It’s funny the way that dreams become reality. Six months ago a bicycle tour along the west coast was just a tiny spark in Jason and my imaginations; a wishful, romantic concept of how we might celebrate completing a masters degree at

Penn. It was a topic of conversation to keep our spirits up as the workload went up. I’m not sure either of us expected that spark to grow any further back then. But as sparks tend to do when fostered in the right environment, our dream soon became a blazing bonfire.

The right environment for our spark was the MAPP program. Our courses in positive psychology—the newly founded scientific field that seeks to understand and describe what makes for a good and flourishing life—were more than academic. They were opportunities for deep introspection, for clarification of what we really want out of life, and for mapping out pathways to get there. Such opportunities, at least in my experience, are rare. But when they do come, they can dramatically change your life.

Personally those changes came most directly by compelling me to commit to the spark of a bicycling dream that I had been carrying for months. So Jason and I discussed. And committed. And that felt incredible. But something was missing.

If a year in a masters program in positive psychology can be boiled down into a single bullet point—and quite frankly, it cannot—one is best to quote Professor Chris Peterson: “Other people matter.” Jason and I realized that our bike trip would help us cultivate positive emotions and engagement, two of the three pathways to Authentic Happiness. But the trip demanded meaning and purpose. As soon as we sat with this idea, the notion of giving back to the MAPP program was obvious. We wanted to help others experience the dramatic change of a positive psychology education, particularly those who might not be able to handle the financial burden who might also share their knowledge with populations that could benefit from it greatly. So we set out to lead the 2007 MAPP Scholarship fundraising campaign.

But there was still something missing. We wanted to do our part to share the changes that we experienced as students of positive psychology to those who might be interested enough to listen. So with the gracious help of the team at Penn’s

College of

General Studies, we have established www.goodliferide.com to share our journeys—both the journey through MAPP and the journey down the Pacific coast.

We welcome you along as we do our best to wrap our heads around everything we read about this year in the best way we know how: exposed on bicycles. Expect both laughter and tears along the way. We plan to test positive psychology at its limits—a case study in the elements, if you will. The 2,000 miles ahead of us will demand all we have learned of savoring, resilience, gratitude, strength, love, and hope.

Our adventure begins in three days in

Vancouver. We’re looking forward to having you along as we ride towards the good life!

Posted on August 22nd, 2007 by Derrick
Filed under: Thoughts