Wednesday's Words of Wisdom: On Fatherhood

Thought for the Day: I decided to do more for fathers this week & made this short video clip using photos I found for Sunday's photo montage & quotes on fatherhood. I wanted to give the photos better exposure! Do you have any favorite quotes about fatherhood? Please share them. They may show up in another post. Have a great day!

Motivational Mondays: 5 Ways to Jump Start Your Week

*Photofrom Creative Commons

Thought for the Day: Somehow weekends always seem to pass too quickly & Mondays arrive sooner than we expect. i choose this photo of brightly colored Fiesta^® Dinnerware coffee cups for this post because they hold the key to some of my tips on how to get motivated & jump start your work week. I'm sharing some of my tips based on psychology research, which i won't share here, but would be happy to share later if you would like some references. I would also love to hear your tips as well. Feel free to post a comment with your best tips.

 Tip 1) Add color to your Mondays. I find this to be helpful especially on rainy or stormy Mondays when the weather puts an additional damper on everyone's mood. It can start by choosing a colorful mug for your coffee. I love my bright red coffee mugs for almost any day, but especially find them helpful on dreary days. (The coffee in the mug also helps!) I also tend to choose my most colorful outfits for rainy days. It lifts my mood & tends to do the same for people who I run into who often comment on my colorful outfit. Try it & see what happens!

Tip 2) Add some uplifting music to get you going on Mondays. Radio stations know this trick. If you are a songwriter, you may know that publishing companies are always looking for uplifting up beat songs. Although we all love a good ballad, Monday mornings call for some upbeat music. Pay attention & you will find that morning radio shows play almost exclusively upbeat songs. So turn your radio on or make an uplifting playlist to start your workweek. (Some of my posts from Saturday's Songs for the Soul may help you find some Monday morning music.)

Tip 3) While you are listening to that upbeat music why not dance? Get some exercise. Move to the beat even if it's just for a few minutes, it will improve your mood & make you feel more enthusiastic about getting started.

Tip 4) Spend some time on Sunday or Monday planning some fun activities for the rest of the week to look forward to. Make a date with a friend for lunch or coffee. Choose a movie to see or a museum to visit on a week night or for Friday. Make a plan to connect with a friend that you haven't been in touch with for a while via the phone, facebook or skype. Looking forward to activities over the course of the week will also boost your mood.

Tip 5) Make sure you are finding ways to make your work enjoyable. If you are unhappy with what you are doing at work, you won't feel like starting the week. First, come up with some ideas of things you would like to get involved in at work. Then, speak with your manager & see how you can enhance your experiences at work.  Most managers will encourage workers who have creative suggestions.

What helps you get motivated on Mondays? I hope reading my Motivational Mondays posts every week helps brighten the start of your week as well!  

*Photos:
Coffee Cups
Photo from  http://www.flickr.com/photos/zionfiction/8683779973/

Colorful shirts
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ellenm1/4720853310/

Dancer
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3928073311/ 
D Sharon Pruitt

Father's Day Sunday: Photo Montage, Freud on Fatherhood & a Funny Video

*Photos from Creative commons

Thought for the Day: For Father's Day, I found some wonderful photos of fathers with their children & a quote from Sigmund Freud. Last year I posted a question for all my readers & gave my answer. The question was, "What is or was your most special moment you had with your dad?

Which photo from the above montage do you like the best? It's hard for me to choose, but I love the one in the center. Was Freud right? Is a father's protection the strongest need a child has? Are there other needs, like encouragement to explore the world? For all the fathers, have a Happy Father's Day!

I was ready to post this & found a pretty funny Father's Day mashup video on Huffington Post called Dad Fails, so I decided to share it with you. Call it the Sunday Comic Strip part of the post.

