Showing posts with label soul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soul. Show all posts
6/14/15
4/19/13
10/21/12
Desert Dawn
Ambrosia for heart, soul and spirit...
Still of desert morn
sun reflecting earthen color
tinting sabbath sky breaking
dawn resting day.
Ambrosia
for heart, soul and spirit...
10/19/12
Feathers, Leaves, Sticks and Stones
Blown in by a dust devil...
Dancing dust devil spun
a small gyration of dust
carrying remnants of scattered earth,
leaving random odds and ends
on my upper floor unswept tile.
Reminiscent...
Whirl to my head feathers
a recent gust to soul
transporting fragments of strewn thoughts,
arriving haphazard sticks and stones
returning, requesting my mind's attention...
Dancing dust devil spun
a small gyration of dust
carrying remnants of scattered earth,
leaving random odds and ends
on my upper floor unswept tile.
Reminiscent...
Whirl to my head feathers
a recent gust to soul
transporting fragments of strewn thoughts,
arriving haphazard sticks and stones
returning, requesting my mind's attention...
10/6/12
A Soul Never Dies
Resting peacefully among heavenly wildflowers...
RIP Karen Snyder Counts (1955-2012)
9/4/12
9/2/12
The Rains Came
Pouring in unscripted and unpublished...
The rains came,
fast and furious,
hitting hard on my soul.
Flattened by events,
unawares, unexpected, unprepared...
The drops drilled down
boring stony and drunken,
clobbering surface of my psyche.
Flatlanded unwitting from behind,
awakening, changing, deepening...
Cloudburst flooded across,
washing rapid and hypersonic,
forging a drain to my essence.
In no time flat infilled a reservoir,
postponed, stockpiled, forthcoming...
The rains came,
fast and furious,
hitting hard on my soul.
Flattened by events,
unawares, unexpected, unprepared...
The drops drilled down
boring stony and drunken,
clobbering surface of my psyche.
Flatlanded unwitting from behind,
awakening, changing, deepening...
Cloudburst flooded across,
washing rapid and hypersonic,
forging a drain to my essence.
In no time flat infilled a reservoir,
postponed, stockpiled, forthcoming...
4/19/12
4/8/12
Sanctuary Electric Blue
The soul and spirit are eclectic...
Let them conduct freely outside the walls.
Too many people are bound by religion and tied to beliefs that are tight and rigid. The message there is only one way, one path, one road rang different bells for me than the ones traditionalists hear. When I broke away from the mold shaped by thousands of years of interpreted history and read the authentic and verifiable origins for myself I gained a new knowledge. An open passageway that was truly free.
There is a difference in what is commonly meant as religiously holy and what is spiritually holistic. The thoroughfare to freeing the soul, spirit and mind is not a toll road encased in the narrow paths many religions consider holy. The constraints of religion in actuality turn people away from spiritual enlightenment rather than open the door. Spirit is everywhere, conducted by us that choose to be open to it and not confined to the walls of a building and the minds of self anointed officials. We all have a direct link to the Holy Spirit of God and a Higher Power if we choose to make the connection.
Originally posted 10/16/11: reposted for Easter Sunday 2012
Let them conduct freely outside the walls.
Too many people are bound by religion and tied to beliefs that are tight and rigid. The message there is only one way, one path, one road rang different bells for me than the ones traditionalists hear. When I broke away from the mold shaped by thousands of years of interpreted history and read the authentic and verifiable origins for myself I gained a new knowledge. An open passageway that was truly free.
There is a difference in what is commonly meant as religiously holy and what is spiritually holistic. The thoroughfare to freeing the soul, spirit and mind is not a toll road encased in the narrow paths many religions consider holy. The constraints of religion in actuality turn people away from spiritual enlightenment rather than open the door. Spirit is everywhere, conducted by us that choose to be open to it and not confined to the walls of a building and the minds of self anointed officials. We all have a direct link to the Holy Spirit of God and a Higher Power if we choose to make the connection.
