Twitter Provides Pulse of the Nation
A team of researchers from Northeastern University and Harvard University, studying the characteristics and dynamics of Twitter, released this report a couple of days ago. Over 300 million tweets were utilized to infer mood and user location, creating a rich, time lapsed mood map of the US.
A number of interesting trends can be observed in the data. First, overall daily variations can be seen (first graph), with the early morning and late evening having the highest level of happy tweets. Second, geographic variations can be observed (second graph), with the west coast showing happier tweets in a pattern that is consistently three hours behind the east coast.
I wonder how they characterized the thousands of #thankfulfor posts made over the past several months, many of which are sent to Twitter? We may need a follow up report!
Check out the video below - note that green corresponds to a positive mood and red is more negative. The Northeast in general needs a little work to catch up to the happy state of California. Florida seemed pretty happy as well - perhaps weather has something to do with the happiness level of our tweets. I know grey skies and slush certainly affect my mood.
Enjoy this fun study and may all your #thankfulfor posts and tweets be happy on this beautiful Friday!
Comments
Jen is part of the team behind Thankfulfor, the online gratitude journal community. You can learn more about her here and check out her own personal gratitude journal.Be a part of Thankfulfor and start your own journal today.
What Dream Are You Living Right Now?
Image by Tela Chhe
Guest post by Leigh Ann Napier
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” Epicurus
I was standing at my kitchen sink…tidying up for the third time that day…and I looked out the window and what I saw grabbed my heart. I saw what I’ve seen so many times in the year we’ve lived at our new-to-us home but it struck me differently in that moment. I saw a fenced-in yard with mature trees, a playset, a large stamped patio, a beautiful little girl swinging and at that moment, the tears just streamed down my face.
You see, I had just read “Eat the Cookie, Buy the Shoes” by Joyce Meyer. It’s a book all about celebrating what God has already done in your life, taking time to celebrate when you reach a milestone, break an unhealthy habit or simply begin a new healthier one. It’s about taking the time to breathe it all in and realize we are on a journey. We will always be pressing on to the next thing, wanting to be better at this, to stop doing that, missing someone, or dreaming of someone who isn’t here yet.
But this moment is worth celebrating.
What dream are you living right now? Years ago my husband and I dreamed of becoming parents…now we have a precious daughter. Last year when we decided to downsize our home we had a long list of things we hoped for even with our smaller budget. We saw house after house after house, in search of the one we’re in today and had a wishlist that included the fenced-in yard, lots of mature trees, a playset, a window that looked out into the back yard, and a large patio for our child to play safely on and enjoy her ride-along toys. God has blessed us and I could have missed that moment if I hadn’t taken time to give thanks and just take it all in.
My Happy Marriage Challenge today is for you and your hubbie to get some time together to make a list of all that you have or that you are experiencing now that you once only dreamed of. Take time to celebrate those dreams-turned-realities and most importantly, take time to offer thanks for everything around you.
CommentsThis week’s guest post was written by Leigh Ann Napier, iBloom Life/Marriage Coach. Leigh Ann works with women who “refuse to crash” in their marriages and helps single/engaged women who want to plant seeds for a fruitful, loving & lasting marriage. She provides coaching, encouragement and resources to women and helps them promote intimacy and understanding with their mate.
You Can’t Plan Perfect
In Scotland, there is a pre-wedding tradition that involves the startled bride-to-be (and sometimes the groom), her supposed friends and buckets of eggs, feathers and anything slimy out of the refrigerator. The newly Blackened Bride is then escorted around town and, eventually, allowed a bath. I’m sometimes tempted to point out this cute little custom to certain individuals obsessing over their weddings, but I’m not sure it would be taken in the spirit of commiseration that it was offered. As a single gal, I guess I just don’t understand.
There must be an excess amount of pheromones in the air lately, because it seems as if everyone I know is getting married. In the last four months I’ve attended two out of three weddings and donned my party shoes for another just this weekend. Three more are in the works (four, if my friend’s boyfriend ever gets off his duff). And for such joyful occasions, weddings are remarkably stressful; I’ve been privy to a lot of planning discussions and not a few rants. How many should be in the bridal party? Who’s throwing the bridesmaid’s luncheon? The shower? To veil or not to veil? What does your choice of flower say about you? Amid so many decisions and the pressure to plan the most beautiful ceremony that ever united a pair of lovebirds, things can get a little out of hand. That’s why it’s important to step back and remember why you’re doing it.
Sometimes I wonder whether we place too much importance on ceremony. Do we believe that a wedding can’t possibly mean what it should without all of the trappings? And if your “Special Day” doesn’t go perfectly to plan, have you just jinxed your entire marriage? At my cousin’s wedding it was the little mistakes—dropping the flowers and putting the ring on the wrong hand— and the giggles that followed that made the ceremony special. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like these human moments are the things to remember, not the number of roses in the bouquet.
Weddings are first and foremost about people. If getting hitched doesn’t come without a few snags, remember that at the end of the day what’s most important is the person standing beside you. So relax, ladies. Enjoy the ride. And if nothing else, at least you haven’t been tarred and feathered.
Image by Ali Nishan/millzero
Tori is a student intern who will be working with the Thankfulfor team over the summer. She is a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she is studying graphic design.
How Do I See?
Guest post by Cheryl Nordyke
Two women are sitting in a park watching their children play on the playground. One of the other children on the play ground walks over to where the two women’s children are playing with trucks in the sand box. They smile at each other proud of how their children are letting this new child into their circle of play. The boy’s mom sits on a bench down from where they are sitting very attentive and aware of what her son is doing. After a while the mom gets up and walks over to where the children seem to be having a good time and holds her hand out to her son. She takes him aside and hands him a ball. She points to the grass and the boy runs off with the ball. The other two mothers give each other a confused look. One thinks, “Is he too good to play with my son?” The other mom assumes he must play soccer and she wants him to practice. While the boy’s mom wonders, “Will he ever fit in when he can’t hear?” Her heart aches as she saw the boys asking him questions and he didn’t respond, so she decided it would be best for him to just go play with the ball.
In life we see the world through the eyes of our own life experiences. If we are from a divorced family and have been subject to individuals that aren’t honest we may see through eyes of doubt. If we were raised by a loving family with close friends that always trusted us we may be more trusting. If we have had a mixed life experience we may see the potential of good while still staying alert to the potential of mistrust. We then combine our own self growth with our life experience. For example, are we aware of how we have allowed our thoughts and experiences to affect our present and how do we want to take the part that is good and discard the part that is bad?
I made a comment on Facebook to a post by Marvin Towler that each day I want to be a better version of myself. He responded, “I believe that we are whole, complete, and perfect. So for me the practice is to not be better, but rather reveal more of my divine nature each day.” From his comment I realized rather than be better I could be just be more. For me, by removing better, that eliminates the potential of one day being worse. This keeps me in a positive state of growth.
By not being open to learning and hearing other individual interpretations of life and situations, we only hold ourselves down from growing. Our ego sometimes wants to be right, to know the answers, to supply the solutions. Our soul however grows so much more when it is open and willing to understand another view point, to hear a different perspective. Our lives are a journey and we have the potential to see so much more.
Had the mothers in the park been open to see more, they may have noticed the boy’s mom sign to her son. There could have been an opportunity for their children to learn sign language and to be able to play with the boy. Once a day step out of your life, reflect on your day, and see if there is potential to grow. Listen to others to understand what they see. Ask questions and broaden your life experience. We may not all interpret the world through the same eyes, yet we can all learn through the eyes of the world.
Image “Little Bugger.” by Flickr member digitalpimp.
Cheryl Nordyke and Kim Wierman are the founders of Waves of Gratitude - a company that exists because of their belief that when life presents you with professional and personal difficulties, a strong foundation of gratitude can help turn those difficulties into opportunities. The owner’s resolve to build a future based on a foundation of gratitude is unwavering. The pair created an online store to give everyone the opportunity to “wear” powerful symbols of gratitude, jewelry and apparel made to personalize the concepts of hope, love, legacy, creativity, optimism, inspiration, confidence and awakening that make everyone beautiful inside and out.
Being in the Moment
In any given day there is always something you can find to worry you. I worry to the point of obsession about nearly everything: from my job performance and what social blunder I’ve committed lately to the likelihood of spontaneous combustion and whether or not the milk has gone bad (the sell-by-date says August, but food poisoning is nothing to kid about). Most often I have something specific on which to focus all of this concern, but sometimes my anxiety manifests itself in a vague nervousness with no clear culprit. It’s this inexplicable anxiety that becomes the most frustrating and hardest to manage.
Worry can be a good thing. We evolved the behavior to prevent us from doing something stupid that might prematurely end our existence (an example: I am concerned for the continued well-being of my appendages and am therefore less likely to play around with a band saw). It encourages us to be proactive and anticipate potential problems. But worrying about something you cannot control, or worrying for no reason at all does nothing but encourage premature grays.
For those of us often afflicted with anxiety—and the urge to check the quantity and color of our follicles—there are methods to help us control it. Psychologists have adopted a technique from Zen Buddhism called mindfulness. A state of awareness, mindfulness is being fully immersed in the present, looking neither forward nor back, and accepting what is happening around you whether it be good or bad. By focusing on the present, you acknowledge what you can and cannot control. As a meditation technique, mindfulness is helpful in increasing concentration and reducing stress.
If mindfulness is about fully experiencing the present moment, it’s not much of a leap to being thankful for that experience. My own method of lowering anxiety is to immerse myself in whatever I’m doing or wherever I am at that specific moment in time. Rather than compulsively looking ahead in apprehension of a problem that hasn’t happened yet, I find something to appreciate in what I am doing right now. And try to relax.
Be thankful for the present, and don’t let the future scare you.
Image by Vicente Villamón
Tori is a student intern who will be working with the Thankfulfor team over the summer. She is a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she is studying graphic design.
Looking on the Bright Side
It’s easy to be grateful when the sun’s out and your rose-colored glasses are not askew, but there are gloomier days when finding something to be thankful for becomes an almost impossible chore, especially when someone tells you that you should. How can you be thankful for anything when you’re lonely or heartbroken or hurting? When someone tells you to be grateful for small favors, even if they are only trying to help, it can feel as if they are not really listening to your problem.
Let’s say a tree has just fallen on your house. The last thing you want is for some well-intentioned but zealous Pollyanna to point out that at least you still have a garage. Polly, it appears to you, has entirely missed the point—that your house is done. Kaput. Finito. It has ceased to be a house and is instead a pile of scrap with your stuff mixed in. What’s to be happy about in that? True, maybe no one was hurt. Perhaps you’ve been meaning to remodel and you always hated that tree, anyway. But it’s now raining on what is left of your living room. Surely you’re entitled to your misery?
Absolutely. Feeling upset is a rational response to a bad situation. Expressing those emotions and then having a really good cry afterward is very cathartic, and can leave you open to other ways of handling what has happened. Gratitude is one such mechanism. Being grateful for what has gone right, even if it’s only a very small thing, is one way to cope with what has gone wrong. It doesn’t invalidate your pain, frustration or grief to say, “Things could have been worse.” It’s a means of enduring those things.
On those days that good luck seems a myth, perhaps what we can be most thankful for is simple human resilience. We change, we adapt, we keep going. We may stamp our feet, swear a bit and have to wipe our eyes and blow our noses, but we get up the next morning and carry on.
Image by Bernat Casero
Tori is a student intern who will be working with the Thankfulfor team over the summer. She is a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she is studying graphic design.
Thankfulfor Dads ebook
Prior to Father’s Day, we asked members of the Thankfulfor community to start posting why they were thankful for a dad in their lives. We collected their expressions of gratitude and this book is the result.
For best viewing, click the Fullscreen link below and use your keyboard arrows to turn the page. Or click download to view it anytime. Please share it with whomever you like, and enjoy. Thank you to everyone who contributed!
This book was compiled and illustrated by our amazing summer intern, Tori.
CommentsThankful For…. Hearing
The other day I received an email challenging me to think about my hearing and asking when I last focused my gratitude on sound. It struck a chord with me because I am actually quite sensitive to sounds. As someone who cringes at loud noises, regularly craves silence yet revels in the most pleasant sounds - from music to nature - I felt compelled to really think about this topic.
As I sit here, I’m thankfulfor for the silence of my home after weeks of nonstop events, meetings and social gatherings. The sound of occasional trucks accelerating outside reminds me that there is a world outside my window. I’m thankfulfor for the lack of construction noise which drove me crazy last summer. I’ve also heard no sirens today which is always a good thing.
According to Hear the World, 16% of the world’s population is affected by hearing loss. Do you know anyone affected? I do. So today my focus is on appreciating my favorite sounds.
Waves crashing on the shore or just lapping against the beach. Both are equally soothing to me. And thinking about the beach reminds me of laying in the sand - if you put your ear to the ground and scratch your fingers or toes into the sand, you can hear it loudly vibrate through the ground. I haven’t been to the beach in a while but I can hear the sound in my head, with the sound of gulls flying by. I guess they go together.
