What
are the keys to happiness in daily life? Find out as part of the “Point in
Common” lecture series, sponsored by several local education organizations.
“Happiness
and the Wandering Mind” will be presented by researcher Matt Killingsworth on
Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. at Sentry’s Theater@1800. It is free and open to
the public.
Killingsworth
will share what he and others have discovered about the phenomenon of
non-present thought and its relationship to happiness in daily life. He argues
that human beings have what could be considered a mental superpower: the
ability to step outside of the present moment to imagine the future, replay the
past, and contemplate ideas that are outside of time altogether.
Leading
up to Killingsworth’s visit, Point in Common is sponsoring a contest for the
public to create and share videos with the theme “What makes you happy?” Videos
should be less than 30 seconds long with a goal of capturing and inspiring
viewers. Individuals may enter the contest using #GetHappyPoint on Facebook, Twitter
or Instagram, or by emailing videos to cps@uwsp.edu.
The top three finalists will be chosen by Feb. 28 and featured prior to
Killingsworth’s March 10 presentation. The best video will receive a $100
Portage County gift certificate, and two runners-up will receive $25 gift
certificates.
While
working on Ph.D. research at Harvard University, Killingsworth invented an
iPhone app called “Track Your Happiness” that captures feelings in real time.
He's now a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholar, examining topics
such as "the relationship between happiness and the content of everyday
experiences, the percentage of everyday experiences that are intrinsically
valuable, and the degree of congruence between the causes of momentary
happiness and of one’s overall satisfaction with life."
The
Point in Common series is sponsored by the Stevens Point Area Public School
District, Stevens Point Area Catholic Schools, UW-Stevens Point School of
Education, Mid-State Technical College, Sentry Insurance, Okray Family Farms,
Phi Delta Kappa and the Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin.
To
register or for more information, visit www.pointincommon.org.
Free child care is available during the talk at Schmeeckle Reserve Visitors
Center.