Originally posted 10/16/11: reposted for Easter Sunday 2012
2/22/12
Days Are Not Lost
Merely notebooks postponed...
There are days that arrive
Unannounced and unexpected
When the spirit of being alive
Is for some reason rejected
Starting with the reptilian brain
Force motion enacted to kick start
Synapses that fire only to drain
Requiring a switch to soul and heart
Then visualize the ground
Where those cells
That seemingly drowned
As thoughts in wells...
Later to be drawn from
and collected.
Unannounced and unexpected
When the spirit of being alive
Is for some reason rejected
Starting with the reptilian brain
Force motion enacted to kick start
Synapses that fire only to drain
Requiring a switch to soul and heart
Then visualize the ground
Where those cells
That seemingly drowned
As thoughts in wells...
Later to be drawn from
and collected.
1/27/12
Life Has Curves
Bend with them, don't try to straighten them out...
Think how boring it would be if everything were in straight lines, tracked out and fitted neatly into a box. How dull life would be if everything followed a pattern, was as simple as putting everything in a cut and dried order and structures built, food grown in tasteless batches, clothes were in three colors and styles. Routes taken and paths followed by a predetermined cartography system and deviation wasn't even possible. What if art was all paint-by number? Music a series of ordered notes? Actors recited recurrent scripts? The curve, in nonlinear fashion goes outside the norm, deviating from the groove, twists and shapes objects, souls and intellects into something else to spark new and different thoughts on how to do things. Chiefly it is a passage to innovation, creative expression and ideas that stimulate life and gratifies the spirit and the mind.
1/14/12
Musical Aspirations On A Hook
Instruments in abeyance...
Waiting to be plugged in and fill the air with music.
At one time played by someone these four and five bass string guitars were pawned for one reason or another. Perhaps the owner lost interest, discovered they weren't very good at playing, were a trade in or worse needed the money and had to sacrifice a beloved instrument for cold hard cash. They hang waiting in silence to be become alive again and fill the air with their back beat sound to enrapture the player either alone, with a small group of family and friends or perhaps even in public performance. No matter the skill and ability of someone who might want to play one of these guitars, it is almost shameful they're in a landfill of silent musical equipment.
Ray Charles said: "I was born with music inside me. Music was one of my parts. Like my ribs, my kidneys, my liver, my heart. Like my blood. It was a force within me when I arrived on the scene. It was a necessity for me-like food or water."
All creative people feel that way I think, I don't remember a time I didn't want to create something and was fortunate who had parents and family that encouraged it. They endured my learning to play piano and guitar and learning to sing. They praised my writing, drawing, painting and photography efforts while offering kind and helpful suggestion on how to improve. Whether creativity is in the arts, in thinking and philosophy or sciences, whether the skill is small, level or great it should be encouraged to develop the mind and soul. It is a seed to enrich life and should be planted, cultivated and grown to its fullest potential if only to satisfy the individuals own essence to give it courage and enrich the spirit.
Waiting to be plugged in and fill the air with music.
At one time played by someone these four and five bass string guitars were pawned for one reason or another. Perhaps the owner lost interest, discovered they weren't very good at playing, were a trade in or worse needed the money and had to sacrifice a beloved instrument for cold hard cash. They hang waiting in silence to be become alive again and fill the air with their back beat sound to enrapture the player either alone, with a small group of family and friends or perhaps even in public performance. No matter the skill and ability of someone who might want to play one of these guitars, it is almost shameful they're in a landfill of silent musical equipment.
All creative people feel that way I think, I don't remember a time I didn't want to create something and was fortunate who had parents and family that encouraged it. They endured my learning to play piano and guitar and learning to sing. They praised my writing, drawing, painting and photography efforts while offering kind and helpful suggestion on how to improve. Whether creativity is in the arts, in thinking and philosophy or sciences, whether the skill is small, level or great it should be encouraged to develop the mind and soul. It is a seed to enrich life and should be planted, cultivated and grown to its fullest potential if only to satisfy the individuals own essence to give it courage and enrich the spirit.
