I often talk about mindfulness but whilst thinking about this recently, I feel that I should be talking about flourishing instead. I cannot claim that I coined the term, what I can claim is that with colleagues I enhanced a definition and conducted research to look further demonstrate its relevance in one area of research and practice. Our work is published and appears to be well-respected within academic fields.
My change in lifestyle, which has led to a greater level of flourishing, has meant that I now look at ways in which I can apply aspects of flourishing more readily in my day-to-day life. Over the next few days and weeks, I am going to think about this more and try to show how it applies in my life now and how it might equally apply in your life too.
I am trying to take a more holistic approach to life and to be conscious of the effect that I have on those around me as well as being aware of who and what affects me, I do not want you to think that I believe that there is a quick fix. I know that there isn’t. However, as we become more aware we do begin to be able to make changes and to consider how we can flourish.
In our work we drew on the work of Martin Seligman a positive psychologist in developing our definition. This is how we used his acronym PERMA in order to describe flourishing.
Personal Enjoyment: the pleasant life
Enagagement: a flow state in which thought and feeling are usually absent;
(Positive) Relationships: relationships are key to the development of all humans;
Meaning: belonging to and serving something that is bigger than the self;
Accomplishment: the pursuit of success, achievement, and mastery for its own sake.
I have said before that I wish to combine some of the work of From-the-she-shed with retreats in the gite. I know that if I want people to want to come, to engage in a retreat, then they need to recognise that I have experience in what I am offering. So, over the next few days and weeks I will be using my previous and current work to demonstrate my expertise. I will consider when I will be offering a retreat and for the first one there will be discounts for regular followers of the blog.
Until tomorrow…
Tales from the Sheshed France 
It’s interesting how we are trained in education, always to seek to capture ideas, to pin them down, to make them concrete ( a bit like trying to plait fog).
Academic models are interesting points of reference (starting points?) BUT we are all SO different in our needs.
I love the term flourishing because it is so open. (Eg: The cactus flourishes in very different conditions to the rose). So once upon a time my idea of flourishing was money to pay for the bare necessities- now it is to love, be loved and to hope my children/grandchildren will be filled with love, hope and happiness and lives well-lived.
Your journey hasn’t always been easy but your boys (now men) have been your joy and achievement- and I know their flourishing is key to your happiness.
Perhaps for us to flourish, is simply to love and be loved? BUT then as Maslow and his hierarchy says ….. 😂😂😂😂🙄
Perhaps we only flourish momentarily- the sun comes out one day, gentle rain falls and we open our petals, we zing at being alive – until the next strong wind/storm?
Whatever – ‘our friends our our needs answered’ according to Gibran
Here’s to friendship, love, hope and an enjoyable journey as we seek to flourish 🤗🤗🤗
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Yes I think the notions of being loved, of hope and happiness are central to flourishing. I am hoping that I can share these ideas with others. We cannot ignore the need to be able to provide the bare necessities however we need to understand how we can have choices with how we do that, even if they are limited.
Thank you for your response and your friendship.
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