The Politics of Well-Being

a thing of awe of beauty

2010-03-12T07:23:03.983-08:00

a thing of awe of beauty

Give poor Hillman a break: this is the only book ...

2010-03-05T07:44:48.072-08:00

Give poor Hillman a break: this is the only book of his that broke through to anything like a mass audience, and his publisher probably instructed him to put celebrities in.

Also, famous people have a built-in advantage as examples to write about: most people already know them. You don't have to put in capsule biographies of real people or try to create interesting composite characters who still won't stick in the reader's mind the way a known and fascinating figure will.

We would not be fascinated by famous people if we didn't see aspects of ourselves in them, as well as their strangeness and difference from us. A genius's destiny may reveal itself more clearly than an "ordinary" person's, but that just makes it easier to write clearly and vividly about a process that is nonetheless universal.

Sure.

2010-02-26T00:30:43.351-08:00

Sure.

That was something I definitely didn't know - than...

2010-02-24T08:23:15.477-08:00

That was something I definitely didn't know - thank you for posting the URL :-)

Yes, Klotho the spinner. Also a gene involved in a...

2010-02-23T02:23:25.151-08:00

Yes, Klotho the spinner. Also a gene involved in ageing, apparently:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klotho_(biology)

O Fortuna was always one of my favorites - I never...

2010-02-23T02:14:16.005-08:00

O Fortuna was always one of my favorites - I never considered it to be Satanic, so much as a bit brooding and melancholy (which is part of its charm, to me). A description of Fortune in O Fortuna, "rota tu volubilis," or "you whirling wheel," reminds me of the spinning wheel of the Greco-Roman Fates or the Norse / Germanic Norns.

Thanks for reading it guys! Almost finished the ...

2010-02-20T05:07:22.321-08:00

Thanks for reading it guys!

Almost finished the book. Now just need a book deal :)

LOVING the Babar illustration.

2010-02-17T09:30:42.654-08:00

LOVING the Babar illustration.

Thank you for the link - I really enjoyed 'The Bli...

2010-02-16T22:27:39.457-08:00

Thank you for the link - I really enjoyed 'The Blind Tailor,' along with its explanation.

Cool eh? His other stuff is here: http://www.flic...

2010-02-16T15:31:18.218-08:00

Cool eh? His other stuff is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dtstrain/

Very nice :-)

2010-02-16T08:47:32.141-08:00

Very nice :-)

The only argument against the right-to-die argumen...

2010-02-08T09:33:36.874-08:00

The only argument against the right-to-die argument seems to be the slippery-slope argument. That after we introduced abortion for extreme cases it has become a very common option, and that if we start for those with terminal illness cases, it will inevitably slide into being a more widespread option. But I think that a world where assisted dying was the norm is not a bad world at all. It would give more people the chance to die in the right state of mind to make the death transition effectively and peacefully, if such a transition exists.

However, the slippery slope argument would continue that it may end up that we have backstreet assisted-dying clinics in which you can sign your life away in a few minutes. Of course, that would be no good. But we must have faith in our abilities to find a decent legal cut-off point for assisted dying and hold to it. The slippery slope argument assumes that we are unable to hold to such a legal position over time, but I think we are.

I hope that I can choose the moment of my death, in the event of the prospect of an awful, protracted and painful one. Lets hope that Terry Pratchett's speech helps bring this change about.

Thank you for this post. I couldn't agree with Ter...

2010-02-03T04:06:39.365-08:00

Thank you for this post. I couldn't agree with Terry Pratchett more when he says "My life. My death. My choice." I think safeguarding the sanctity of life should logically include safeguarding the sanctity of reason; which includes by definition respecting judgments and decisions.

Thank you for sharing, I am very appreciate it.

2010-02-02T15:50:26.019-08:00

Thank you for sharing, I am very appreciate it.

Thank you for posting this Jules.

2010-02-02T10:05:05.902-08:00

Thank you for posting this Jules.

Thanks, Jules.