10/16/11
Sanctuary Electric Blue
The soul and spirit are eclectic...
Let them conduct freely outside the walls.
Too many people are bound by religion and tied to beliefs that are tight and rigid. The message there is only one way, one path, one road rang different bells for me than the ones traditionalists hear. When I broke away from the mold shaped by thousands of years of interpreted history and read the authentic and verifiable origins for myself I gained a new knowledge. An open passageway that was truly free.
There is a difference in what is commonly meant as religiously holy and what is spiritually holistic. The thoroughfare to freeing the soul, spirit and mind is not a toll road encased in the narrow paths many religions consider holy. The constraints of religion in actuality turn people away from spiritual enlightenment rather than open the door. Spirit is everywhere, conducted by us that choose to be open to it and not confined to the walls of a building and the minds of self anointed officials. We all have a direct link to the Holy Spirit of God and a Higher Power if we choose to make the connection.
Let them conduct freely outside the walls.
Too many people are bound by religion and tied to beliefs that are tight and rigid. The message there is only one way, one path, one road rang different bells for me than the ones traditionalists hear. When I broke away from the mold shaped by thousands of years of interpreted history and read the authentic and verifiable origins for myself I gained a new knowledge. An open passageway that was truly free.
There is a difference in what is commonly meant as religiously holy and what is spiritually holistic. The thoroughfare to freeing the soul, spirit and mind is not a toll road encased in the narrow paths many religions consider holy. The constraints of religion in actuality turn people away from spiritual enlightenment rather than open the door. Spirit is everywhere, conducted by us that choose to be open to it and not confined to the walls of a building and the minds of self anointed officials. We all have a direct link to the Holy Spirit of God and a Higher Power if we choose to make the connection.
6/1/11
Don't Mock It
On Self Help, Mutual Help and Positive Thinking...
Seek your own road to not only survive but thrive in a difficult era.
Today I read an article in the UK Telegraph titled "Why self-help still flies off the shelf" essentially mocking self-help books and referring to them as "shelf-help." The article was laden with that condescending view of many so-called intellects who write in the mainstream media. "I'm smarter than you and if only you would emulate my thinking than you and the world would be so much better off." Her derision was directed mainly at the "Chicken Soup" series of books as she swept all of self help into the dustbin as rubbish, with a few exceptions at the end of the article for "balance."
It was interesting since in this economic period it seems to me that, as the saying goes, "whatever gets you through the day" is worthwhile. Far better pop psychology books than sinking into despair with alcohol and drugs or other problematic behavior. People deal with things on different levels, some deeper than others. If "Chicken Soul" books or Deepak Chopra work for some people, I'm all for it. What is pabulum to some is salvation for others just as what is too cerebral for some is the solution for others. The key is finding what works for the unique individual that is you.
The self help movement started in the mid-1800s, but in its current incarnation started in the depth of the Great Depression of the 1930s, when Roosevelt's social interventions were not helping a lot of people. As the "Depression within a Depression" of 1937-38 (today referred to as a "Double Dip") was starting, people were in need of something to look to for help that was not being satisfied by government programs. Their human need was to rise above their current situation on their own accord. It was then that Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" became a top bestseller. It focused on self confidence and improving attitude, which in turn would lead to better relationships with other people, resulting in less stress and a positive attitude. A few years prior to that "Bill W" (William Wilson) discovered a way out of alcoholism through the premise of mutual help, today's 12 Step Program for addiction recovery. Later in another bad economic era, the 1970s, the phenomenon of pop psychology took off with the book "I'm OK, You're OK" by Dr. Thomas A. Harris using Transactional Analysis.
