Of Aha Moments and Enlightenment

In 2009 the insurance company “Mutual” of Omaha claimed to be the “official sponsor of the aha moment” and applied to trademark the phrase. Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions Inc. challenged this because they claimed that Winfrey regularly uses the phrase "an aha moment" on her television program and it was synonymous with her. The story that we are more familiar with, however, is of Archimedes, who whilst sitting in an overfull hot tub bath noticed some water spilling over the side and suddenly had a flash of insight. He deduced that the volume of the water spilt over would have to... Read More

Emotional Wealth in Times of Economic Depression

To flourish is an act and not a state. This act is choice-worthy in its own right (Aristotle).This means that flourishing is not exclusively dependent on a circumstance (rich/poor, lockdown/no lockdown, healthy/sick), but rather a state of mind, no matter the circumstance. A living example for me was my grandmother. She had a rudimentary education, an alcoholic husband, a son with a schizoaffective disorder, and limited financial resources. She eventually went blind – plenty of reasons not to be happy. Yet she flourished.Despite their poor circumstances, Why do some people display such high self-esteem, vitality, determination, optimism, an interest in life... Read More