2010-02-02T04:06:15.450-08:00

Thanks, Jules.

Thank you for sharing this

2010-01-30T09:14:55.667-08:00

Thank you for sharing this

Well said. Ellis was quite explicit that he found ...

2010-01-23T13:58:38.342-08:00

Well said. Ellis was quite explicit that he found much of value in Stoicism and also Epicureanism as ancient therapeutic philosophies. But he made it clear that he took and adapted different principles in the light of modern understanding. And these in turn were subject to study, feedback, and improvement. That's how it should work. And the Epicureans, for example, were very clear that everyone should have access to the benefits of their philosophy, even if it meant non-literate followers didn't get the full philosophical exposition.

excellent article jules. do you have any more comm...

2010-01-22T22:18:10.142-08:00

excellent article jules. do you have any more comment on positive psychology (the focus of the article seems to be CBTs perspective)

Emotional tranformation, EmoTrance, does just this...

2010-01-01T12:39:12.188-08:00

Emotional tranformation, EmoTrance, does just this. It works on psycological issues on a physical plane. Body, mind, and spirit are one, so working in one plane affects the others.

I appreciate your intellect. Have you ever experi...

2010-01-01T12:12:50.623-08:00

I appreciate your intellect. Have you ever experienced EmoTrance? I had my doubts too. Until I tried it.

I didn't think I would feel anything. I told myself I wouldn't lie to my friend that was practicing on me if it didn't work. But to my surprise, I worked through some deep issues without even talking about them.

The practitioner uses trigger words to provoke a reaction. Then you are asked where you feel it in your body. They tell you to soften it and let it flow. It took about two hours to work out this issue. Sometimes it goes up, sometimes it goes down, sometimes it lifts off your body. It was a strange tingling feeling, like when a limb falls asleep, that passed through me and out. In my experience, most of my reactions were in my stomach and flowed through my toes. Some were in my throat and swirled out of the top of my head. One trigger hit me in my chest and lifted off of my back.

It was helpful. I learned how to let bottled emotions go. I became a certified practitioner myself shortly after this experience. It was so easy to let go, even after many years of emotional pain. I had to share it with others.

Our bodies are designed to heal themselves. We have to start listening to them.

Interesting. You say that you once experienced soc...

2009-12-30T03:47:59.971-08:00

Interesting. You say that you once experienced social anxiety and depression. So you don't experience these anymore? Because of CBT? I don't mean to be prying but this interests me as I have studied CBT, ACT, Morita and other psych methods for anxiety and depression. What I found was that though the umbrella of CBT includes ACT, it is vastly different and more successful. Where CBT conditions one to observe and challenge thoughts, ACT seeks to teach you to let go of your thoughts. What is never discussed in debates of CBT v. ACT is the root problem of induced Shame. It is shame that binds someone into perpetual roller-coasters of battling with self. Unraveling shame allows one to express (and accept) their true-self; to stop wearing a mask.

Wow, that was a long read! You explain the paradox...

2009-12-30T03:33:04.481-08:00

Wow, that was a long read! You explain the paradox of right think, wrong think well. That is, how the New Though movement re-hashed in culturally desperate times has people believing they can visualize a new toaster from that IKEA catalog. This quackery and others like CBT and psychoanalysis all have their roots in folk who propagandize it to the world before being reduced to mindless zombies worshiping toasters while thinking positive that an inherited fortune will resolve their debt crisis. True fulfillment only comes when you 'know yourself'.

The zeitgeist in mirrorshades. Raymond Williams mi...

2009-12-29T03:21:02.154-08:00

The zeitgeist in mirrorshades. Raymond Williams might have scratched his head at all this, but I like the attempt to reach beyond boundaries...Heroic.

Hello I'm Benita and I practise Kinesiology. I fee...

2009-12-16T22:01:37.733-08:00

Hello I'm Benita and I practise Kinesiology. I feel your article alerts us to important health issues even if we don't live in England. Thank you :)