Last month we paid tribute to Irvo Otieno, Joshua McLemore, and Jordan Neely who died essentially because their mental illness was not understood by others. What Does It Meant To Be Mentally Well/Mentally WellPerhaps because of those distressing cases, or maybe because it’s mental health awareness month, we’ve seen a lot of attention being devoted to addressing mental illness. But …
Tribute to People Who Have Died Because of Ignorance about Mental IllnessWe pay tribute this month to two young men that sadly died as a result of their mental illness being grossly misunderstood and mistreated. Although we usually try to focus on uplifting messages in our newsletters, the cases of Irvo Otieno and Joshua McLemore, which have been in the …
What Art Communicates We have recently been running a workshops series on what our art communicates. People Are Sheepish About Showing Their ArtworkInvariably, when people are invited to share what the art they made, almost everyone hesitates. They worry that their artwork is either too childish, too primitive, not good enough, different from what everyone else made, or just plain …
Think You’re a Bad Artist, You May Be Right But That’s Not the Point Click to Read Post »
Who are you?Who are you? And who are you not? For that matter, who are you that you don’t want to be? And even better yet, what parts would you like to cultivate more? We Ask These Questions of You and of OurselvesWe’ve been doing lots of training recently where variations of these questions have been posed. The presumption is …
What/Who Is Your True Self? And How To See It Click to Read Post »
Seeing More “Reality” When we write our newsletters we always try to find a photo or piece of art to illustrate whatever topic we’re exploring. This month we’d decided to write about shifting perceptions but hadn’t yet found a fitting image. Right after tabling that task, as Rebecca closed the photoshop program on her computer to open a word doc, …
Realize/Real Eyes: Shifting Perceptions Click to Read Post »
Year In ReviewAt the end of every year we do an exercise–the “Year in Review”–going through the year and listing what impacted us and what we accomplished (click here for a hand out with instruction on doing a YIR). Bigger ReflectionsAs often happens with that exercise, it led to bigger reflections about where we’ve been and where we want to …
We know being grateful makes people happier—it also makes them healthier, more resilient, and more connected to others. But how do we actually build the gratitude muscle? Gratitude journals? Gratitude lists? Counting your blessings and good fortune? Attending to the GoodThose are good ways to start, but we may grow immune to their benefits if our lists get repetitive to …
Attending to the Good versus Gratitude/How to Actually Get Grateful Click to Read Post »
Please feel free to share this information with any friends, family, colleagues, community members or organizations, etc. that you feel would benefit. Just use the zoom link below but please do not post the zoom link itself to any public platforms like Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, or Instagram. What we will provide: A one hour and 15 minutes long workshop/lecture on managing …
Why is it that some of us who have been blessed with so much in life still find living so difficult? Rebecca and her friend Amy mused at this perplexing phenomenon as they commiserated on how challenging life had always seemed to be for them—especially in contrast to people like Jenny, Rebecca’s twin (also good friends with Amy) who seemed to …
Why It’s So Hard for Some of Us/The Story We Tell About Our Lives Click to Read Post »
Awe–A Transformative Positive EmotionsWe have recently been delving more into the experience of awe—awe induced by music, nature, art, spiritual experiences, and, perhaps more controversially, psychedelic drugs. Barbara Fredrickson included awe in her research on effects of positive emotions on perception. We can say that her work has transformed not only our approach to how we work with people but …
Awe–How To Be Transformed/Why “Do” Nature, Music, Art, and Yes, Drugs? Click to Read Post »
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