LIFE "Its a kinda magic"

A Window to Wicca: Path to Peace not Hell

2006-01-01T22:33:00.000-07:00

Ground of Being

2005-10-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

Reading Log weekend 28-30 1 1/2 hours. Memo (of the BSU library) recommended Thich Nhat Hahn. I took him up on the reading and found the only book by him that the library had: The Long Road Turns to Joy A Guide to Walking Meditation. My favorite so far=>

There are two dimensions to life; the historical dimension, in which you identify with birth and death, ups and downs, beginnings and endings; and the ultimate dimension, where you see clearly that all of these are only concepts. As your solidity and freedom grow stronger, you begin to touch the ground of your being, which is the ultimate dimension of reality, and the door of no birth and no death opens.

Chakras

2005-10-29T12:28:00.000-06:00

Chakras

2005-10-29T12:17:00.000-06:00

Happiness is Personally Achievable

2005-10-29T12:09:00.000-06:00

Happiness is not the satisfaction of whatever irrational wishes you might blindly attempt to enjoy. Happiness is a state of contradictory joy—a joy without penalty or guilt, a joy that does not clash with any of your values and does not work for your own destruction, not the joy of escaping from your mind, but of using your mind’s fullest power, not the joy of a drunkard, but of a producer. Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions. Just as I support my life, neither by robbery nor alms, but by my own effort, so I do not seek to derive my happiness from the injury or the favor of others, but earn it by my own achievement. Just as I do not consider the pleasure of others as the goal of my life, so I do not consider my pleasure as the goal of the lives of others. Just as there are no contradictions in my values and no conflicts among my desires—so there are no victims and no conflicts of interest among rational men, men who do not desire the unearned (Rand 198-199).

Happiness is a balance of what comes naturally out of rational values being inline with rational goals and achievement. Then happiness is more of an individual effort, the product of a reasoned sentient being’s actions. This furthers the idea of personal responsibility as part of achieving happiness. Then happiness is more of a product of consciousness building a value system and working that system in our daily lives. St. Thomas Aquinas’ belief that we have the capacity for happiness, or the supreme good, goes along with the idea of a value system guiding us in our choices. St. Thomas Aquinas states that, “happiness is the ultimate end to which the human will tends naturally…happiness is said to be the supreme good in man because it is attainment or enjoyment of the supreme good” (Aquinas 62). Aquinas reasons that man can move past the angels (spiritually) by understanding that what we find in the day-to-day mundane life is not all there is. There is something beyond what we see each day. Aquinas defines happiness to be the supreme good, which is God. It is that supreme good, or happiness, that is the connection to the inner being. It is the connection to who we really are. It is the self we were born with which is the bubble of joy that never bursts. The outside world intruded upon our inner world and tried to stick pins in our bubble. But our natural state is still one of happiness.

------In Happiness is an Inside Job John Powell, S.J. presents this concept by stating that, “happiness is a natural condition” (Powell 1). Since happiness is our natural condition, then the unnatural condition of unhappiness will create a state of disharmony throughout our body, mind and spirit. Our entire being would be in a state of distress. A state of distress can manifest itself in many ways. The characteristics of the possible disharmonies appear on page 31 of Donatelle’s textbook Personal Health: the Basics. A shortened version of the table of clinically observed characteristics follows:

Shows poorer coping than most
Finds that others often disappoint
Has regular relationship problems
Tends to be cynical/critical of others
Lacks focus much of time
Hard to keep intellectual acuity sharp
Poor time manager
Overwhelmed by circumstances
Quick to anger
Volatile in interactions
Sense of humor / fun evident less often
Overly reactive
Overly stressed
Seldom takes time out for fun
Anxious and pessimistic attitude
Friends similarly negative/critical

When we are in a state of prolonged unhappiness, the behaviors are magnified and there is a general pejoration of the state of being. It would appear that unhappiness causes a great disturbance in our ability to function in our everyday life. We may feel like we are alone, but we do not suffer alone. We impact the people we are in contact with each moment of every day of our unhappiness. It is obviously more desirable to have a positive impact in the lives of those who are around us. Happy people are more fun to be around. Other aspects of happy people include:

Better immune systems
Live longer
More creative
Better citizens at work
Earn more income
Tend to help others more
Better marriages
Skip work less
Get job interviews more
More successful
Do better in social relationships
Better able to cope with difficult situations
Like themselves/other people more
Others like them
More helpful and altruistic (Diener)
Donetelle’s table adds:
Zest for life
Spiritually healthy
Intellectually thriving
High mental acuity
Manages time and stress
Non-bigoted/open/receptive
Adapts to change easily
Love of nature/environment
High energy
Resilient
Enjoys challenges
Focused
Realistic sense of self and others
Sound coping skills
Sensitive to others and environment (Donetelle 31)
Richard Carlson, Ph. D. describes what it is like when we are happy when he said, “when we feel better we have more access to our own wisdom and common sense. We tend to be less reactive, defensive, and critical; we make better decisions and we communicate more effectively” (Carlson Introduction).

We can see that when we are happy, we are in a better condition to make decisions about how we are going to respond to people, situations, change and life in general. We are able to be still and listen to our inner voice when we are no longer burdened with the pain of unhappiness. It is in the lightness of being that great personal growth can occur. Happiness truly does play a significant role in our emotional, physical, social, mental, intellectual, and environmental well-being. When all six aspects or our well-being are in balance, we are able to experience our own inner knowing and seeing.

