Yale law students can (maybe?) check out a dog for stress relief

March 11, 2011March 11, 2011 Beth Kelley

For me, it is soooo one of those Fridays where everything is blowing up after a long week and you have a doctor’s appointment that took a month to schedule so you really don’t want to miss it, and the coffee’s worked a little TOO well this morning…

For days like this, I have my dog waiting for me at home (assuming I ever get home); for students away at school, they may not have that option.

There are now rumors circulating about Monty, a border terrier at Yale who is available for some quality time with Yale Law students who really need some good adorable animal therapy. While Yale has officially denied this, unofficially they announced he is available for therapy services.

The myth of Monty—short for “General Montgomery“—first surfaced last fall on the popular blog Above the Law. The border terrier was allegedly in a basket behind the circulation desk, but the school later issued a denial about Monty’s existence. Now New York Magazine’s reporting that Yale students have received a memo saying that, Monty is back and available for checkout.

It sounds like they’ve made Monty fully available to students now:

And, even though Monty is hypoallergenic, “visits will be confined to a dedicated non-public space in the library to eliminate potential adverse reactions from any library user who might have dog-related concerns. Kauffman also says they’ll be looking for student feedback on whether to have therapy dogs available “during stressful periods of the semester, for example during examinations.”

My firs thought? Why don’t they have this instituted in MORE high-stress places like graduate school? I can understand businesses not wanting people to bring their dogs into work, but a fully vetted and therapy-trained dog for as-needed therapy? Brilliant!!!!

Yale Law School Library Lending Out Therapy Dog for Stressed-Out Students (nymag.com)
Smiles go viral with videos of therapy-dog visits (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

autism · behavior · brain · children · emotion · learning · Mental · psychology · robotics · Social

AP News: Kaspar the friendly robot helps autistic kids

March 10, 2011March 11, 2011 Beth Kelley

I have heard of this kind of therapy before, how autistic kids tend to respond better to robots teaching them emotions and proper social responses; the robot acts as a sort of bridge, or neutral third party for the kid:

STEVENAGE, England (AP) – Eden Sawczenko used to recoil when other little girls held her hand and turned stiff when they hugged her. This year, the 4-year-old autistic girl began playing with a robot that teaches about emotions and physical contact – and now she hugs everyone.

“She’s a lot more affectionate with her friends now and will even initiate the embrace,” said Claire Sawczenko, Eden’s mother.

The girl attends a pre-school for autistic children in Stevenage, north of London, where researchers bring in a human-looking, child-sized robot once a week for a supervised session. The children, whose autism ranges from mild to severe, play with the robot for up to 10 minutes alongside a scientist who controls the robot with a remote control.

The robot, named Kaspar, is programmed to do things like smile, frown, laugh, blink and wave his arms. He has shaggy black hair, a baseball cap, a few wires protruding from his neck, and striped red socks. He was built by scientists at the University of Hertfordshire at a cost of about 1,300 pounds (US$2,118).

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_6418/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=X0CCVnY5

It’s also nice to hear a story about robots helping people, rather than the usual scenarios we hear and see like from Matrix and Terminator.

Kaspar the friendly robot helps autistic kids (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
Kaspar the friendly robot helps autistic kids (ctv.ca)

Uncategorized

Low-tech community engagement, community planning

March 9, 2011 Beth Kelley

From GOOD magazine:

Candy Chang is a public installation artist, designer, and urban planner who likes to make cities more comfortable for people. She’s also a 2011 TED Fellow and will be at the mythic conference this week to talk about I Wish This Was, her endearingly low-tech community engagement project.

Chang believes that public space can better serve the people who live, work, and play in them. Cities like New Orleans, where she lives, are filled with abandoned buildings, empty storefronts, vacant lots, and people who need things, but are devoid of the most basic necessities like grocery stores. So Chang came up with the project, ideal for its super low barrier of entry, to allow her fellow citizens to offer their ideas. The responses, which run the gamut from Disneyland to a bike rack, heaven to an art supply store, reflect, says Chang,"the hopes, dreams, and colorful imaginations of different neighborhoods."

