In the video, the concept of capturing a happy moment and holding onto it for a "dozen or so seconds" really caught my attention. It appeared the speaker wants us to actively stop and smell the (joyous) roses as we find them. This brings to mind some sense of active reflection that causes us to be mindful of everything that is happening to us so that we can capture those positive moments. In a loose connection to the article on "staying in the canoe," the 'canoe' that the video presenter would want us to stay in would be the canoe of happy thoughts! More importantly though, the idea of "keep paddling" forces us to consider the action required on our part. Normally, as the video suggests we only actively engage in and remember bad memories when going to bed, so the contemplative actions we take center on negative memories. Meanwhile, if we "keep paddling" and actively reflect on the positive experiences just as much, then we have a chance to balance the downs with ups or even tip the scales in favor of the positive experiences we have.
Hi Mike, I like your take on this, but I admit to a little skepticism on this TED talk. He made it sound so easy. While it may be easy enough for the average person to hold onto a good experience and reflect for 10-20 seconds, I think the bad things stick with us more because they tend to be things we either have to do something about and/or need healing around. I like to think I am good at finding the good in things, people and situations, but I wonder, when a person is really stressed, overwhelmed and/or suffers from depression/anxiety, would this technique really work? Perhaps with a good therapist.