1: The research shows that “couples who regularly make time to do new and exciting things together—like hiking, skiing, dancing, or attending concerts and plays—have better-quality marriages,” Barbara Fredrickson writes in her book Love 2.0: Creating Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection.

What’s going on here?

Barbara is a scientist. And science tells us love is an emotion. But not just any emotion. It is the “supreme emotion,” Barbara … continue reading

1: What do we see when we look into a mirror? Ourselves.

Imagine, though, looking into a mirror and seeing another person. 

A moment before, each of us was “doing your own thing—feeling our own emotions, making our own moves, and following our own inclinations,” Barbara Fredrickson writes in her book Love 2.0: Creating Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection,“

“But in this particular moment of connection,” Barbara … continue reading

1: Barbara Fredrickson‘s firstborn son was not a good sleeper. 

“He needed to be in our arms while he drifted off,” she writes in her book Love 2.0. “He also needed a particular motion, one that we couldn’t achieve in the comfort of a rocking chair, but only by walking.” 

For thirty minutes or more each night, Barbara or her husband would slowly pace around his tiny nursery, … continue reading

1: As human beings, we tend to have many ideas and beliefs about what love is.

“Many of these beliefs reflect our shared cultural heritage,” Barbara Fredrickson writes in her book Love 2.0: Creating Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection.

“Like all those proliferating songs and movies that equate love with infatuation or sexual desire, or with stories that end happily ever after, or even the realistic marriage ceremonies … continue reading

1: Psychologist Barbara Fredrickson “was minding my own business as an emotions scientist.

“My main goal at the time was to find a way to probe the long-range effects of accumulated positive emotions,” she writes in her book Love 2.0: Creating Happiness and Health in Moments of Connection.  “Would they build people’s resources and transform their lives for the better as the theory predicted?” 

At the time, she was desperate … continue reading