*Photos 
Surfing lesson photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/3072645479/">mikebaird</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Dad Swinging Girl in the Air in the air photo by D Sharon Pruitt photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/4245177890/">© 2006-2013 Pink Sherbet Photography</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Father Tossing daughter in the air D Sharon Pruitt  photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/5008309977/">© 2006-2013 Pink Sherbet Photography</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Newborn Baby in Father's hands photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rumpleteaser/4070989635/">rumpleteaser</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Father & son batting practice photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/3340274448/">mikebaird</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

On Dad's shoulder photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/4449204633/">mikebaird</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Saturday's Songs for the Soul: A Musical Feast: "Take Five" with a World Beat

Take a Bite of this Musical Feast 
Image credit: LoveIt.com

Thought for the Day: Today's musical selection is a discovery that came from my online social networks. Last week on Saturday I posted a very funny rap remix of Mr Rogers. I don't post very often on a Facebook group from Bellaire High School in Texas where I went to school, but somehow I felt people in the group would like it. One of the members of the group, Jim Simpson, liked it. He shared a link to this rendition of “Take Five,” written by Paul Desmond & made famous by The Dave Brubeck Quartet in 1959. The jazz instrumental has been performed by countless great musicians, but this one is like no other I've ever heard.

Brubeck Room at Wilton Public Library

Before he died last year, Brubeck called this innovative cover by The Sachal Studios Orchestra, based in Lahore, Pakistan, the “most interesting” version he had ever heard. Brubeck lived in Wilton CT & donated a wonderful  listening room to the Wilton Public Library. I have had the pleasure of seeing multiple concerts & movie screenings in this beautiful room. If you are in CT it is well worth visiting, catching a concert or renting for a reasonable fee. Social networking brought you music from Pakistan via Texas to here in Connecticut & out to wherever you are in the world via this post. If we learned to communicate to resolve world conflicts as well as we do about music perhaps we could bring world peace.

If you have an unusual musical cover or an inspirational piece of music, please feel free to share it with me. Have a wonderful weekend!

#FF Friday's Fab Finds: Cyberparenting, Royal Tweetsters, Mark Zuckerburg, Philanthropy & The New Yorker Cartoons

Thought for the Day: I am excited to let you know that I have a new Dream Team of interns who are starting to help me with my blog & other activities connected to my book. Today, I had the pleasure of reviewing leads for #FF Friday's Fabulous Finds from my new team member, Steph, a rising Junior at Pace University studying Applied Psychology, with minors in Sociology & Criminal Justice.(There will be more about Steph & the rest of the new team on my newsletter soon.) I combined some of the posts she found with some I found over the week. In time, my interns may guest post or co-write posts with me.

Today, in conjunction with the week's theme about the impact of online social communities, there are a few posts that show some of the wonderful things that social media can make possible & even how the 85 year old Queen of England is realizing that Twitter can help the monarchy's ailing brand. There's a touching profile & video of an 8 year old philanthropist & a kickstarter.com project also with a video raising money for a documentary film about the Comics of The New Yorker Magazine. Here's the fabulous finds Stephanie & I have for you today:

Cyberparenting and the Risk of T.M.I  Here's an article by Pamela Paul from the NY Times, on May 3, 2013. Does being friends with your children on Facebook lead to T.M.I (Too Much Information)? Or is it safer to be friends with them, & bare the consequences?

The Royal Family

Corinne Purtill's article for the Globalpost Press and Guide: The Queen’s Tweets: English Royal Family Embraces Social Media appeared on June 9, 2013. The English Royal Family has acquired a twitter handle, as well as one dedicated to the princes & their families. The Royal Family is trying to appear “like normal people.” They want to rebrand the royal family & keep the monarchy alive. One wonders if they actually compose the royal tweets or it they have a royal tweetster, the modern equivalent of a royal jester!

Mark Zuckerburg Facebook Founder

Mark Zuckerburg announced that  Facebook (is) Encouraging Organ Donations. CNN writer, Steve Almasy, reported  about new Facebook applications that will allow users to share their willingness to be organ donors, support medical organizations, & learn more about organ donations.



 

Sunny Skyz Happy News

On June 10, SunnySky shared an inspiring story, Eight-year-old raises $1200 for paralyzed man’s physical therapy sessions, by Sarah Mervosh of DallasNews.com. An eight year old has raised over $1200 for 21-year-old Luka Da Cruz’s physical therapy sessions after he was shot & paralyzed last year. She did not meet him until recently. Her positive generous outlook will touch your heart (video & article).

