During a dark time in his life, Dr. Dave, a licensed therapist and college professor, created a project he called "12 Months to Live" to help him get out of his melancholic funk. He asked himself, "What would I do if I had 12 months to live?" as a way to frame what turned out to be a global research expedition to figure out his life.
 
Each month for a year, he would come up with a new interest, career, or passion he wanted to explore. He worked with the United Nations World Food Program in Nepal, walked alone into the Cascade Wilderness for a three day/three night solo fast vision quest, and shot an adventure film while trekking up Everest.
 
And then he met the girl who couldn't laugh.
​
Watch or just listen as Dr. Dave's "12 Months to Live" journey of discovery unfolds in either or both of the following video and/or audio podcast formats. 

Gratitude has risen in popularity and impact as one of the most effective psychological and spiritual practices for enhancing overall well-being.

 

Dr. Robert A. Emmons, a professor of psychology at the University of California, is the world’s leading expert on gratitude. Emmons (2013) reports that gratitude has one of the strongest connections to well-being and life satisfaction. He cites that numerous research studies have revealed that the practice of gratitude leads to “Increased feelings of energy, alertness, and vigor; success in achieving personal goals; better coping with stress; greater sense of purpose and resilience; solidified and secure social relationships; bolstered feelings of self-worth and self-confidence; and generosity and helpfulness” (p. 10).

​

In 2017, I conducted a personal research project based on Martin Seligman’s work on gratitude visits. Seligman’s research has shown that writing and delivering a letter of gratitude to someone who impacted your life can boost mood, enrich relationship connections, and increase meaning in life for up to a month after the visit (Seligman, 2011).

 

After several months of research and planning, I personally delivered and read letters of gratitude every month for a year to family and friends across the United States and tracked my emotional state as an evaluative tool. Then in 2020 and 2021, I revisited many of those letters as I recorded conversations with the recipients of the gratitude visits for this second season of my positive psychology podcast.