Tag Archive for philosophy

The Fathering Kind- A Look at Today’s Fathers and Their Effect on Human Development

Happy Father’s Day to all Dads!!

…the role of dad is undergoing a lot of change. With that in mind we offer this article from counselor Susan Leigh, who looks at a number of father figures. Chi For Yourself sends love and gratitude to them all.

Celebrate Fathers on Fathers Day

 

Expert Author Susan Leigh

Men often give themselves a hard time. They often expect themselves to be strong, masterful providers, to work long hours, be successful in their careers, whilst at the same time being loving, sensitive partners and fathers, keen and enthusiastic about sharing and spending time with their families. Let’s take some time this weekend to stop and celebrate fathers on Fathers Day.

For many of us there are different father figures in our lives apart from the father who gave us our genetic makeup; step fathers, grandfathers, fathers-in-law, as well as other key male role models can play a significant part in influencing our opinion of men and our expectations from male relationships in the future. School teachers, neighbours, the fathers of friends all have the potential to affect the way in which we develop and grow and influence our life choices.

Our biological father is for many of us, the most important man in our life, but in some cases he may be cynically regarded as a sperm donor and nothing more. There may be other, far more significant loving, caring and influential male role models in our lives.

A real father provides his family with a feeling of safety and security. He usually earns money with which to support the family, but is also increasingly involved with childcare and parenting duties. Many men are keen to care for their children, play with them and be involved in their lives. The days of the hardly present father, a somewhat stern, distant, disciplinarian figure are thankfully waning. Many men want to be hands on fathers, playing and being involved, getting to know their children and having a good relationship with them as they develop and grow.

Grandfathers play an increasingly important part in many children’s lives. With the high incidence of divorce many single parents rely heavily on the support of friends and family to help with childcare. A loving grandfather can be an important male role model in a young child’s formative years, providing love, guidance and advice as well as a constant source of stability. Having a caring, wise male family member readily available can be a source of comfort for a child. They can trust their secrets, discuss problems and share their worries with a grandfather, things they may not wish to discuss with a parent.

Often a grandfather can provide time for his grandchildren, time that perhaps he was unable to provide for his own children when they were growing up. It is not uncommon for people to say that their father was a dreadful parent but is an amazing, sensitive and caring grandparent. Often a grandfather can see the mistakes he made with his own children and feel privileged at having the opportunity to do a better job and make amends with his grandchildren.

Step fathers form an increasingly important part of many family structures, some families featuring a few father figures over time. Losing the relationship with one’s father and then having to cope with the implications of his departure is devastating particularly if he had a close connection with the children. Tact and sensitivity is required during the transition from both parents, as children need consistency, routine and to feel safe and secure. If a new step father is then to be introduced, taking time to establish the new relationship is important.

Many other role models bring invaluable inspiration and support into a child’s life. An impressive school teacher, foster parent, neighbour can teach so much simply by their attitude, behaviour, demeanour. A simple word or gesture can provide a lasting impression on a developing child. Even role models from literature, film and television can influence how we as children define men and their role in our life and society.

And sometimes we learn from the bad examples too, how we don’t want to be, the negative patterns we are determined not to replicate in our later life with our own children. All these are thoughts we can bring to mind as we celebrate fathers on Fathers Day.

Susan Leigh is a Counsellor and Hypnotherapist who works with stressed individuals to promote confidence and self belief, with couples in crisis to improve communications and understanding and with business clients to support the health and motivation levels of individuals and teams.

For more information see http://www.lifestyletherapy.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Leigh

 

JohnK 6/16/2013

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Brushes, Beads, and Blessings: Making Mindfulness by Hand

Wanted to remind you that we’ll be hearing from Maggie Oman Shannon on the next Chi For Yourself. She  joins us on Thursday June 13th at 1pm Pacific time. We plan to stream the interview on chiforyourself.com at that time. Maggie’s message goes beyond merely making things. She reminds us that we all have the ability to create, and in doing so we can bring serenity to our lives at a time when serenity is a scarce commodity.

Here’s a look at our guest:

Picture of Maggie Oman ShannonRev. Maggie Oman Shannon is at the forefront of a peaceful revolution: choosing to live a handmade life, and slow down and disconnect. In her book, Crafting Calm, Maggie offers clarity, calm, and insight to a path of peace of mind by “making mindfulness.”

It’s no secret that stopping to smell the roses is good for us; today, millions of people are finding physical and mental health benefits in handwork, framing it as a spiritual practice. Maggie Oman Shannon tells us that we can literally “craft the crazy away” through beading and crocheting, candle-making, and collaging. In Crafting Calm, Shannon explores crafts and creativity as a spiritual practice that provides enormous benefits. By knitting love and hope into every stitch, handicrafts help form new friendships and communities. From making a desktop shrine or mini-Zen garden, to stringing intention beads and painting personal prayer flags, her intention is to help us to make mindfulness.

