One thing I know about happiness is that it comes from the narrative of our life. The story we tell ourselves. But too often, we let others write that story for us. Unhappiness and discontent inevitably follow. The only person who can write the story of your life properly is you. In order to change our narrative to an authentic one, one we write ourselves, we must change our perspective, and thus our perceptions of our world. This is not a new idea. Plato explained it in “Allegory of the Cave” over 2,300 years ago. A small change in perception can mean a huge change in what we see. And changing how we see lets us write a new narrative. The Dalai Lama also explores this idea of the relationship between perception and a good life in his book The Art of Happiness (99¢ in the remainder bin . . . maybe you can buy happiness after all!).
The rich really are different from the rest of us. Exhibit A is the woman who asked an advice columnist if it was alright to not give Halloween candy to the poor kids who carpooled into her wealthy neighborhood. Studies support this difference as noted by Fitzgerald. The rich give much less to charity. They […]
←AP History, Part II: Teaching a Real Historical Narrative In my final episode of narrative development in teaching history, I am turning my attention to underwear. Of course, I don’t mean underwear as it is understood today. Today’s underwear, and ladies’ in particular, is used for marketing, as outer wear, and other things. I want
AP History, Part III: It’s No Secret, Victoria Read More »
←AP History, Part I: Amateur Hour Narratives, or stories, are very important for successful teachers. While we are still researching exactly how the brain works, we do know that learning consists of making connections between what needs to be learned and existing knowledge already stored in the brain. Therefore, telling stories, whose elements are already
AP History, Part II: Teaching a Real Historical Narrative Read More »
There is a saying at the military academies that is applicable to the kerfuffle in the Jefferson County School District: “Amateur military analysts argue about weapons and tactics. Professional military argue about logistics.” When adapting the saying to education, we come up with, “Amateur educators argue about books and curriculum. Professional educators argue about instruction.”
AP History, Part I: Amateur Hour Read More »
“To breastfeed or not to breastfeed?” That was the question people always asked during my wife Pam’s pregnancy. Breast or bottle? No supermarket line, restaurant table, or movie theater was safe from “the question.” I hadn’t heard that much interest in female anatomy since high school. To each query, we’d answer with all the confidence
Confessions of a Closet Bottle Feeder Read More »
Dear readers: This is my second official Exhibit A column even though I have published other works here previously. I’d like to use it to introduce myself beyond the brief bio that is on the site. And I’d like to articulate what I’d like to do for you, the reader. You are bombarded with media
A Greeting to Exhibit A Readers from Jerome Parent Read More »