We are in another economic downturn that doesn't seem to be getting better and no end is in sight in many people's thinking. My belief is that now, more than ever, people need to prepare themselves psychologically for not only surviving but thriving in a difficult era. Our ability to cope with adversity is what will separate us from those who succeed, whatever that may be for an individual, from those who fall into permanent despair and never recover.
Your oppression is in your own mind.
It is irrelevant to me what other people might think of the tools I personally use, developed from having lived through other difficult times, ranging from self talk, mutual help and self help along with large doses of optimism and positive thinking. They work and generally keep me out of the trap of negative thinking. Everyone must figure out what works for them and they might find some solutions in self help books. There are many other ways to do this and I'm not a guru or the best person to ask since what works for me may not work for you. I can only offer suggestions. The most important one is do not let others discourage you from seeking peace of mind, whether they are media writers or people in your life, persevere and seek your own road to what keeps you in balance. Work at it as if your life depends on it...because it does.
Seek your own road to not only survive but thrive in a difficult era.
Today I read an article in the UK Telegraph titled "Why self-help still flies off the shelf" essentially mocking self-help books and referring to them as "shelf-help." The article was laden with that condescending view of many so-called intellects who write in the mainstream media. "I'm smarter than you and if only you would emulate my thinking than you and the world would be so much better off." Her derision was directed mainly at the "Chicken Soup" series of books as she swept all of self help into the dustbin as rubbish, with a few exceptions at the end of the article for "balance."
It was interesting since in this economic period it seems to me that, as the saying goes, "whatever gets you through the day" is worthwhile. Far better pop psychology books than sinking into despair with alcohol and drugs or other problematic behavior. People deal with things on different levels, some deeper than others. If "Chicken Soul" books or Deepak Chopra work for some people, I'm all for it. What is pabulum to some is salvation for others just as what is too cerebral for some is the solution for others. The key is finding what works for the unique individual that is you.The self help movement started in the mid-1800s, but in its current incarnation started in the depth of the Great Depression of the 1930s, when Roosevelt's social interventions were not helping a lot of people. As the "Depression within a Depression" of 1937-38 (today referred to as a "Double Dip") was starting, people were in need of something to look to for help that was not being satisfied by government programs. Their human need was to rise above their current situation on their own accord. It was then that Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" became a top bestseller. It focused on self confidence and improving attitude, which in turn would lead to better relationships with other people, resulting in less stress and a positive attitude. A few years prior to that "Bill W" (William Wilson) discovered a way out of alcoholism through the premise of mutual help, today's 12 Step Program for addiction recovery. Later in another bad economic era, the 1970s, the phenomenon of pop psychology took off with the book "I'm OK, You're OK" by Dr. Thomas A. Harris using Transactional Analysis.
Your oppression is in your own mind.
It is irrelevant to me what other people might think of the tools I personally use, developed from having lived through other difficult times, ranging from self talk, mutual help and self help along with large doses of optimism and positive thinking. They work and generally keep me out of the trap of negative thinking. Everyone must figure out what works for them and they might find some solutions in self help books. There are many other ways to do this and I'm not a guru or the best person to ask since what works for me may not work for you. I can only offer suggestions. The most important one is do not let others discourage you from seeking peace of mind, whether they are media writers or people in your life, persevere and seek your own road to what keeps you in balance. Work at it as if your life depends on it...because it does.
5/29/11
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The first change takes place in your mind...
Gil Scott-Heron died yesterday and his spoken word poetry pioneered political rap and influenced hip-hop music although he was somewhat critical of hip hop artists. He was quoted in the nineties:
"They need to study music. I played in several bands before I began my career as a poet. There's a big difference between putting words over some music and blending those same words into music. There's not a lot of humor. They use a lot of slang and colloquialisms and you don't really see inside the person. Instead, you just get a lot of posturing." [italics mine]
One of my favorite GSH lines is the famous one from "Let Me See Your I.D."
"The first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they were talking about Pittsburgh."
