Learning to be Happy

Instructor: Marghi Hagen

Workshop


Tuesdays starting October 6 through November 10 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Gualala Arts Center

$100 Members, $120 non-members

Sign up by: September 22, 2015; after that, check availability
Tuition: Members $100, Non-members: $120
Materials: None

Learning to be Happy Lecture Series Marghi Hagen 02This course is for anyone interested in learning to live a happy life. We will talk about why being happy takes work, the difference between pseudo and short-term happiness versus real on-going happiness and contentment; how the brain affects our happiness and happiness affects our brains; and how we can develop habits and recognize triggers that affect our happiness. This twelve hour course includes lecture, video, discussion, in-class exercises, and writing. No outside materials are required.

Course Outline:

  1. Introduction/What is happiness and why is it important–definitions -difference between real happiness and pseudo and short-term happiness; Who is happy and why? How and why societies and cultures affect happiness.
  2. Fear/Ego and the Brain– What makes us happy- the brain and changing synapses. Why happiness requires work. Research evidence re: physiological/biological.
  3. Connectedness/Vulnerability– Components of a happy life. What makes you happy in the long run. What keeps us from being happy. Why the work can be difficult and painful.
  4. Habits/Self-Acceptance/Tools– What tools can we learn and use to work towards a more peaceful, happy life.
  5. Purpose/Achievement/Connection– Understanding the importance of the multiple components of happiness and developing skills to build those components.
  6. Fear/Loss/Tools/Bibliography- Examining the things that keep us from being happy and learning to accept and work with the negatives.

Instructor Biography

Marghi Hagen and Friend
Marghi Hagen and Friend

Marghi Hagen received her BS in Technical Theater from the University of Wisconsin, then moved to Colorado for a year of skiing. She moved to the Bay Area in 1976 where she bartended and waited tables while working on her MBA. Upon completion of her degree she worked as an Operations Management Consultant for more than 20 years in the U.S. and France. In 1999, she changed her priorities and started teaching Life Skills in the prison system while working on her Ph.D. in Social Policy.

Prior to this course, Marghi taught Film Critique and a Leadership Seminar through the Gualala Arts Center.

Learning to be Happy Lecture Series Marghi Hagen 03