Artifact 3

I think measures like the subjective happiness scale could be helpful in assessing a person’s risk of depression, though I don’t believe that the scale truly captures the essence of happiness. I believe there are many aspects in regard to what creates happiness and that the equation may be different for each person. For some, happiness may be simple and for others, it may be complicated. I think the thing that I’ve learned as I’ve gotten older is that happiness isn’t as complicated as I once thought and that my educational and professional accomplishments don’t play as big of a factor in my level of happiness as I once thought they would.

I feel like there is a disconnect between what the outside world tells you will make you happy versus the things that do, which ironically, can cause great unhappiness. I think that cultural expectations of happiness make us feel as though we have to be having the time of our lives every single second of our existence to qualify as being happy. When, in reality, happiness can be much subtler. Unfortunately, I think that we sometimes don’t always realize how happy we are until something disrupts it and darkens our day. As with all that is abstract, happiness lies on a spectrum, which I believe ranges from neutral to ecstatic.

In one of the simplest forms, and not to be cliche, but sometimes happiness really can be a good cup of coffee in your favorite coffee mug. ☕️🌸

Artifact 2

I struggle with and experience cognitive dissonance most frequently when I make food choices. I have gone through phases where I am very scheduled and deliberate about my food intake. After reading a book about heart health in my early twenties, I became more aligned with the mindset that food is fuel. However, it can be difficult to always be heart and health conscious. So, after a while, my poorer eating habits found their way back to an everyday occurrence. But, I was able to justify them because eating in a completely healthy fashion can be time consuming and more expensive. Also, it can get boring and set up restrictions that make friends and family ask questions like “are you okay?” every time you make the heart-healthy decision to just have a salad instead of a pound of meat when eating a restaurant. By eating more conveniently, I am able to save both time and money—and to make up for eating somewhat poorly, I make sure to work out on a regular basis. Balance doesn’t always mean that everything has to be perfectly balance–just so long as one side isn’t immovable! 

I identify as a bake-goods aficionado, and when I got tired of eating completely healthy, I started trying out new baked-good recipes. The child in the image reminds me of when I had made chocolate chip cookies using graham cracker crumbs in place of the flour, and they Exceeded my expectations! 

 

Artifact 1

Artifact 1 comes from Module 4.

In the broadcast Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?  from almost thirty years ago the hosts explore the effects of media coverage on the general population’s perception. The point they drive home is key to heuristics, which I believe is epitomized by the included photo where the host states that “just getting out there, reduces fear..” which speaks to the fact that heuristics can cause us to believe our own misconceptions. However, by becoming better informed firsthand we can challenge our preconceived knowledge and make better inferences in the future.

Heuristics carry with them, the risk of being incorrect. Though the media may portray something as a serious issue and skew the information in a way that is sensationalized, reality may be different. This is something we need to be aware in all our media settings. It was true in 1994, when this was originally released, just as it is today in 2022.

The most surprising thing about this was the fact that this is an issue that has been talked about for decades, yet seemingly, nothing has been done to correct it. The media informs a large population’s ‘knowledge’ on topics from global to local. This can be detrimental to those that identify as a minority as it seems all minorities, have somehow been demonized on the news at one point in time (if not for centuries).