It appeals to me since it reminds me of how self-centered many Americans are regarding the rest of the world in the sense the world begins, ends and revolves around the United States.
In his earlier years he was aware of and foreshadowed the inevitable crash of our consumer culture. One of the most important concepts is his statement in an interview in the nineties with Scott Blumberg "The first change that takes place is in your mind, you have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move."
Like all great artists, his work stands the test of time and is both prescient and relevant today. In that same interview he referred to how Black Americans have been "the only real die-hard Americans here because we're the only ones who carried the process through the process, that everyone else has skipped stages, we're the only ones who marched, carried the Bible, carried the flag, were the ones who tried to go through the courts and being born American didn't seem to matter because we were born American but we had to fight for what we were looking for..."
In his latest work in 2010 "I'm New Here" he refers to coming full circle and is classic in it's beautiful lyricism and simplicity of a solo guitarist as accompanist.
http://youtu.be/eV_astp3BjM
Gil Scott-Heron died yesterday and his spoken word poetry pioneered political rap and influenced hip-hop music although he was somewhat critical of hip hop artists. He was quoted in the nineties:
"They need to study music. I played in several bands before I began my career as a poet. There's a big difference between putting words over some music and blending those same words into music. There's not a lot of humor. They use a lot of slang and colloquialisms and you don't really see inside the person. Instead, you just get a lot of posturing." [italics mine]
One of my favorite GSH lines is the famous one from "Let Me See Your I.D."
"The first time I heard there was trouble in the Middle East, I thought they were talking about Pittsburgh."
It appeals to me since it reminds me of how self-centered many Americans are regarding the rest of the world in the sense the world begins, ends and revolves around the United States.
In his earlier years he was aware of and foreshadowed the inevitable crash of our consumer culture. One of the most important concepts is his statement in an interview in the nineties with Scott Blumberg "The first change that takes place is in your mind, you have to change your mind before you change the way you live and the way you move."
Like all great artists, his work stands the test of time and is both prescient and relevant today. In that same interview he referred to how Black Americans have been "the only real die-hard Americans here because we're the only ones who carried the process through the process, that everyone else has skipped stages, we're the only ones who marched, carried the Bible, carried the flag, were the ones who tried to go through the courts and being born American didn't seem to matter because we were born American but we had to fight for what we were looking for..."
In his latest work in 2010 "I'm New Here" he refers to coming full circle and is classic in it's beautiful lyricism and simplicity of a solo guitarist as accompanist.
http://youtu.be/eV_astp3BjM
5/16/11
Human Touch
On being personable in a detached world...
We are people starving for attention in a world of automated tellers, touchscreen ordering and voice response systems. Personal attention is a two way street. That person behind the counter who robotically rings up your purchase needs attention as much as you do. We are human and our spirit is what separates us from the animal kingdom.
It is astounding how many people are operating out of fear and anxiety. Those two emotions are reflected in our interactions with each other in urban areas and small cities. A lot of people act as if they don't care in this mixed up, muddied era of economic downturn, political divisiveness and social disruption. Actually they're just playing it safe. People have been trained to publicly be cool, calm and detached and mimic a phony customer service model that is based on whatever acronym some consultant came up with. Attempting to avoid offending anyone has made many defensive and cold towards others.
In my industry I work with people who suffer test anxiety since their credentialing and livelihood depends on a high stakes test. Experience has taught me that acknowledging it in some way from the beginning returns a heartfelt "thank you" afterwards. One way I do this is just prior to entering the test room I will tell someone to "take a deep breath, breathe in the good air, exhale the bad air and think success." There is nothing original in that statement but it gets a positive response in test takers ranging from burly firefighters to aggressive stock brokers to aloof doctors.
At the interchange of human interaction people seem to be dispassionate but underneath they are not. Inside may be a raging bull or a soft-hearted bear that fears what others might think or only wants to be recognized as a person. Take a moment to recognize someone's fear or anxiety by doing or saying something that acknowledges those emotions indirectly by being personable. My bet is that you will discover the most detached person will light up and respond.