More…

Do you know of a city or neighborhood that could use this kind of survey or community brainstorming? Post it in the comments below, or look for her forthcoming site Neighborland, which will, she explains, "help residents and community leaders self-organize over shared goals, whether that be the desire for a local grocery store, bike lanes, more trees, less blight, a cafe with WiFi, a taco stand, a recreation center, and beyond."

anthropology · creativity

Mindful photographic consumption

March 4, 2011March 3, 2011 Beth Kelley

I was exposed to this visual project courtesy of Shreve at Honey Rock Dawn:

For one year, William Rugen photographed almost every single thing he ate, snacked on, or otherwise consumed.

My first impression was “that’s dedication.” And an insight into a man who looooves peanuts and chocolate.

behavior · environment · happiness · health · Me · mental health

Special Project: Me

March 3, 2011 Beth Kelley

This blog explores the integration of environment and wellness, both emotional and physical. So far I’ve looked at positive psychology, museums, education, urban farming, neurology, environmental sciences, architecture, play, exercise, and almost everything in between. The whole point of starting this blog was to explore the science behind what it takes to make us happy, healthy, wholly-functioning humans. What does it take to be happy? How does one’s home, job, family, dog, car, bicycle, clothing, toys, i.e. their environment, their world, fit into that? I was, and AM, curious about what it takes to be holistically happy?

But with all the quick posts, longer posts, and cool news snippets, one subject on this blog that has only hinted at: me. What does it take in my environment to make me happy? What do I need surrounding for mental wellness?

To be perfectly honest, I haven’t been doing a good job of exploring that. In the past nine months I’ve changed residences twice, changed jobs numerous times, lost sleep, gained an injury, lost mobility, changed exercise plans so many times I’ve lost count, gained weight, lost friends, gained a gray hair or two (I’m 28!), lost family, gained furniture, lost some dreams, had my dreams change, lost hope, changed my commute mode, and gained even more patience. But I haven’t really looked at what it would take to make me happy. What I need to do to put myself in a healthy, fulfilling, sustainable environment.

At first I thought discussing myself and my quest for happiness, wellness, and all around goodness would take away from this blog, and my focus on research, ideas, and theoretical rather than the actual doing. But the truth is I am in this blog already, whether actively or not. So why not be in all the way? It’s supposed to make you happier if you can fully commit to something, anyway.

So, just as a heads up to my few readers; you will be seeing a bit more of me, the actual me, around this place. As of today, March 3rd, 2011, I am making it my overarching goal to become happier, healthier, and a better version of me. I am going to make my environment an enriching place; that includes what I put in, on, and around my body, and what I use to feed my mind. And I plan to hold myself accountable by writing about it here. My accomplishments, slip-ups, and epiphanies.

All the studies and research and cool enriching stuff I find will not go away, not by any stretch. It’s just that now you get ME as an added bonus. Lucky y’all!

This is a very dangerous place for me, BTW, out in the open (The irony is I was called M.E. as a child (those are my initials), but I chose another name when I was six because I didn’t like being called “me.” Maybe I should have stuck with it). I’m definitely not in my most comfortable surroundings exposing myself in this way to the entire blogosphere. But it’s a much-needed shake out of my comfort zone in order to be ready to take on new challenges.

Are you also exploring your wellness, what you find enriching? I’d be interested in hearing your story or you sharing your blog with me; strength in numbers and all that.

Signed,

M.E.

How positive psychology can help business (psychologytoday.com)
The New Science of Happiness – PsyBlog (mentalflowers.wordpress.com)
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (reallyquiteliterally.wordpress.com)

behavior · brain · happiness · health · Uncategorized

Note to self: the universe says go easier on yourself

March 1, 2011March 3, 2011 Beth Kelley

After going, going, going, I need a break, and research agrees; from the New York Times’ Well Blog:

Do you treat yourself as well as you treat your friends and family?

That simple question is the basis for a burgeoning new area of psychological research called self-compassion — how kindly people view themselves. People who find it easy to be supportive and understanding to others, it turns out, often score surprisingly low on self-compassion tests, berating themselves for perceived failures like being overweight or not exercising.

The research suggests that giving ourselves a break and accepting our imperfections may be the first step toward better health. People who score high on tests of self-compassion have less depression and anxiety, and tend to be happier and more optimistic. Preliminary data suggest that self-compassion can even influence how much we eat and may help some people lose weight.

This idea does seem at odds with the advice dispensed by many doctors and self-help books, which suggest that willpower and self-discipline are the keys to better health…

More at NYT’s Well Blog.

