I read a book recently that was a real eye opener: The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker. It’s a book from a professional who runs one of the most effective protection agencies in the world. I was impressed by this because he is common sensical, not advertising his own business (too much), and…
A great deal of people live their lives that way. At least I know what this is about. At least I can deal with how things are right now. What if things changed? Could I deal with it? Would it be worse? It would probably be worse. And so they keep things status quo. Which…
People talk about memory being connected to scent and food being a motivator for everything, but what we fail to acknowledge is that we are visual beings. We aren’t terrified of bad smells and rarely have any idea what they actually signify without being told, ie Natural gas companies advertising that natural gas is made…
Throughout my childhood I was told that I would goto college and get a degree and do something intelligent with it. And that was pretty much the scope of my plans for the future. When I was 18 I forged ahead to find a school and when I got there I focused on getting my…
There are a couple of sayings that run through my mind quite often when I’m out and about in the world. One is a bit obscure as it’s a skit from Kids In The Hall: A young man is on the sidewalk outside a large apt building with a cymbal and a drum stick repeating…
People say that “life is busy”, but I like to say “life is full of life”. We no longer live in small villages where you can walk to everything, are fairly self-sufficient, live by the seasons, and rarely go more than 20 miles in any direction. We live in communities which are separate from our…
I’ve heard it said that teachers in mystery schools are intentionally vague and frustratingly non-sensical when it comes to teaching about the Universe and how to be your best self in it. I’ve experienced that myself and on the one had I understand it because no teacher can give you the experience of doing it…
Confrontation has become a really negative word. No one wants confrontation. It’s equated with unnecessary drama, discomfort, awkwardness, and negativity. It’s been associated with anger, fury, and personal attacks, harassment, control, and abuse. It has become something to be avoided at all costs. In order to avoid confrontation, problems need to be ignored, worked around…
There’s such a thing as black humor. It’s the humor that happens when a situation is grim, stressful, and things have been difficult far too much or too long or too often. Some people find it inappropriate, but when you’re in the middle of things it can really help create solidarity, relieve tension, and break…
To paint things in rather broad strokes, most if not all Native American cultures use animal behavior to teach them about the right way to live. Coyote’s antics tell us what not to do. Rabbit tells us how to avoid negativity, mouse shows us what happens if we keep our nose too much in our…