Artifact: Positive Psychology

Since I was a sophomore in high school, I have been fascinated by the art of psychology. I have read a great amount on the subject and realized that psychology is simply a large tree that carries multiple branches and strands of different, specific types of psychology. One type if psychology that I have found fascinating and helpful in my personal as well as academic life is positive psychology.

When I arrived as a first year at Ohio State University, I went to the club fair and arrived upon the positive psychology club table; I immediately knew I wanted to become a member. I am very grateful for this club because it has taught me to focus on what’s important in life. Sometimes, as human beings, we pay too much attention to work, stress, or the never ending list of things that need to get done. With the help of positive psychology, I have learned to take a step back from seeing those as burdens to a more optimistic approach. Sure, life can get you down and you feel as if you can’t get back up on your feet, but now when I’m worked up, I try to not let it overwhelm my body and mind. I go on a walk, look around, and breathe in the beauty that surrounds me in which those burdens blinded me from before.

I now see stress, work, school, as accomplishments. I am stressed because I want to better myself and work hard; I go to work because I want to make money in order to take care of myself and those around me; I go to school because I want to strive for a great career for my life. Many people in this world don’t have the chance to receive the opportunities that I have. Even to be able to walk down the street, to see the places on N High Street, to hear the cars honking and driving off, is something we all tend to take for granted. We live in a beautiful world where I am lucky enough to be able to do these things and have a great support system of friends and family along my side through it. With positive psychology, I have learned how to discover this for myself.

One way that I take in the elegance of the moment is that I take a picture; simply taking the picture, makes the memory last for a lifetime. If you see something beautiful, take a moment to stop, take out your phone, capture the scene, and look at it with a smile. Trusts me, it truly makes a difference to the day. Being more positive has lended me a hand to strive academically and improve my overall outlook on my classes/work.

Below is a picture that I took of Mirror Lake on OSU Campus as I was walking to the gym. I saw the beauty and wanted to hold onto it forever. I also included a link to a video about positive psychology under that for more information and more tips/tricks to help create an optimistic perspective.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYUm98fvS84&t=1s