We are people starving for attention in a world of automated tellers, touchscreen ordering and voice response systems. Personal attention is a two way street. That person behind the counter who robotically rings up your purchase needs attention as much as you do. We are human and our spirit is what separates us from the animal kingdom.
It is astounding how many people are operating out of fear and anxiety. Those two emotions are reflected in our interactions with each other in urban areas and small cities. A lot of people act as if they don't care in this mixed up, muddied era of economic downturn, political divisiveness and social disruption. Actually they're just playing it safe. People have been trained to publicly be cool, calm and detached and mimic a phony customer service model that is based on whatever acronym some consultant came up with. Attempting to avoid offending anyone has made many defensive and cold towards others.In my industry I work with people who suffer test anxiety since their credentialing and livelihood depends on a high stakes test. Experience has taught me that acknowledging it in some way from the beginning returns a heartfelt "thank you" afterwards. One way I do this is just prior to entering the test room I will tell someone to "take a deep breath, breathe in the good air, exhale the bad air and think success." There is nothing original in that statement but it gets a positive response in test takers ranging from burly firefighters to aggressive stock brokers to aloof doctors.
At the interchange of human interaction people seem to be dispassionate but underneath they are not. Inside may be a raging bull or a soft-hearted bear that fears what others might think or only wants to be recognized as a person. Take a moment to recognize someone's fear or anxiety by doing or saying something that acknowledges those emotions indirectly by being personable. My bet is that you will discover the most detached person will light up and respond.
3/29/11
Writing: Fact and Fiction
My anxiety...
An exercise in writing on a topic I rarely publicly discuss.
Like a low vague sound of some humming electrical device the feeling is omnipresent and hangs in my soul somewhere, haunting me without explanation. I'm not exactly sure when I really became aware there was a name for it except it was sometime in the late eighties. It's an unexplained disquiet which for me usually leads to a low level melancholy or depression if I don't resolve it. It occurs to a lot more people than is recognized since those of us who live with it don't like to talk about it. Men suffer from it as much as women but we're generally not very good at identifying intrinsic emotions and expressing them well. Many of us act out inexplicably due to it.
There are two themes underlying my faint angst. The first theme is some unfinished business or I did something I wish I hadn't that is bothering me and it has not been addressed. Very often I really don't know what it is or conversely, I do, but would rather push it down with some cement of the mind to keep it from surfacing. If I do nothing and don't dig within to figure out what is bugging me it turns to melancholy. The other theme is my anxiety is right out there, live wire on the surface, edging to be dealt with immediately. That can be the most dangerous since if I'm around people I'm likely to do and say things that result in something worse. Remorse. That is the tipping point depression sets in.
When I refer to melancholy or depression it is not of the clinical variety but rather a natural emotion that most people feel sometimes, some experience it more often than others. It is a flat or dead feeling and I am sluggish. The best solution is to sleep it off. I have experienced deep, dark, black depression a few times in my life but it was due to a specific tragic event, a normal and typical reaction. Death of a loved one, job loss and broken relationship come to mind. Thankfully I had a support system during those times who listened to me, although in each case the only real answer was time.
Over the years I have tried a lot of routes and taken advice on how to deal with my anxiety. Some of the roads and answers were good and others were very bad for me. With no humility I think I can truthfully say I've learned that I'm smarter than any psychologist or therapist I've ever seen professionally or known personally with the exception of one friend. She is atypical for her field and believes most therapists dish out pablum and balderdash. Her advice, like so many of my head-on-shoulders friends, has helped me make sense of how to deal with anxiety more than any psychologist ever has. The same can be said for doctors who want to feed you pills, there is a price for taking them and it's high and not worth the expense of the aftermath.
