Back in the 1990s, psychologists and social scientists began to take a hard look at how we think of "wellbeing." Keyes and Ryff argued that "wellbeing" should not just be measured as the "absence of distress." Instead, it should be measured by the presence of certain positive emotions and characteristics. Positive functioning began to be defined by these six traits: self-acceptance, positive relations with others, personal growth, purpose in life, environmental mastery, and autonomy (Keyes & Ryff, 1999). The term "flourishing" was coined to capture this broader understanding of wellbeing. 

Since that time, other scholars have chimed in. Diener et al. (2010) and Seligman (2011) suggested various additions and changes in terminology to provide more nuance to earlier work. But no matter which scholar's work you consider, they all agree that flourishing boils down to (1) the presence of self-knowledge and self-acceptance, (2) the presence of positive social relationships and contributions, and (3) a source of meaning, purpose, hope, and satisfaction in life that is beyond merely the self. It is from these three elements of human flourishing that I derive the concept of the Threefold Gaze.