Problogger’s 7 Link Challenge
By Gina Simmons, Ph.D.
In this seventh month, on the seventeenth day it seems appropriate to take the Problogger 7 link challenge. It’s a good time to review old posts and share some highlights of our work over the last few years. Here are 7 links that fit into seven themes picked by Problogger’s Darren Rowse.
1. Your first post: Our first was titled Trust Your Intuition. It was reprinted from an old paper snail mail newsletter we used to publish in the late 1990’s. Our first few posts on our blog came from reworked newsletter articles from that period.
2. A post you enjoyed writing the most: My husband, Jay Schneider, wrote the post Lessons From Woodstock and I edited it. I really enjoyed reviewing youtube videos of some favorite musicians from the 1960’s, like Richie Havens. It was fun to read about the lives of some of these fascinating characters. I think the post teaches some important lessons about peaceful cooperation that are timeless and relevant.
3. A post which had a great discussion: Many people had strong feelings about The Pitfalls of Positive Thinking. It showed some of the limitations of thinking positive while denying problem areas in life. I appreciated the thoughtful comments and interesting exchanges.
4. A post on someone else’s blog that you wish you’d written: I love reading Steven Handel’s blog, The emotion machine. I wish I’d written his post How to create your own self hypnosis audio. What a practical and fun exercise in self-help! He’s a wonderful writer and is younger than my two sons. Amazing!
5. A post with a title you’re proud of: I like my title Praise for the Angry Hero. I think it speaks to the need for more heros and more people who channel anger into helpful, pro-social behavior. I enjoyed researching people I admire who have sublimated their anger into a great force for good in the world.
6. A post that you wish more people had read: During the healthcare reform debate I wrote a post called Political Anger and the Healthcare Reform Debate. I felt concerned that the very important topic of healthcare reform would be buried in sound bites of raving, maniacal partisan shills. I still wish more people would read the post which shares how extreme positions limit our ability to solve complex problems.
7. Your most visited post ever: We still get lots of readers for our post The Power of the Middle Finger. Perhaps the combination of our fascination with power and our interest in flipping people off makes this a popular post. I’m not sure the message I intended came across as effectively as I would have liked. The most important message in that post is that when we flip off other people we increase our own hostility toward others. We feel more hostile when we act in a hostile way. Of course in addition to feeling more anger we get others to feel more angry too. Not the best use of our power to influence others.
I hope you enjoyed our 7 link challenge response. Let me know which blogs you enjoy and which of our posts you liked the best.
