WHEN IN ROME (OR ANYWHERE ELSE)...WRITE!


I've been a regular advocate of journal writing for many years. I included a section about it in my FPL book (Chapter 10, Part IV: "The Pen (Keyboard) is Mightier than the Sword (Pathology)."
From FPL:
Going all the way back to what we think of as prehistoric times, human beings have found meaning in drawing and writing, along with other forms of expressive art, such as painting, sculpting and creating music through crafted instruments and, of course, the human voice. These modes of self-expression, however, are much more than just recreational, not that recreating through creating (or creating through recreating) isn’t a worthy endeavor.
As an adjunctive practice to other bottom up processes in the tool box, I’ll often prescribe journal writing to those I see for therapy. Sometimes, this prescription is in the free-form style of the “morning pages” regimen, made famous by Julia Cameron, author of “The Writer’s Way;” I will also suggest journaling in a way that serves as a kind of follow-up to therapy sessions, particularly the chronicling of surfacing memories, dreams, thoughts and feelings stimulated by the sessions, and occasionally, I’ll propose take-home exercises
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This is from an article in today's Daily Beast: How the Ancient Romans Dealt with Anxiety

UPDATE: "HAPPY NEW YEAR! DON'T BE A SALMON IN 2019!!"

Okay, here we are, the beginning of a new year. Heart-attack season is finally over - yes, I actually heard yet another story of someone having a surprise heart attack on Christmas Eve - and so, some of us will get back to the business of hunkering back down into the distractions of our lives, not looking behind or ahead for wisdom or guidance, just being glad or sad or both that "THE HOLIDAYS" are over. Some of us will attempt to review and gain wisdom from the events of the past year, and set new intentions for the coming year. That's a viable approach, as well.

But I must admit, I love the fact that so many people have heart attacks on Christmas Eve. It's so specific and unambiguous in its message. It shows us that energy matters, that love is a real force, and if your emotional heart isn't open to that energy, when a surge of it arrives, as it often does at this time of year, your physical heart can break as well, along with your emotional heart.

The heart attacks also show that we're not alone. The Universe/our own Higher Selves/All That Is - however you identify that force - let's us know through our crises that we are being guided, that we are on a path. When we veer off that path, or resist moving forward on it, we get slammed. Sometimes hard. It can seem almost that the Universe is ruthless, or that the "wrath of God" is, in fact, wrath. But while that's a judgment of pain and suffering that may be common, it actually isn't natural. Animals in nature, without any egos in the way, accept pain and suffering as guidance, and alter their behavior accordingly. Only humans tend to see a crisis as "punishment" or "bad luck," or something to wring our hands about, but not necessarily use for change.

The fact that we are guided, though, doesn't mean that our lives are being manipulated or that our fate is predetermined in some rigid way. That's the age old "mystery" some religions talk about - how God's will is always being done, yet we simultaneously have free will to do anything we choose. It seems like a paradox or a Zen riddle.

Well, here's how I picture it for myself: if the force of life, my soul force, the Will of All That Is, is a powerful river that I'm in, I, the swimmer, can choose to swim against the current or with the current at any given moment, exerting my free will. But an observer on the bank of the river will plainly see that regardless of my efforts, the current is carrying me downstream. If I insist on resisting the flow, and keep swimming against the current, I will certainly become exhausted, and maybe even die like many spawning salmon do. On the other hand, if I join with the current, surrender to the flow, I will move much more easily and faster on my path.

Surrendering is an act of free will, too. It is active, not passive. It is not submitting, nor a weakness to give up the stubborn clinging to habitual ways of behaving and thinking. It is an ego-less way of moving through life.

Here is an exercise, what I call a "Five Senses Meditation," to try this year: the next time your leave your house, instead of staying in your ego-mind and mapping out your moves and calculating in advance your arrival to your destination in your head, simply start walking, and only pay attention to your five senses - to what you see, hear, taste, smell and touch. You'll be amazed, I promise you, because while you're discovering a wonderful world of sights and sounds and sensory experiences, you will still get to where you're going, you will arrive at your destination, but filled up with the gift that is life when we don't try and control it.

I'm sure there is an evolutionary purpose to the salmon swimming upstream, so it must work for them. But perhaps, as we begin anew this January 1st, you might consider whether or not you want to be a salmon this year. Happy New Year!

