Hola from Jackson Hole, where the moose (meese?) bury themselves neck-deep in snow, the mountains are steep and bespoke cowboy hats abound. This week’s Wellbeing Now! was unplanned, and also not vetted by any wellbeing experts, so read at your own risk.
But first, some unfinished business from last week:
Do you have a wellbeing-related idea or topic you’d like to see covered? Are you a wellbeing expert, or know someone who is? Send us your ideas and any guest writers (not to be confused with ghost writers!) you’d like to hear from to nicholehernandez@wustl.edu.
Facts you need to know to fully appreciate this week’s nudge:
Fact #1: Negativity bias is real. Getting stuck in a negative thought loop brings more negativity. Even when things are fine, we still focus on what could be better rather than what’s already good.
Fact #2: Self-care is work. Yes, we all should be cultivating long-term self-care practices. But sometimes we need strategies for quickly pulling out of a negative thought spiral (there’s even a Master Class on it).
Fact #3: Googly eyes promote silliness. Unexpected silliness (like seeing googly eyes on random objects) can facilitate a rapid shift in mindset, allowing us to see possibilities instead of threat or futility.
Fact #4: Silliness is a form of autonomy. People who know how (and when) to be silly tend to be good problem-solvers, innovators and disrupters through “minor acts of norm-shedding.”
Additional lesser facts: There are two things that inspired the googly eye stuff:
1) The Bob’s Burgers episode on googly eyes that beautifully and hilariously illustrates Fact #3, and
2) My surplus of googly eyes, a weird Christmas gift. Sometimes you just have to work with what the universe gives you and not ask questions.
Conclusions: Googly eyes are a stepping stone to silliness, which leads to autonomy, which leads to innovation, which leads to power. We should probably start thinking about how to monetize this.
Now for the nudge:
Engage in your own minor act of norm-shedding. See if it helps pull you out of your next funk (because there will always be more funks). Mine was making people in the Healthy Mind Lab put googly eyes on things and then text me the pics. For inspiration, we’ve included some highlights below:
