MSI Press Blog

  Positive psychology is the study of what makes life worth living. It asks not only how people survive hardship, but how they flourish — how they find joy, purpose, and resilience even amid difficulty. Traditional psychology often focuses on illness and dysfunction: anxiety, depression, trauma. Positive psychology complements that by exploring strengths, virtues, and well‑being. It’s not about ignoring pain; it’s about understanding the forces that help us heal and grow. The Core Idea At its heart, positive psychology studies the conditions that allow humans to thrive. It looks at gratitude, hope, compassion, courage, creativity, and meaning — qualities that build psychological strength and deepen our sense of connection. Researchers like Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi helped shape the field, emphasizing that happiness is not a fleeting emotion but a cultivated state rooted in engagement, relationships, and purpose. The Science of Flourishing Positive psychology ident...

  Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -18-   Like many academics, I spent my young adult years postponing many of the small things that I knew would make me happy, including reading novels for pleasure, learning to cook, taking a photography class, and joining a gym. I would do all of these things when I had time—when I finished school, when I had a job, when I was awarded tenure, and so on. I was fortunate enough to realize that I would never have time unless I made the time. And then the rest of my life began. Christopher Peterson   When I met him, Tim was gingerly making his way back from a very serious heart attack. He had some specific ongoing deficits—I remember him talking particularly about diminished ability to write fluently—but mainly, he suffered from loss of stamina, chronic pain, and the constant shadow of his uncertain long-term future. His st...

  Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from   Pathways to Inner Peace  by Diane Dreher, currently available on pre-order. Introduction If you’ve been longing for a deeper sense of connection, you’re not alone. We are living in challenging times. Years of rapid change, the COVID pandemic, natural disasters, and political uncertainty have disrupted our lives. Many of us have lost loved ones, connections with friends and colleagues, familiar routines, and a sense of personal security. Psychologist Pauline Boss, PhD, says that we’ve suffered “the ultimate loss: the loss of trust in the world as a safe and predictable place” (2022, p. 4; Dreher, 2023). There’s an epidemic of loneliness in our world and a dramatic rise in anxiety and depression ( Murthy & Chen, 2020; World Health Organization, 2022, 2024) . An increasing sense of loneliness and disconnection has rippled through our world, with disastrous consequences. Research has found that loneliness actually can...