Author: Stephanie Hills

  • 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 […]

  • Social media and wellbeing

    This year the World Happiness Report focussed on social media. They found that when young people gave up social media for a month, their wellbeing improved. Deactivated users were happier, more satisfied with their lives, less anxious and less depressed. In short: giving up social media made them happier. It’s not that simple, though. When […]

  • The Great Upshift

    The Great Upshift. Humanity’s Coming Advance Toward Peace and Harmony on the Planet by Ervin Laszlo and David Lorimer  This collection of essays by 32 prominent scientists and thinkers holds the promise that the multiple crises we face in today’s world will not end in ruin. Rather, the very problems we face will lead to […]

  • Silly moments

    I want to get rid of my collection of glove-puppets. Any offer accepted. I just want them off my hands. * * * * I’ve just retired from my job as a plasterer. They presented me with a silver trowel engraved with the words; “For surfaces rendered.” * * * * When I first heard Julie […]

  • How can I be happy when the world is in flames?

    Global instability reminds us that we are all connected. Devastating faraway events have local effects, such as rising prices. Naturally, we have feelings about it; perhaps anger or despair. Happiness seems inappropriate. It seems cruel to be happy when others are suffering, and naïve not to focus on our own impending losses. In our relatively […]