Remembering the Awesome Life Lessons of Christopher Peterson

The late Christopher Peterson, Ph.D., was a beloved blogger at Psychology Today. He began writing about positive psychology here in 2008 and, sadly, passed in 2012. The last words he wrote in The Good Life column, the week before he died, addressed his curiosity about society's usage of the word "awesome":

"The sort of awe I am describing is a bit different but incredibly important," he wrote. "It is awe about people collectively, including us. We are all the same, and each of us is unique, certainly in death but also in life. May we all stop and notice."

I did not know Chris personally, but I greatly admired his writing. He was a professor at the University of Michigan, where I earned my Master's in Social Work. I concurrently studied positive psychology and holistic health at Western Michigan University, so he and I shared multiple friends and colleagues in common, but our paths never crossed.

Though Chris was respected for adhering to rigorous research, he was also known for his warmth and gentle humor. Those traits are obvious when you read his blogs. They are intelligent, but not sterile. Witty and observational, but not soft on insight. Chris's writing made you contemplate yourself as invaluably connected to the world around you.

The last two sentences he wrote transcended research. They were simple, wise, and earned from lived experience: "We are all the same, and each of us is unique, certainly in death but also in life. May we all stop and notice."

In 2009, he wrote that he'd been asked if positive psychology is "bullsh*t." He justified the field's validity, but only when it is studied and utilized under the auspices of peer-reviewed research. Further warning that "Anyone who promises the secret to happiness or six easy steps to bliss should trigger a BS detector..."

As I reflect upon my development as a writer over the past 11 years of blogging at Psychology Today, I wonder how Chris's writing would have developed. In this new world of "Six Easy Steps To Bliss," how would his conversational and observational style have fared?

I have a hunch he would have been asking himself the same question. I say this because in 2010 he wrote a post that asked, "What is the purpose of a Psychology Today blog entry?" He landed upon the answer: "...to teach psychology students about new findings in psychology." He concluded, "My goal as a teacher is to have students do well on an exam and asking students to read Psychology Today blog entries obviously serves this goal. These essays are terse, interesting, and practical. And what's wrong with that? I'd like to know."

I checked my own writing against Chris's three descriptors. Interesting? I hope so. But that's for my audience to answer. Practical? I work hard to include useful takeaways, though sometimes they are obtusely braided within my narratives. Terse? Sorry, Chris, I know I've sometimes failed at this. My articles can be a slog and that can be a turnoff in this "Six Easy Steps" world.

On the other hand, I've written posts that have pulled in those precious page views. Posts undoubtedly informed by positive psychology—describing the traits of resilience, for example. Ones that have taken readers behind the scenes of interesting lifestyles and jobs, like the career of a sex therapist and the man who has lived off-grid in the wilderness his entire life. Neither were research-based or peer-reviewed, but readers seem to have found them interesting.

How do I know? Because over the years they've told me. When I wrote about my tips for coping with flying anxiety, readers emailed me with letters of gratitude. When I wrote about the off-gridder, numerous film production companies wrote me with requests to meet the fascinating man. In fact, once I was even invited to audition to be a life coach for a new reality show.

Thanks, but I think I'll stick to this keyboard. Write about the interesting people and observations from my own little reality show of life. Does that suggest I'm too shy or lazy to step in front of a camera? Too scared to step out of my comfort zone? Maybe all of that. And maybe there's another option.

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In 2012, Chris blogged about "The 'So What' of Humility." He wrote, "It was with considerable interest that I read a research report by Jordan LaBouff and colleagues (2012) demonstrating that humble people are more helpful than those who are less humble. In three investigations, each using a different method, these researchers studied college students to test what they alliteratively dubbed the HHH: the humility-helping hypothesis."

Turns out, the HHH hypothesis was supported by the research. Humility, as a character strength, matters and is an indicator of helpfulness to others. Chris concluded, "Other people matter, and we can matter more to others if we matter less to ourselves." Am I humble? Do I matter in a way that leaves an impact, albeit from behind the relative safety of my keyboard? I guess I'll leave that for time to tell. Or LaBouff and colleagues.

What I do know is that my intention for my writing has always been to help others. I did not want fame or a reality show, I wanted to contribute meaningfully to the human conversation—but in ways that were different from the "Six Easy Steps" approach. Now my blogs are floating around in the world and I'm floating around behind this keyboard with no way of measuring their impact.

All I can do is hope. Keep at the work of making life better. That's what Chris did. As we celebrate him, 10 years gone, he's still our basis for comparision, his writing still floating around in the world spreading his mantra: "The good life requires hard work." And that is awesome. May we all stop and notice.