4 Comments

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   Cathy Atkinson on May 7, 2018 at 2:41 pm

   If flourishing is optimal, can I ask what you think flourishing looks like? I’m guessing it’s more than just surviving, but also something attainable in difficult circumstances and not just ideal ones…?

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     Centre For Effective Living on May 7, 2018 at 8:23 pm

     Hi Cathy, good questions. Flourishing has a psychological history in a branch of psychology that aimed to look at what wellness looked like. Originally it was the study of happiness, however, this soon became a meaningless concept of unending cheeriness – which is not realistic. And not true of human experience. Instead flourishing encompasses the pursuit of positive emotion, seeking engagement with life to bring purpose and meaning, fostering authentic relationships and feeling like you are achieving personal goals (and they do not have to be big ones). In looking then at what happens when people go through tough times, by reaching for support, and processing and working through these hard times, it is possible to experience growth and to “flourish” by intentionally working through and towards the flourish areas. The hard times to do not necessarily disappear, but the individual’s new found perspective, meaning, relationships and sense of self grows to hold them up during hard times. Hope this explains it somewhat.

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       Cathy Atkinson on May 7, 2018 at 8:26 pm

       Thanks for explaining!

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         Centre For Effective Living on May 7, 2018 at 8:29 pm

         Cathy…and to add, another concept called Post Traumatic Growth, that when some individuals go through hard times, they reach a point where they have a deeper appreciation for life, clarified spiritual beliefs, new direction in life priorities, renewed relationships and deeper sense of the strengths they may not have known they had 🙂 Post natural disasters in communities provides some interesting insight into this

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