Miles of Smiles by Carin Goldberg
This week’s The New York Times Magazine cover story (”Is Happiness Catching?” by Clive Thompson) is an interesting read on the theory of social contagion. Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler have analyzed data from the Framingham Heart Study (a study tracking residents of Framingham, Mass. for over 50 years to learn about heart disease) to show how good and bad behaviors can pass from friend to friend, social circle to social circle. If I’m happy, sad, if I lose or gain weight, quit or start smoking, my social circle or friends of friends may feel inspired to do the same, and vice versa. The article goes on to explain how the data was analyzed, the possibilities and shortcomings of the study, opposing views, etc.
Who runs in your inner circles? And who do they run with? What kind of energy do you put out into the world each day? According to this article, each individual’s actions and behaviors have the possibility of affecting more than 1,000 people. Check yourself and your circle of trust to make sure you are surrounded by the vibrational energy and behaviors you want to align yourself with.
Read for yourself here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/magazine/13contagion-t.html