It was the spring of 1967. The producers at WQED, a small public television station in Pittsburgh, had a problem.

“They had launched a children’s program—an odd, quiet little show that aired across the East Coast—and now that show was out of sponsorship money,” Daniel Coyle writes in his book Flourish: The Art of Building Meaning, Joy, and Fulfillment.

The producers worried the show would be a tough sell … continue reading

1: “Iain McGilchrist lives on the far edge of the Isle of Skye, off the coast of western Scotland, at the end of a one-lane, four-mile-long road,” Daniel Coyle writes in Flourish: The Art of Building Meaning, Joy, and Fulfillment.

These were the instructions Iain provided to Daniel, who was traveling to Scotland to conduct an interview: “At the bottom the road gives out. You are nearly at … continue reading

1: In the fall of 1979, Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer set out to build a time machine.

But this wasn’t the kind of time machine from Back to the Future. There was no DeLorean with gull-wing doors.

Instead, Ellen rented an empty monastery in the woods near Peterborough, New Hampshire.

“The color television was swapped for a black-and-white version,” Daniel Coyle writes in Flourish: The Art of Building … continue reading

1: Back in the early 2000s, a fatal shooting occurred in the Clifton Heights neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio.

“The community was disturbed and anxious, looking for answers,” Daniel Coyle writes in Flourish: The Art of Building Meaning, Joy, and Fulfillment.

A few days later, a local civic organization asked Peter Block, a neighborhood resident, to lead a public gathering. Peter is an author, consultant, and facilitator. For more … continue reading