 
Very Semi-Serious by Leah Wolchok and Davina Pardo Kickstarter.com is a kickstarter.com project with 14 days left to reach their goal. On my Sunday's Comic Strip Posts & other posts I have written about the healing power of humor.  If you love the cartoons in The New Yorker Magazine, you will want to help make this offbeat documentary about humor, art & the genius of the New Yorker cartoon happen. They are accepting donations from $1 up. 


In case you missed Motivational Monday's  Post: A Twist: A Psychologist Needs Your Help, "We Need to Talk!" I really would like your input to help me improve this blog & make sure it is informative & useful for you. Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions.

Have a wonderful weekend! I hope you will come back for Saturday's Songs for the Soul & Sunday's Comic Strips.

Photos

Mark Zuckerberg photo by Guillaume Paumier from Wikipedia

Guillaume Paumier, CC-BY.

The Royal Family
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nakedcharlton/573748521/">Jon's pics</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a> 

New Yorker from Kickstart Campaign

Sunny Skyz Happy News from SunnySkyz.com

Thursday's Psychology Trivia Answer: Does Facebook Change Us for Better or for Worse?

Does Facebook Change Our Personality, Make Us Happier, More Outgoing? *Photos

Thought for the Day: This week the blog has been exploring the impact of online "community living" on our work, lives, & relationships. Yesterday's Words of Wisdom brought renowned psychologist, Howard Gardner's view on online communities. On Monday, I asked for help from the people behind over 43,000 page views to understand what they would like to see here on my blog. (If you missed the post, I hope you will visit, since I really need some help!(A Twist: A Psychologist Needs Your Help, "We Need to Talk.") On Tuesday's Psychology trivia, I asked this psychology trivia question:
            Facebook & Facebook profiles, photos & posts have been found to change our personality by:
                   a) Predicting a couple's happiness
                   b) Contributing to breakups of relationships
                   c) Impacting on Self Affirmation
                   d) Increasing narcissism
                   e) Increasing extroversion
                   f) all of the above
                   g) b), d), & e)
     Now, it's time for the answer. Drum roll please! The answer is f., Facebook (and other social networking sites) have been found to impact on users in both positive & negative ways. Although the negative findings like option b) strain on marriages, option d) increases in narcissistic tendencies & an exaggerated sense of option e) self-importance among teens, get more publicity, there are studies showing positive effects of participating in online communities as well. According to a study reported by Reuters there appears to be a correlation between the number of Facebook "friends" & the size of some parts of the brain. Could online social networking change our brains? Some studies seem to indicate that more extroverted people post more often & are happier than those who post less often. Is not clear yet, if extroversion, increased size of the brain or nacissism come first & lead to being active on virtual communities or increased social networking leads to option e) increased extroversion & d) narcissism.
     An article by TARA PARKER-POPE, Does Facebook Turn People Into Narcissists? in The Well Column reports the findings of a CT study. The study found that frequent Facebook users tended to be more open & less worried about privacy. They therefore do not think that all those who post frequently are narcissists.  Lynne Kelly, director of the school of communication at the University of Hartford & one of the study’s authors, believes, “It’s a huge oversimplification to say Facebook is for narcissists.” She believes that sharing information on facebook is a way to maintain & develop relationships. Privacy concerns which need to be addressed may keep some people from sharing & using online communities. 
      Catalina L. Toma from the University of Wisconsin & Jeffrey T. Hancock from Cornell University found Facebook profiles are (c.) self-affirming in that they enhance users’ need for self-worth & self-integrity. They also found that often promoting a Facebook profile helps people feel better about themselves "after receiving a blow to the ego, in an unconscious effort to repair their perceptions of self-worth." 
     In  Can You See How Happy We Are? Facebook Images and Relationship Satisfaction results of a study by Laura R. Saslow, University of California; Amy Muise,  University of Toronto, Emily A. Impett & Matt Dubin  Claremont Graduate University were cited. They found that couples who posted pictures of both members of the couple in their profile pictures on Facebook, reported (a) "feeling more satisfied with their relationships & closer to their partners" than people who did not share joint photos on their individual profiles. They also found that "on days when they felt more satisfied with their relationships, they were more likely to share relationship relevant information on Facebook."   
     It seems to me that the jury is still out on how Facebook (& social networking) impacts on our lives & relationships. It can be detrimental, beneficial or neutral depending on how you choose to use the communities. Online connections can develop into offline relationships. Relationships can be maintained & enhanced or severed & hurtful in "virtual" online or in "real" offline life. What seems to be clear, however, is that virtual communities are growing in all age groups & are here to stay for better or for worse. My suggestion is that we should learn how to use online communities for social good, since the potential benefits seem worth it.  
     What do you think? Do the benefits outweigh the risks? How can we enhance the benefits & reduce the negatives of online communities?  
 