A CHRISTMAS CAROL 2018!

Jacob Marley to Mitch McConnell on his deathbed?

Marley: "I wear the chain I forged in life! I made it link by link and yard by yard! I girded it of my own free will and by my own free will, I wore it! In life, my spirit never rose beyond the limits of my money-grabbing decisions like your Citizens United ruling! Now I am doomed to wander without rest or peace, incessant torture and remorse!

McConnell: But it was only that you were a good man of business, Jacob!

Marley: BUSINESS?! Mankind was my business! The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my legal trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!

McConnell: Why do you lament?

Marley: Because I seek to intervene for good in human matters, and have lost my power forever.

McConnell: Huh.

Marley: Ahh, you have no idea the length and breadth of the ponderous chain you yourself bear.

McConnell: Oh. Shit!




MARIANNE WILLIAMSON ON THE SPIRITUAL RENAISSANCE/REVIEW OF FPL BOOK!

This beautiful passage is from an interview in the latest issue of Spirituality & Health Magazine (Said issue is also currently hosting a review of my book, Full Permission Living here: https://spiritualityhealth.com/gift…/2018-holiday-gift-guide


                                                        


Here's Marianne Williamson:

"The spiritual renaissance can never be monopolized by any particular corner of the world, or any group or any religion, because it emerges from deep within the human heart. It’s the evolutionary impulse of our age. It’s a global and universal phenomenon. This Renaissance is real and it has not stopped; it’s just that it’s growth and, like all growth, it’s messy. I think it’s actually a sign of how successful and powerful it is that the forces of separateness and fear are putting up such resistance.
"Love brings up everything unlike itself, not only in our individual lives, but in the collective.
"We are living through what appears to be the death throes of an old paradigm. One world is passing away, and it’s completely up to us what world will be born now. The contest has begun, struggle has ensued, and the choice is ours: Which direction will humanity take from here?"


Here's the review of Full Permission Living:

Peter Loffredo’s book Full Permission Living is an interesting account of the journey from 3rd to 5th dimensional consciousness. From the preface: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that linear time, impenetrable matter, separation, limitation, aging, illness, and death are all illusions, that there are no coincidences, only synchronicities, that you create your own reality from your beliefs, that you exist, you always have and you always will, we are all one…” He goes on to say that love is the basis of “All That Is” and every line of reality you can imagine exists.

This play on the Declaration of Independence summarizes the book’s sentiment throughout. FPL is a guide book for self-improvement great for anybody in a therapist role working with clients, but it is also great for those individuals who are seekers. If you want to change towards happiness, this book will help you do so. But you have to work at it.

Written from the perspective of a psychotherapist, this book delves into aspects of psychology that might appeal to the individual learner. He discusses five character structures: schizoid, oral, masochistic, psychopathic, and rigid, and their psychological functions and therapeutic approaches along with more interesting information. If you like learning about psychology, and definitely different perspectives on it, give this book a read.

Among the different topics of the book is a part of the book called “The Run Up to 5D.” Loffredo gives us an analogy of a plane taking off to describe the third, fourth, and fifth dimensions. The plane sitting there before it takes off is the third dimension, but when the plane starts moving really fast just before take-off, that is the run-up to 5D or the fourth dimension. The fifth dimension is the plane flying in the air, where we will reach full consciousness.

Loffredo on 5D: “Spontaneous remission of illness? Miraculous healing of a disease overnight? Regrowth of tissue and limbs? No longer even experiencing illness or disease or dismemberment in the first place?...” He goes on: “This is not fantasy, folks. This is the way that many, many entities, races and species, humanoid and not, in physical form and not, already live throughout our galaxy and the universe.”

With topics such as character structures, gut feelings, and the placebo effect, this will appeal to the learner. With topics devoted to consciousness and the fifth dimension, the spiritual seeker will definitely also learn from this book. In addition, the psychotherapist can learn about Loffredo’s approach to breaking character structures and finding happiness and consciousness.


Here's the link to buy the book: https://www.amazon.com/Full-Permission-Living-Dimensional-Consciousness/dp/1721563326/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1531048863&sr=1-1&keywords=full+permission+living


 

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