See you here..

JohnK  6/12/2013

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A Life Transformed by Death: Luis Angel Diaz on Chi For Yourself

Well, another BlogTalkRadio snafu!! No reason you should be denied, though. I’m making the show available in this space. Click on the player at the bottom of this post to listen!

(Originally aired in October, 2010)

Picture of Luis Angel DiazOur Chi For Yourself guest Luis Angel Diaz endured a major shift in his practice and approach after the unexpected death of his 38 year old wife, with whom he was raising their 3 children. The shock and pain he experienced became a catalyst for a profound inner process in human discovery. He discovered that layers of negative emotional charge accumulate and are stored inside our bodies, causing many body-mind chemical imbalances and health/life challenges, and preventing us from experiencing peace and well-being. After several months of personal discovery, Luis began to apply this new approach with his clients. He observed his clients experience healing in a permanent way when they were able to transform these layers of emotional charge found in what he began to call “the cellular memory”. Luis named this new set of techniques “Cellular Memory Release” (CMR) and formulated it into a simple, easy to learn synthesis for training others. Operating from his Body-Mind Center in Nevada City, California, Luis has trained and educated hundreds of people in CMR since 1997. Luis Angel Diaz is the author of Memory in the Cells.

 

 

 

JohnK 6/7/2013

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Hearts and Crafts: Chi For Yourself Guests Will Look at Genuine Living Through Creative Energy

 

Wanted to update you on a couple of guest bookings on upcoming editions of Chi For Yourself:

Picture of Eric MaiselEric Maisel is the author of:  Making Your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving Your Artistic Goal.  Eric has worked with best-selling authors, and Academy Award winners; teenagers who are just starting out; unrecognized painters, writers, and musicians who bring love and commitment to each new project, despite their lack of marketplace success; and creators in every conceivable set of circumstances. He says  “The human beings who come to me not only want to create or perform, but they also hope to do good work that is desired and respected. So much stands in the way of their realizing their dreams, goals, and ambitions!”

If you’ve been less than confident in bringing out your own artistic urge be with us for this interview. The recorded version will air on Friday, May 17th on Blog Talk Radio and our other audio hosts. But, visitors to chiforyourself.com and blog subscribers who’ve opted in via email can be with us on Thursday, May 16th at 1pm Pacific time. The interview will stream on Google+ Hangouts and you can watch on the home page.

 

Then, in June we’ll hear from Maggie Oman Shannon. 

Picture of Maggie Oman Shannon

 

 

 

 

 

Maggie Oman Shannon says stopping to smell the roses is good for us, and that you can literally “craft the crazy away” through beading and crocheting, candle-making, and collaging. In her book Crafting Calm: Projects and Practices for Creativity and Contemplation, Maggie Shannon explores crafts and creativity as a spiritual practice that provides enormous benefits. We’ll look at making mindfulness through such projects as making a desktop shrine or mini-Zen garden, to stringing intention beads and painting personal prayer flags, 

The recorded show will air on Blog Talk Radio Friday June 14th..but you can be with us on Thursday June 13th at 1pm Pacific time for the live session. Again we’ll stream the interview on chiforyourself.com.

That’s it for now..be well!

 

JohnK  5/7/2013

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Out With the Clutter and In With the Good Chi- Post Script

A quick note about the problems with our recent Chi For Yourself postings on Blog Talk Radio. We received this note from BTR and it further explains an earlier mention on this site about the “glitches”:..

 

Dear Valued BlogTalkRadio Host, 

In recent days, your BlogTalkRadio show may have been adversely affected by technical difficulties with the BlogTalkRadio website. It appears that during prime time hours (our busiest on the network), BTR suffered a series of “Distributed Denial of Service” attacks. Unfortunately, DDOS attacks on prominent websites, banks, and government institutions have become quite common. In recent weeks and months, sites such as Amazon, Facebook, and the Washington Post, among others, were hit by DDOS attacks, resulting in temporary outages.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience these attacks may have caused you and your listeners. Rest assured that our technical, security and operations teams are working around the clock to ensure that our network, and your shows, remain safe from unwanted hackers and intruders.

Yours Truly,

Alan Levy
CEO, BlogTalkRadio

   

Article: Out With the Clutter and In With the Good Chi- Post Script

 

Just wanted to add a little encouragement for you on this final day of declutter posting. Once you have gained the upper hand on your ‘stuff’ you have to be aware of clutter creeping back into your life. Like so many things it’s easier to do if done on a regular basis.