What does work is knowing yourself well enough to recognize what is happening when it happens. The discovery of how to cope with it and solve the puzzle before it escalates can be a painful process but well worth it. I know that for fact because I have done it and can follow my own advice of what works for me, however, actually implementing the solution is sometimes another matter. The same strong character traits that usually work for me can also work against me. Persistence becomes stubborn. I know in my intellect that what I should do is think, search and find what is nagging my soul and deal with it. Herein lies the rub, sometimes I am just stubborn and don't want to take the time to deal with it, even knowing full well what will be next.
Fortunately most of the time, especially these past few years, I deal with my anxiety effectively. Writing is integral to my methods of both clarifying and purging my vital essence. Once I mull over and reason out the core of the matter, I am then able to implement very old fashioned solutions to the problem.
Think positively.
Take action to fix what is broken.
Accept it as a learning experience and personal growth.
Things usually work themselves out the way they're supposed to.
You're granddad's or father's advice maybe? Probably. Modern psychology and psychiatry is great for other people if it works for them. All I know is if I take the bull by the horns and wrestle the beast to ground, I won't get gored.
[inspired by Maryann, who is braver and more courageous than she thinks]
An exercise in writing on a topic I rarely publicly discuss.
Like a low vague sound of some humming electrical device the feeling is omnipresent and hangs in my soul somewhere, haunting me without explanation. I'm not exactly sure when I really became aware there was a name for it except it was sometime in the late eighties. It's an unexplained disquiet which for me usually leads to a low level melancholy or depression if I don't resolve it. It occurs to a lot more people than is recognized since those of us who live with it don't like to talk about it. Men suffer from it as much as women but we're generally not very good at identifying intrinsic emotions and expressing them well. Many of us act out inexplicably due to it.
When I refer to melancholy or depression it is not of the clinical variety but rather a natural emotion that most people feel sometimes, some experience it more often than others. It is a flat or dead feeling and I am sluggish. The best solution is to sleep it off. I have experienced deep, dark, black depression a few times in my life but it was due to a specific tragic event, a normal and typical reaction. Death of a loved one, job loss and broken relationship come to mind. Thankfully I had a support system during those times who listened to me, although in each case the only real answer was time.
Over the years I have tried a lot of routes and taken advice on how to deal with my anxiety. Some of the roads and answers were good and others were very bad for me. With no humility I think I can truthfully say I've learned that I'm smarter than any psychologist or therapist I've ever seen professionally or known personally with the exception of one friend. She is atypical for her field and believes most therapists dish out pablum and balderdash. Her advice, like so many of my head-on-shoulders friends, has helped me make sense of how to deal with anxiety more than any psychologist ever has. The same can be said for doctors who want to feed you pills, there is a price for taking them and it's high and not worth the expense of the aftermath.What does work is knowing yourself well enough to recognize what is happening when it happens. The discovery of how to cope with it and solve the puzzle before it escalates can be a painful process but well worth it. I know that for fact because I have done it and can follow my own advice of what works for me, however, actually implementing the solution is sometimes another matter. The same strong character traits that usually work for me can also work against me. Persistence becomes stubborn. I know in my intellect that what I should do is think, search and find what is nagging my soul and deal with it. Herein lies the rub, sometimes I am just stubborn and don't want to take the time to deal with it, even knowing full well what will be next.
Fortunately most of the time, especially these past few years, I deal with my anxiety effectively. Writing is integral to my methods of both clarifying and purging my vital essence. Once I mull over and reason out the core of the matter, I am then able to implement very old fashioned solutions to the problem.
Think positively.
Take action to fix what is broken.
Accept it as a learning experience and personal growth.
Things usually work themselves out the way they're supposed to.
You're granddad's or father's advice maybe? Probably. Modern psychology and psychiatry is great for other people if it works for them. All I know is if I take the bull by the horns and wrestle the beast to ground, I won't get gored.
[inspired by Maryann, who is braver and more courageous than she thinks]
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