Chapter Three: Positive Emotions

Gratitude. Optimism. Happiness. These aren’t fleeting emotions—they’re creative practices that can be nurtured.

In this chapter, the first pillar of the PERMA+ model - Positive Emotion - comes alive through the expressive arts. Three playshops (Optimism: The Beautiful Maybe, Gratitude: Gathering Goodness, and Savoring: Dwelling in Delights engage participants in collaborative haikus, performance-based storytelling, and multi-modal narrative re-authoring to explore how positive emotions can be cultivated even in the face of challenge. These practices are not decorative; they are restorative.

Chapter 3 shows how gratitude boosts serotonin and dopamine, optimism reduces inflammation and stress, and savoring builds the neural architecture for resilience. But the transformation happens through embodied experience: a shared story, a gesture, a poem that lives in the body. Art becomes a way to feel better - not just momentarily, but meaningfully.

Activities Include:

• The Garden Within (planting optimism in metaphor and mixed media)

• Gratitude Photo Collage

• Savoring Journal

Key Benefits:

• Teaches evidence-based mood-enhancing tools

• Interrupts the brain’s negativity bias

  Increases hope, optimism, and emotional agility