 

Have a regular system. Look at how you do things and how the junk stacks up. In fact, think about individual systems for most everything,  email, laundry and more. Write down the system in steps and follow as best you can. Don’t fall into the do-it-tomorrow mindset. You’ll keep the hassle to a manageable level if you deal with things right away. Remember: ditch it, donate it, or designate an area for it.

   

John K 4/19/2013
  

Image for overheard

Overheard

Simplicity is making the journey of this life with just baggage enough.”
                                                       – Charles Warner

 

 

Slacks, Ties, and Video Tapes: Out with Your Clutter and In With the Good Chi!

Problems with our BlogTalkRadio post caused the Tammy Strobel interview to be pushed back to Saturday April 13th. We saw a similar snafu with the previous week’s Polly Campbell interview. It’s rare when we have these types of snags, but we’re caught up now. If you didn’t get to hear the shows you can catch them here:

 

Polly Campbell is the author of Imperfect Spirituality: Extraordinary Enlightenment for Ordinary People

Picture of Polly Campbell

Polly Campbell

 

Tammy Strobel is the author of You Can Buy Happiness (and it’s Cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too.

Picture of Tammy Strobel

Tammy Strobel

 


Article:

I’m really getting into this de-clutter “thing”. This week I’ve managed to unload what seems like a lifetime worth of stuff, though there’s still a long way to go.

Excessive clutter can creep into every area of your life, like waiting to do your taxes until the final day (which just happens to be today!) It spills over into your total enjoyment of life. Clutter can steal your attention, be a physical and mental burden, and ratchet up the chaos in your life. Moving out your stuff can seem to be  mission impossible if you don’t have some sort of plan for getting it done. This week I’m “chunking it”- concentrating on small steps each day.

Today I’m starting with the office. There are papers everywhere (research, you know!) Then the computer area. I gotta get to work. I’ll have a report on the office cleanup, and in fact I’ll update ya with posts this week. If I get any brainstorms on how to make this project go a little easier I’ll send them along.

Later

JohnK 4/15/2013

 

Image for overheard

Overheard: “Eliminate physical clutter. More importantly, eliminate spiritual clutter.

                                                        ~Terri Guillemets

 

 

Notes to Start The Week March 17th, 2013

Meditation practitionerVery much enjoyed our Chi For Yourself interview with Ajayan Borys. I hope it dispelled some notions about meditative practice and gave you some ideas to help in your own meditation..

 

 

 

If you didn’t catch Ajayan on the show you can listen here:


..and on a related note, here’s something from Business2community that can give you more encouragement:

Meditation: Making it a Daily Habit For a More Fulfilling Life

Meditation is an excellent habit to add to your daily routine. Not only does it help you relax, but it also helps with almost every other part of your life as well. Read more..

 

We’re enjoying a spell of the kind of weather that Southern California is famous for, and it’s the kind of weather that moves me to start cleaning out the house. Items are making their way out of my house most every week- shirts, pants, shoes, books, even an old computer that dates back to the Reagan administration. Gotta say I’m inspired by the writing of Tammy Strobel. Tammy has written a book called You Can Buy Happiness (and it’s cheap): How One Woman Radically Simplified Her Life and How You Can Too.

Tammy is scheduled to be a guest on Chi For Yourself on April 11th.

Also working to get Polly Campbell on the show. Polly is the author of Imperfect Spirituality: Extraordinary Enlightenment for Ordinary People.

 

Image for overheard

Overheard: “Times change. For the usual person this is very discouraging. You cannot rely on anything. You cannot have anything. And you will see what you don’t want to see. So you [have to] change the foundation of your life. ‘That things change’ is the reason why you suffer in this world and become discouraged. [But] when you change your understanding and your way of living, then you can completely enjoy your life in each moment.”

– Shunryu Suzuki
 

Peace

JohnK  3-18-2013

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Notes to Start the Week March 10, 2013

Well, lots of folks turned the clocks ahead one hour over the weekend. Time becomes a news story in the Western media when this part of the year rolls around.

Most of us have said, “If only I had more time,” as a way of explaining why we aren’t leading our most fulfilling lives. In her 2012 Chi For Yourself interview Marney Makridakis turned the concept of time management upside down when she brought us some new tools for viewing and experiencing time.

Listen to the show here:

 


Marney Makridakis is the author of “Creating Time: Using Creativity to Reinvent the Clock and Reclaim Your Life.”

 

Meditation is on the menu this week. Our scheduled guest on Chi For Yourself is Ajayan Borys, author of Effortless Mind: Meditate With Ease. The interview is scheduled for 1pm Pacific on Wednesday instead of the usual Thursday. The Google+  streams seem to be working well, so I’m planning to stream our talk on chiforyourself.com.