Music of all sorts. Classical instruments like piano, guitar, violin, horns. When the clock gets close to around 6 or 7pm, I’ll start hunting for songs I’m in the mood for… some days it’s all folksy and jamming, others it’s more classical. I love that some songs can take me back to a time and place. There are songs that can instantly lift my spirits - others that can make me cry.
The sound of my family’s voices… friends too. Yesterday I had a special lunch with a longtime girlfriend and last night I heard another friend’s voice from California through my phone. Hearing their voices is like coming home. And tonight I look forward to hearing my partner sing to me - in a whisper or at the top of his lungs in the car. I’ll take either.
It’s easy for me to forget the sounds of nature from the concrete jungle that is my neighborhood. But it’s here and when I open my door I can hear the wind in the trees, birds chirping, dogs barking. The other day I heard the whoosh of the sky opening up to sheets of rain and some low rumbling thunder. I love all of those sounds.
Now I hear my tea kettle whistling - so as I go pour myself some tea, I open it up to you to consider your hearing… what sounds are you most grateful for? Post your thoughts in your own personal (and free) journal at http://thankfulfor.com.
And consider entering the Hear the World photo competition by taking a photo of yourself or someone else in the “conscious pose of hearing” as seen in my pics above. You can win a Polaroid 300, iTunes gift cards and even get published in Hear the World magazine.
Comments
Jen is part of the team behind Thankfulfor, the online gratitude journal community. You can learn more about her here and check out her own personal gratitude journal.Be a part of Thankfulfor and start your own journal today.
The Value of a Minute
Guest post by Cheryl Nordyke
If you could have a conversation with yourself from 20 years ago, what would you tell yourself? For me, I would remind myself of the value of time and how rapidly it passes. It is the one thing nobody can buy more of no matter how much money we have. This summer is the summer of my only daughter’s junior-to-senior year. As she gets in her car and drives to her summer job, I realize that my life and her life is changing at such a rapid pace and once she is off in college, our relationship will change as well.
I remember the twos, and she was a good girl for the twos (however, people would tell me, “wait until she is a teenager”). Knowing that she would never be two again, I found things to love about that age like bedtime stories and days at the park. When she hit the age of 8 I remember disagreements, yet I remembered she would never be 8 again. When she turned 13 and texting became an obsession and it seemed that I couldn’t get through, I found things for us to do and to appreciate about her being 13.
In moments of frustration we sometimes make comments as parents that “we can’t wait.” We can’t wait until they can walk, or can’t wait until they can be left alone or drive themselves around. Then that day comes and we want to turn back the clock, slow down time and be able to redo it or appreciate it a little more.
I have always gotten the value of a minute, an hour, a day. There is a part of being a parent that can’t be described unless you experience it. It doesn’t have to be your own child. Just caring for, protecting, providing, and watching a child grow into an adult pulls at your heart in way that is both rewarding and sad at the same time. I am thankful for the person I have become because of being a parent. I am thankful for the opportunity to have such a wonderful daughter. However, I am most thankful for knowing that each day was mine only once and for making memories at each age and in each phase of her life that will last us both a lifetime.
Image: The Bath by Mary Cassatt
Cheryl Nordyke and Kim Wierman are the founders of Waves of Gratitude - a company that exists because of their belief that when life presents you with professional and personal difficulties, a strong foundation of gratitude can help turn those difficulties into opportunities. The owner’s resolve to build a future based on a foundation of gratitude is unwavering. The pair created an online store to give everyone the opportunity to “wear” powerful symbols of gratitude, jewelry and apparel made to personalize the concepts of hope, love, legacy, creativity, optimism, inspiration, confidence and awakening that make everyone beautiful inside and out.
Happy Father’s Day
“You know, fathers just have a way of putting everything together.”—Erika Cosby
That they do. Whether they’re putting together an overly complicated toy or the right words to say when you need to hear them, good dads seem to come equipped with all the necessary tools.
Happy Father’s Day!
Share your appreciation for the dad in your life in your Thankfulfor posts! Don’t forget that we’ll be creating a free ebook using posts collected from the site. If you like, you can also submit a link to a family photo to be included in the ebook.
Image by absolute xman
Tori is a student intern who will be working with the Thankfulfor team over the summer. She is a senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where she is studying graphic design.
