Translating wellbeing science into positive community experiences.

www.PositivityMatters.org

Our vision is a world where everyone is experiencing authentic friendship and abundant practical hope. To realize that vision, our mission is to translate wellbeing science into constructive community practices.

Hope is a belief about the nature of the world that centers around the idea that the future can be better, while optimism is the belief that the future will be better. “[Practical] hope is a perceived capability to derive pathways to desired goals, and motivate oneself via agency thinking to use those pathways.” ~C.R. (Rick) Snyder

Mentoring is about celebrating the strengths-summoning interests (from lighthearted play to serious leisure) of others and helping them to channel their strengths into practical hope. Mentoring is a form of constructive kindness. Unconditional positive regard is a form of compassionate kindness. When we play and invite others to step (dance, cartwheel, etc) into the fun, we are practicing playful kindness. We can build friendship with ourselves (observational self, experiential self, future self, etc) when we practice playful, compassionate and constructive kindness to our own person. Mutual playful, compassionate and constructive kindness is the substance of friendship. We cannot give what we do not have. The quality of friendship we have with ourselves is the limit of the quality of friendship that we are able to offer others. Click here to learn more about our ontology of kindness.

Up Next:

International Day of Play
www.postivityitymatters.org/dayofplay
Saturday, June 13, 2026
10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Constellation Studios
2055 O St, Lincoln, NE 68510
Free and open to the public!

Weekly:

• The Hope Sharing Circle – weekly at the Telegraph District Mill 330 S 21st St in Lincoln, NE (text to confirm details)
• The Positivity Matters podcast: Spotify | Apple | YouTube | Amazon (Archive)
• Click here for a guide to other free social activities in Lincoln, NE.

Quarterly:

• The Connective Collective is a mastermind (peer support) group for stewards of social ecosystems and an incubator of organically emergent bonds of mentorship between emerging community builders and seasoned community serving leaders.

• Health: physical and mental.
• Aesthetic experience: natural and created beauty.
• Play: a basic drive that prompts us to broaden our awareness of potential resources through curiosity and to construct additional resources through creativity (game creation, humor, the arts, etc.) and gameplay.
• Pleasure: liking, positive emotions, and happiness (emotional wellbeing).
• Yes-saying: creating values (purpose and meaning in life research) we say ‘yes’ to in thought (goals thinking and pathways thinking) and through action.

• Life: the web of life.
• Information: knowledge/know-how.
• Friendship: good social health.
• Engagement: absorption in flow.