Conferences in Sydney next year

Just a quick blog today about conferences coming up next year.

The first is the First Australian Positive Psychology Conference on the 5th and 6th April at the University of Sydney. This conference is being cosponsored by ten Australian universities and promises to be an exceptional event. The International Advisory Board reads like a Who's Who of the Positive Psychology movement with names like Seligman, Diener, Fredrickson, Linley, Peterson, Shahar, Lopez, and Sheldon. Co-chairs are Sydney's Anthony M Grant and Melbourne's Dianne Vella-Brodrick.

The second is the Third Happiness and Its Causes Conference on the 8th and 9th May at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour. Last year's conference was a sellout and very well received by attendees, with His Holiness the Dalai Lama as star attraction. A CD of recordings from the conference is available on the website.

Introducing...

Welcome! My name is Carole and I am interested in human happiness, no less. What is it, how do we achieve it, and how will we know when we have? It's a huge subject when you think a bit about it, and eventually we will cover all sorts of different aspects of what it takes, and what it is, to be happy.

Is it a good bottle of wine at the end of a stressful day? Is football involved? Or a strategic computer game? Is it the love of a good man or woman? Or of a faithful dog? The company of good friends? The hugs of your kids? A good book and a box of chocolates? Or just the chocolate? Kindness to others? The satisfaction of a job well done? A new personal best on the track or in the pool? All of this? Something else? Or is it indefinable? Does it only apply to fleeting moments, or is it a state of mind? Is it attainable?

There'll be the theories and insights of academics and professionals. The ideas of writers and thinkers, and interested amateurs. I'll give you my own personal reflections. I'll talk about books that I've read and what I learned at uni. I'll show you websites I've found. And I hope you'll let me know what you think; whether you agree or disagree with what I've said, or want to suggest alternatives.

You may not find the secret to life happiness here, but then, you just might!