« Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage…
Et puis est retourné, plein d’usage et raison
Vivre entre ses parents le reste de son âge…
Plus me plaît le séjour qu’ont bâti mes aïeux…
Plus mon Loir gaulois, que le Tibre latin,…
Et plus que l’air marin la doulceur angevine.
Contented, happy like Ulysses who travelled the world then returned
knowledgable and wise to live the rest of his life with his family,
I cherish the land of my ancestors, The Gallic Loir rather than the Latin Tiber,
I cherish sweet balmy Angers rather than the wind-swept waves. »
Extract from: « Heureux qui comme Ulysse a fait un beau voyage, Les Regrets: 31 »
Joachim Du Bellay (1522- 1560), Angevin poet
I chose this poem not only because it speaks about the beauty of the city of Angers, where we will find ourselves for the next ECPP, but also because it speaks about our pursuit of happiness and a life well lived, and how our intuitions of where we may find such things, notably in faraway places, can sometimes be misleading.
Poems like this, and literature and religion and philosophy have been treating such questions for millennia; it is with the advent of Positive Psychology that we are able to take a more methodological approach to addressing such questions.
We will find ourselves in Angers, a city known for its beauty, and in France, a country known for its culture, art, cuisine, and savoir-vivre. And here we find another paradox: despite the richness and pleasures of good food and material comfort, there is much malaise in France and elsewhere in the world.
We, in Angers, in France, are proud to host the 8th European Conference for Positive Psychology and to contribute, in whatever way we can, to advance our understanding of happiness and a life well lived, perhaps understanding how, as Du Bellay described, we can find it outside our front door.
The debates will focus on the following themes:
– Positive Psychology: Research Methods
– Positive Psychology: Education
– Positive Psychology: Health and Therapies
– Positive Psychology: Working Environment
We look forward to welcoming all of you, here in balmy Angers…
Charles Martin-Krumm
President of the French and French Speaking Positive Psychology Association (AFfPP)
Chairman of the 8th ECPP – Angers 2016