Several weeks ago, I was editing together some video footage for a home movie and was surprised to discover how irritated, negative, and just plain mean I sounded when talking to my wife.  I remember most of the interactions that were filmed but not any of the feelings I was quite clearly [...]]]> http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/08/01/the-importance-of-tone/feed/ 24 http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/06/06/the-effects-of-technology-on-relationships/ http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/06/06/the-effects-of-technology-on-relationships/#comments Sun, 06 Jun 2010 22:15:37 +0000 Alex Lickerman http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/?p=5190 Photo: Steve Keys

Email, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Delicious, Digg, LinkedIn, blogs (of course), and scores of others—all part of the new and wonderful ways we can now connect with one another electronically, each with its own culture and unique set of rules.  In one sense, the planet has never been more interconnected.  And [...]]]> http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/06/06/the-effects-of-technology-on-relationships/feed/ 12 http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/05/23/the-caregivers-manifesto/ http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/05/23/the-caregivers-manifesto/#comments Sun, 23 May 2010 22:00:36 +0000 Alex Lickerman http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/?p=5109 Photo: LaPrimaDonna

How many patients have I known over the years who’ve found themselves caught in the quicksand that is caring for a chronically ill loved one?  Too many to count, so I’ll recount just one.  Mrs. S is an elderly woman married to a retired university law professor, who has been slowly losing [...]]]> http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/05/23/the-caregivers-manifesto/feed/ 18 http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/04/11/the-value-of-a-good-reputation/ http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/04/11/the-value-of-a-good-reputation/#comments Sun, 11 Apr 2010 22:00:27 +0000 Alex Lickerman http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/?p=4856 A reputation is an animal designed by committee:  you give birth to it, but the way it develops depends on the actions of others.  Your reputation lives a very real existence apart from you, representing the collective mental construct everyone but you shares about you, a construct based partially on your own actions but also [...]]]> http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/04/11/the-value-of-a-good-reputation/feed/ 8 http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/03/07/the-art-of-microcompromise/ http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/03/07/the-art-of-microcompromise/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:00:44 +0000 Alex Lickerman http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/?p=4679 “What do you want for dinner?” I asked my wife.

“I don’t know,” she answered.  “What do you want?”

“How about hamburgers?”

“No, I don’t want hamburgers.”

“What do you want then?”

“I don’t know…pasta.”

“I’m a little sick of pasta,” I said.  “How about pizza?”

“I’m really in the mood for pasta.”

Silence.  Then:   “Okay, pasta.”

I’ve observed, [...]]]> http://www.happinessinthisworld.com/2010/03/07/the-art-of-microcompromise/feed/ 11