Speaking of meditation, there’s a global meditation planned for later this month. Get the details here at TheMasterShift.com.

 

…and, in Lexington, Virginia they’re observing Spiritual Wellness Month at the VA hospital there. Good quote from the VA- “At Lexington VA, we recognize that the Veterans we care for are spiritual beings having a human experience rather than human beings having occasional spiritual feelings,” Read the whole story…

 

Be well

JohnK 3-11-2013

 

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Do You Know The Secret’s Secret? Energy is The “Secret Sauce”

( This originally was written as a response to a blog post.)

Picture that reads top secretThe blowback from Rhonda Byrne’s “The Secret” comes as no surprise. Many people interpret the idea behind the Law of Attraction as a way to hit the lottery or bring anything one asks for into one’s life.

The Law of Attraction is a law as is the law of gravity. Does anyone decide to “believe” in the law of gravity? Just try to disprove it by jumping off of a building! To say that we don’t believe in the Law of Attraction because of Rhonda Byrne is like saying we don’t believe in Christianity because of the antics of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker. Or that we don’t believe in Catholicism because priests are molesting children.

The Law of Attraction is about energy. Manifesting is relative. If one applies energy in the direction of a new job then the loss of the current job may start the process. As for manifesting illness there is a growing feeling, even by some in the medical community, that cancer is an illness of resentment. More and more we’re seeing that there is no disease, but rather “dis-ease”. Cut out the tumor and chances are the cancer comes back. Learn how to deal with your issues (lower energies) and you stand a better chance against sickness. Conventional medicine and treatment is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. And how many of us have heard of someone saying that their cancer or blindness was the best thing that ever happened to them? We pity them for something (manifested?) that gave them a positive result they never would have realized in their healthy state.

There is no such thing as a victim in Universal Law. If cells are in tune with these laws of physics they are healthy cells. If they waver from this harmony then they run the risk of problems. The laws tell us that we manifest what we vibrate- the word “fault” really doesn’t come into play.

The Law of Attraction is NOT about positive thinking. A better explanation of this is where Rhonda Byrne could have done readers/viewers a service. There is no positive attraction without equal energy being generated. All the affirmations and happy talk in the world won’t get you where you want to go if the underlying energy is not there. Teachers of the LOA will tell you that if you “believe” in the Law of Attraction you’re right. If you don’t, you’re still right. In other words it works if you work it. As a result, many of Ms. Byrne’s readers are saying they merely read the book and nothing happened in their lives.To say that reading The Secret gives you a grasp of the Law of Attraction is akin to saying Chef Boyardee is an experience of a genuine Italian meal.

I don’t write these lines in order to evangelize. I’m merely pointing out the considerable misunderstanding surrounding Universal Law. Better to begin the understanding of these laws by exploring, say, an area such as Quantum Physics.

 

JohnK 11/12/2012

A Vote For Conscious Living- Change We Can Live With

X placed in voting boxIn the days leading up to the election in the U.S. there’s been a flood of discussion on the merits, or should we say demerits of most every candidate seeking office. Have you noticed how comparisons center on their missteps and shortcomings, usually leading to the dreaded “lesser of 2 evils” conclusion? Maybe it’s time to have a thorough look under the hood of the electorate. A bit of tinkering is in order.

Mountains of copy have been written about individual consciousness and it’s effect on the quality of one’s life. This blog/website is a contributor to that very end. But this election year seems to make one thing perfectly clear and that’s the need to re-examine voters’ collective consciousness. Just as one person’s concentrated thought brings results into his or her life, the dominant thoughts of a group of people (or a nation for that matter) will translate into the people’s frame of reference. If the masses are putting their attention on the “evil” of another people then they can expect to be visited by an equal or greater experience of evil. If they keep stoking the fires of distrust can they expect anything other than a generous helping of what they were afraid of in the first place? Can we continue to sustain a burning hatred for the political system and its offerings for elected office?

I heard a talk show host say that Washington is nothing but a cesspool. I suggest that Washington and literally all centers of power are more like reflection pools. We don’t get the government we deserve, we get the government we are. If our dominant thoughts center on hostility, mistrust, greed, discrimination, and non-cooperation how can we be surprised at the tack of our public servants?

You’ve probably heard the expression “when you change the way to look at things the things you look at change.” Could we also say that if we change the way we look at things society will change as well? If you really want change, vote with your thoughts before you pull the lever.

 

JohnK  11-6-2012

 

Overheard

Clipart image of overheard“By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it.

The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.”

– Nikos Kazantzakis