SPEAKING TO BE CHEERFUL

The traditional chatting place, over the garden fence

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TALK DEEP - TALK OFTEN

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There are so many reasons why you might be reading the Dew of Hermon blog, you might have ‘googled’ across it, or maybe an enlightened friend put you wise to it, or perhaps you found a ‘Dew’ card in a restaurant or pub and curious about ‘ a blog you can believe in’ you logged on. Or perhaps you know me and you've logged on out of idle curiosity or maybe you are part of that elite group that recognise the ‘Dew; for the cultural and cutting edge watering-hole that it is and you realise that to miss a post would be tantamount to an act of intellectual and cultural vandalism ! Now there is yet another reason to regularly dip into the ‘Dew of Hermon’ well, a recent study has concluded that while idle everyday chit-chat will drain your psyche and addle your brain, deep and meaningful discussions are much more likely to make the participants experience feelings of happiness and fulfilment.

Could he be on facebook ?

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Scientists have found that a person’s well-being is directly related to the incidence of profound discussions they have. So while others are twittering and face booking inanities about hobbies, favourite TV programs and pop star heroes we here on Hermon mountain are deliberating on the meaning of life and the stuff of a satisfied mind like poetry and metaphysical meanderings, and like the cod-liver oil of childhood it may not always be too pleasant to take but now you know it will be good for you in the end ! I learned this lesson during my Secondary school-days when with three friends we would gather against the wall of the Ardhu Hotel on Roses Avenue to discuss those big questions about God and life and meaning. So while our peers dashed off to hurling matches and rugby games to get a cheap adrenaline rush, me and my scholastic buddies ruminated over the great philosophical conundrums of life and left the gathering all the better for the experience. I recall those meetings, especially the Friday one which continued a bit longer in light of the Saturday morning sleep-in, with great fondness and indeed gratitude as they set me off asking the questions that in time brought me face to face with the ultimate Answer (but that’s a story for another blog !)

Blissfully logged on to 'Dew of Hermon'

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The prestigious Psychological Science journal found that those who spent more time with others rather than alone experienced the highest levels of well-being but they were more surprised to find that the content of conversations dramatically affected how happy the volunteers were. Those with the widest grins had twice as many deep and meaningful conversations as the least happy. The inference for ‘Dew’readers is clear, while merely reading the blogs will increase your ‘happy’ feelings , if you leave a comment and enter into dialogue with fellow Hermonites the results may border on the ecstatic ! The co-author of the study Matthias Mehl an assistant professor at the University of Arizona concludes, “These findings suggest that the happy life is social and conversationally deep rather than solitary and superficial ”.
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Gerard O'Shea