*Photos
Facebook logo (top right)
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/westm/4690323994/">west.m</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

Photo Painted girl
photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pagedooley/5848390943/">kevin dooley</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

From FlicrCC.net
'Portrait of a sweet lass giving out free hugs at the 2011 Carnevale+in+Venice+(IMG_9803a)'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72213316@N00/5817538354

'Makeup Design for Film & Television - Final Projects'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38174668@N05/4903132605

'g^2'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36613169@N00/2245501
Found on flickrcc.net

'AndrerbnA'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/73344134@N00/2416560163
Found on flickrcc.net

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom: Psychologist Howard Gardner on Online Communities

Thought for the Day: This week I am wondering about how social media impacts on our lives & personalities (Motivational Monday: A Twist: Psychologist Needs Your Help, We need To Talk!" & Tuesday's Psychology Trivia Question: Does Facebook Change Personality?). Therefore, Wednesday's Words of Wisdom address these questions as well. Today's quote: “The biggest communities in which young people now reside are online communities,” comes from developmental psychologist, Howard Gardner.  A community is a unified group of individuals that share a common interest, location or characteristics. Gardner was right when he said it, but, his quote already needs to be updated. The demographics of online communities are increasingly populated by people of all ages not just the "young." In a comprehensive analysis by Pingdom in 2012:

• 55% of Twitter users are 35 or older.
• 63% of Pinterest users are 35 or older.
• 65% of Facebook users are 35 or older.
• 79% of LinkedIn users are 35 or older.

 My version of Garner's quote would be: “The biggest communities we live in today are online communities.”

**Howard Gardner, Contemporary Psychologist

Howard Gardner was born on July 11, 1943. Most notably known for his theory of multiple intelligences, Gardner was Professor of Cognition & Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. His theory of multiple intelligences describes how humans learn & process information in seven independent & different ways as opposed to a singular general IQ factor.

Dr. Gardner's  multiple achievements earned him awards for his contributions to psychology & education. In 1981, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship. He became the first American to receive the Grawemeyer Award in Education in 1991. He was selected by Foreign Policy & Prospect magazines as one of the top 100 most influential public intellectuals in the world in the years 2005 and 2008. In 2011 he was the recipient of the Prince of Asturias Award in Social Sciences.

*Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Since virtual communities are becoming increasingly important, psychologists & all professionals are studying how to communicate effectively online. It is a vast uncharted territory & we all have a great deal to learn. The largest online communities are sites like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, & LinkedIn, however blogs, like this one, are not only an alternative interactive newspapers, they are also online communities where one can learn about topics of interest, & share thoughts, theories & observations about their common interests. It is truly a "brave new world" we are all exploring. We can meet & stay in touch with people from across the street or around the world without leaving home

What online communities do you belong to? Do you feel they enhance or complicate your life? What do you like or dislike about living in a world filled with online communities? How do you feel about sharing online? Would you consider skype, e-mail or online therapy sessions?

*Photo from
http://www.glogster.com/xenitered/howard-gardner/g-6ln8k3mqsqoqa6v66laf5a0
**Photo from a great article about Garners on Harvard's website:
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news_events/ed/2008/fall/features/gardner.html