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October 23 Baggage from the PastHere is an extract taken from the book by William Isaacs "Dialogue and the Art of Thinking Together". In concluding chapters, there is something something very interesting.
He wrote: "We are taught when we are very young to lock away behaviours and attitudes that do not fit. This civilising process is quite necessary, but it has a cost." Then he went on to quote an example shared by Robert Bly. Bly said:
"Behind us we have an invisible bag, and the part of us our parents don't like, we put in the bag. By the time we go to school, our bag is quite large. Then our teachers have their say:'Good children don't get angry over such little things.' So we take out anger and put it in the bag. By the time my brother and I were twelve...................our bags were a mile long."
Here is the interestiong portion:
"The rejected parts of ourselves do not develop. What remains in the bag regresses or devolves, Bly says, toward barbarism, making it increasing awkward to live with. We spend our first twenty years putting things into our bag, trying to be acceptable, but splitting ourselves in half. We spend the rest of our lives trying to get these rejected parts of ourselves, our shadows, reintegrated into ourselves."
So, can you imagine each one of us trying to live out of a confused mixture of ourselves (either in the present or from the bag). No wonder we get into all kinds of relationship problems. Successful and purposeful living, therefore, belongs to those who are able to deal with what is in their bags, come to terms with these and then reintegrate them back into their lives.
Essentially, it is self-discovery. It is about finding our true selves (once lost when we were younger)! August 13 A PoemI have been wanting to 'promote' this poem for quite a while; ever since I heard it read by tha author about two months ago. I will just introduce the poet and let you decide for yourself if she is good enough.
Poet: Vivienne Yeo
Title: The More I Walk
The longer the journey,
The wiser I become.
The rockier the path,
The bolder my spirit.
The longer the walk,
The greater my stride.
The tougher the trudge,
The deeper my learning.
The broader my horizon,
The wealthier the vision.
The more I walk,
The closer I am -
With thee, my Oneness,
My sweet Universe.
Except for two comments, I generally like the poem. If not for these two areas, I would have given it five stars. The first point is: "the sharper my vision" would be much better. The second point is the last verse. I find it too new-agey. I would have preferred "with thee, my Creator, my sweet Universe" - a little bit more religious but more personal.
Generally, Vivienne came across to me as someone who loves verses; passionate beyond measure and would probably give up anything just to write verses and verses. The above poem could be found in her latest book collection of fifty poem titled "If You're Not, Why Not". It should be available in the leading bookstores. Anyway, I don't receive commission on this; just doing a local poet whom I admire a favour. Check it out yourself if you like the "The More I Walk" poem featured here.
March 20 from a Bookwormhey, what should i rant or rave about today?
i am such a sucker for books. if you have noticed my reading list on my blog, you would realise that i keep changing the titles. that's because, the one on top of the list is the one that captures my imagination most at this moment in time. i get so distracted that i keep moving from book to book.
you know, i started with "the historian" and so engrossed in it until i chanced upon jared diamond's latest book "collapse". granted, he doesn't write as well as barbara tuchman but he certainly is knowledgeable in his field which is geography! now i find myself captivated by geographical studies. i thot history is fascinating enough, now geography is even more cool. in his book, he examines the fall of civilisation, unlike his first book "guns, germs and steel." i dunno if i will ever get to the end of his book (i am only like 10% passed the first page)
oh, btw, i just finished reading "the mathematical universe". such a great read. i thought "prime obssession" was good, this was even better. the writer takes you from A to Z in exploring mathematical proofs, personalities etc - written really for the lay person with basic math. it has captured my imagination and was able to learn some new stuff from there. go read it if you care to stir your interest in maths.
so, you see. i am a man of many interest. that's why i think this world that our Creator has made is so interesting. under the skilful pens of these writers, the creation and its knowledge comes alive over and over again!  |
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