * * * * I always wanted to be a Gregorian monk, but I never got the chants. * * * * My new watch was so expensive I had to finance it. I’m living on borrowed time. * * * […]

  • Either/Awe

    A sense of separation – a belief that we are alone, and that we don’t matter – almost always leads to depression. Such a worldview paints us as insignificant, yet the associated painful feelings are intense. We might chase relief through short-term pleasures, or seek importance in our achievements, but these are hollow distractions from […]

  • Why Good Things Happen to Good People

    Why Good Things Happen to Good People: How to live a longer, healthier, happier life by the simple act of giving by Stephen Post and Jill Neimark Stephen Post is head of the Institute for Research into Unlimited Love, an organisation that funds and collates love-related studies. In this book, he and his fellow author […]

  • Football funnies

    “I hear you’re a member of the school football team,” said the proud grandfather to his 13-year-old grandson. “What position do you play? “I’m not sure, Grandpa,” said the lad. “But I heard the sports teacher say I’m the team’s main drawback.” * * * * The star recruit who had just been transferred for […]