Now I’m off to go breath, eat a banana, and get a good night’s sleep.

architecture · community · culture · design · environment

Creating a park that meets seattle’s needs

February 24, 2011 Beth Kelley

From Crosscut:

“This past weekend a small slice of the Alaskan Way Viaduct was bashed to the ground…The absence of the hulking, dirty superstructure with its squat legs immediately makes apparent new possibilities.

One can easily imagine a green promenade extending from the imposing facade of Qwest Field diagonally northwesterly, eventually touching down on an expansive waterfront park, perhaps outfitted with beaches and habitat for marine life. The promenade could be a splendid setting for food carts and festivals, art, and interpretive signs that explain the colorful history of the area previously known as the mud flats. The diminutive and delicate-looking triangle building would be a modest but distinctive landmark — now freed from lying in the shadow of the viaduct.

But still, as one looks along that alignment stretching towards Elliott Bay, the forest of dark gray columns is a dismal reminder of how much there is to be done before we reclaim the waterfront as attractive and accommodating public space.”

I’m really excited by the prospects of reclaiming urban spaces for pedestrian use!

Post Viaduct: Can waterfront be Seattle’s ‘new face’? (seattlepi.com)
Waterfront Seattle’s Meeting of the Minds – All of Them (stroupecondoblog.com)
What about a viaduct park? (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

architecture · behavior · children · community · creativity · design · education · environment

Green learning and sustainable knowledge

February 16, 2011February 24, 2011 Beth Kelley

Kids learn the best by what they see and experience, not just what they are told. What better way to teach about environmental and sustainable practices then by demonstrating that at school?! Two projects in the Pacific Northwest are combining creative alternative designs and technologies to create an ideal environment for learning and minimizing impact on the environment.

I always wanted to live in a tree house or a hobbit hole. But going to school in a “living building” would be a pretty close second. From KUOW:

LEED–certified buildings are meant to be environmentally friendly and highly energy efficient. But now, there is a new standard that goes well beyond that. It’s called the “living building” and there are only three of them in the world. In Seattle, one elementary school is building what could be the first living building in the state.

The kids got to offer ideas for the school, and with its grand opening last friday, will hopefully make a splash (it does have it’s own little stream, after all).

In a related project, a school in Poulsbo is putting in Washington State’s fifth largest solar array:

“Next month, Lander, 56, will flip the switch on his first full-size community solar project atop Poulsbo Middle School, the largest of its kind in Washington and the fifth-largest solar system in the state.”

I also love the fact that both of these projects are community-based, in that the kids got to provide input on the school, and the solar panels are also community-driven.

Uncategorized

The art of communication, from an architect’s point of view

February 16, 2011 Beth Kelley

I often post events on behalf of Science Gallery, and I’ve never even been, but soooo want to go, especially to this event:

17:02:11 18:00 – 20:00
COMMUNICATING COMMUNICATIONS: An illustrated lecture inspired by Ray & Charles Eames’ film A Communications Primer (1953)

CTVR and Hugh Campbell, Professor of Architecture UCD, invite you to a lively discussion about contemporary understanding of communication and design, particularly questioning how we communicate complexity, and how we design for communication. Inspired by the work of Charles & Ray Eames, CTVR presents a cinema-style screening of the 23 min film A Communications Primer (1953), introduced by Linda Doyle and Jessica Foley, followed by an illustrated lecture presented by Hugh Campbell, which will explore Eames’ design thinking using A Communications Primer as a starting point.

Tickets are free but pre-booking is essential: http://www.sciencegallery.com/events/2011/02/communicating-communications-illustrated-lecture-inspired-ray-charles-eames-film-comm

It’s got everything: film, art, history, communication, design, and manipulation! 🙂

community · creativity · design · happiness

From: DesignSponge » paul price’s signs of affection

February 3, 2011February 3, 2011 Beth Kelley

Just in time to get into the Valentine’s Day mood: enriching signs that spread joy and cheer to everyone, not just your favorite sweety!

Colorful “Signs of Affection” from graphic designer Paul Price. Wandering by one of these on a cold afternoon sure would be a cheerful surprise. I’m hoping Paul’s work somehow makes it over to the gray Brooklyn streets in my area, so I can stumble upon “Your Hair Looks Dashing.” That would totally make any bad day feel like it was taking a turn for the better. Click below to check out more of Paul’s work online.