Thought of the Week: May 7, 2007 OUR RESISTANCE TO CHANGE MAY ORIGINATE IN OUR IDEALS There are many ways to resist change throughout adult life… Apart from the pathological effects of trauma and abuse, most resistance has to do with fantasies about how the world and others should treat us. It is rooted in […]
The Hero’s Journey Thought for the Month: February 2010 Reflection: Making meaning of our journeys By Reg Harris Copyright © 2010 by Reg Harris. All rights reserved. Apart from properly cited quotes and short excerpts, no part of this article can be copied or used in any form without written permission from the author. In […]
When nothing is unbelievable WE BELIEVE BECAUSE THERE IS NO REASON NOT TO BELIEVE “Thought of the Week” for October 4, 1999 …the world in which we live is very nearly incomprehensible to most of us. There is almost no fact—whether actual or imagined—that will surprise us for very long, since we have no comprehensive […]
Journey process works toward equilibrium PIAGET’S THEORY OFFERS INSIGHT INTO THE HERO’S JOURNEY PROCESS “Thought of the Week” for March 27, 2000 Note: Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist and philosopher who is famous for his work in pedagogy and mental development. Piaget has borrowed [the concept of equilibrium] from physics and has modified it […]
Our culture can urge us to exhile part of our self ATTEMPT TO REPRESS THE SHADOW ROBS US OF VALUABLE INSIGHT “Thought of the Week” for June 28, 1999 All literature…can be thought of as creations by the “dark side” to enable it to rise up from earth and join the sunlit consciousness again. Many […]
“Thought of the Week” for February 23, 1998 TO EXPRESS ONESELF IS TO REALIZE ONESELF To express oneself―that is, to translate one’s feelings and understanding into actions, forms and words―is to realize oneself, in the literal sense of making oneself real. Without such realization we are phantoms, and feel the frustration of not being fully […]
The mirror that others provide us WE DISCOVER WHO WE ARE THROUGH INTERACTION WITH OTHERS “Thought of the Week” for July 31, 2006 In the formation of a sense of self, the reaction of others provides a mirror and is an indispensable part of normal growth and development. We learn who we are and what […]
Dr. Pearson’s comments on how we are taught or pressured to think of ourselves as human capital resonate deeply for me this year more than any other. I retired this year after being in the classroom since 1969. Let me explain. In 1985, when I applied to the school district where I spent my last […]
“Thought of the Week” for March 27, 2006 THE GREAT STORY CAN UNLOCK OUR POTENTIALS By Great Story, I mean story that enables us to see patterns of connections, as well as symbols and metaphors to help us contain and understand our existence. I mean story that contains a rich mytho-poetic language whose power propels […]
Every living thing is like a river THE MOVEMENT OF CHANGE BOTH BUILDS AND DESTROYS “Thought of the Week” for January 5, 1998 Is it not, then, a strange inconsistency and an unnatural paradox that “I” resists change in “me” and in the surrounding universe? For change is not merely a force of destruction. Every […]
The essential point is the degree of absorption CREATIVITY BEGINS WITH ENGAGEMENT “Thought of the Week” for December 7, 1998 The first thing we notice in a creative act is that it is an encounter. Artists encounter the landscape they propose to paint—they look at it, observe it from this angle and that. They are, […]
Preparing adults who can negotiate change HELPING STUDENTS DEVELOP SKILLS FOR A COMPLEX, DYNAMIC SOCIETY “Thought of the Week” for February 23, 2004 My own opinion is that what schools should do is neither prepare children for one specific community…nor make them rational, detached problem-solvers. What’s required if children are to become adults who can […]
Maximizing expression A LACK OF STRUCTURE FOSTERS CREATIVITY AND SELF RESPONSIBILITY A second technique leading to the maximization of expression is the providing of unstructured situations. To the extent that a situation is unstructured, the individual is confronted with his own choices. To the extent that no rules of interaction are laid out, or behavior […]
The Hero’s Journey: Respecting the Self
Our journeys require time for assimilation LISTEN TO AND RESPECT THE INNDER SELF “Thought of the Week” for October 16, 2000 The inner self requires ample time to pass through each of the steps it takes to assimilate experiences, memories, former irritations or addictions into the not-yet formed behavior. Rushing headlong into some pre-conceived, intellectual […]