------This type of life happiness is something worth pursuing. Carlson furthers us along this path by explaining his belief that feelings of joy and contentment are made up of our inherent positive feelings. And that this state of mind allows us to be more lighthearted and easygoing—life seems less complicated and our problems are lessened (Carlson Introduction). When we are able to let the positive feelings of our nature come through, we have better coping skills for life. These skills enable us to tap into our own inner being: our self-actualization. Powell furthers the idea of working from within us when he sates that, “happiness is an inside job” (Powell 2).

-----My personal journey for contentment and joy has been filled with personal study, seminars, classes, personal contacts, bodywork and an apprenticeship. The basics of my journey have lead me to conclude that centeredness and a firm sense of self, comes with balance in our lives. The balance I speak of comes with an alignment and cleansing of our energy centers, or chakras. Total mind-body-spirit alignment puts us in touch with our natural condition of happiness. Steps to alignment and balance are very personal and therefore quite individual. We can find help to discover what the best tools are for us personally. Just knowing that our bodies are aligned and realigned daily with or without our specific intent can lead to a more conscious approach to happiness. Our bodies’ electromagnetic fields are like the electric transformers used by the power companies and have shortages and overloads too. The main power centers of our bodies are referred to as the seven main chakra centers.

------Shirley McClain first introduced me to the chakras when she was on the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. At first I wasn’t quite sure what to think when Johnny came out from behind his desk and stood in front of the coffee table while Shirley placed four inch colored circles down the front of him. I never forgot the picture of Johnny with the circles or Shirley’s voice talking about the spinning circles of colors and our bodies’ energy fields. I knew there was something important there and that it was not funny when the audience laughed at Johnny’s discomfort while circle were placed on him in a line down his body. I learned a lot about chakras later in life on my journey for happiness. Our energy centers have main points from the top of our head to the back of our spine. “They are funnel shaped as they radiate out from our bodies and are connected to the main channel of our spine” (Shalila Sharamon, The Chakra-Handbook p 22). Chakra in Sanskrit means wheel and it is their rotating that attracts the energy or gives it off (Sharamon, p 22). Our chakras connect to our energy field around us. We’ve all heard about the four-inch personal space…well our main energy extends four inches out from our bodies. Then, like an onion, there are layers of energy waves that extend beyond that. Our personal energy does mix into the energy pool around us, so it is very important that our energy is as strong as possible. This creates a strong sense of self and centeredness. This way we do not get lost in the mingling of energies and we maintain our sense of purpose, and our connection with our higher self. It is through that higher self that we touch the happiness of being. I have included some Chakra diagrams, charts and chakra balancing instructions on pages 17-24 and an “Astrogram” and a chakra diagram from the 1700’s and 1800’s at the end of the paper (Jain Tantric Painting).

------Powell offers a way to happiness that brings balance to our lives without using the unfamiliar terms. His 10-step approach touches our inner capacity for happiness through accessing our inherent positive feelings and in doing so we move beyond the perceived burdens of the day. The 10 Practices that Powell has designed to lead us to happiness allow for personal growth or self-actualization. The 10 Practices are:

1. We must accept ourselves as we are. Find a joyful satisfaction of who you are.
2. We must accept full responsibility for our lives. Growth begins here blaming ends.
3. We must try to fulfill our needs for relaxation, exercise, and nourishment. We are a magnificent oneness that has three connected parts: body, mind and spirit.
4. We must make our lives an act of love. The loving person is surrounded in the twilight of life with the presence and the caring of others.
5. We must stretch by stepping out of our comfort zones. We are all pilgrims, beings in process. Each one of us must march bravely to a personal drummer…
6. We must learn to be ‘goodfinders.’ We all seem to find whatever we are looking for.
7. We must seek growth not perfection. Nothing is ever perfect. The human condition is trial anderror.
8. We must learn to communicate effectively. The person who has opened up to another and has been heard feels a sense of relief and exhilaration. ‘Thank God, someone finally knows what it is like to be me.’
9. We must learn to enjoy the good things of life. ‘Everyone will be called to account for all the legitimate pleasures which he or she has failed to enjoy.’
10. We must make prayer a part of our daily lives. ‘There really was a God. And he had been inside me all the time’” (Powell introduction).

------The idea of a daily prayer is actually a stillness we create within when we stop to listen to our inner voice. Powell is offering us a way to happiness by inner growth. He ends the practices with advice on prayer. What he is referring to is our own personal way to pray or meditate. He is asking for a moment of stillness in a part of our day so that we may listen. Some people do a formal meditation ritual like the Buddhists. Others accomplish this through concentrating on breathing deeply. Yoga and Jin Shin Jyutsu help accomplish a relaxation in the body that releases the mind and awakens the sleeper within. This allows transcendence beyond the daily strife and a deeper understanding of what is beyond what we can see. Aquinas mentions that man has an ability to see that divine essence and that the perfect or complete happiness of man consists of this vision (Aquinas 62). This is part of what we feel as a universal energy that connects us to each other. Aquinas furthers this concept when he makes the comment I alluded to earlier that man can go beyond angels “by an act of the intellect when he understands that there is something above the angels which makes men happy and that when he perfectly attains it he will be perfectly happy” (Aquinas 62). The sense of divineness about us, which we can connect to and understand that there is more to this life, is what Aquinas, Powell, Carlson and I talk about as a sign of happiness. We have the tools for each aspect of our life. We can follow Powell’s practices for happiness. Or we can look for our own way.

------One book that really helped me is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The Four Agreements offers a code of life. It is a way to conduct ourselves each day so that we may achieve happiness. The first agreement talks about being impeccable with our word. That means we should say what we mean and speak with integrity. We can avoid a lot of misunderstandings and strife that add to our unhappiness factors if we are pure in what we say. The second agreement suggests that we not take anything personally. People’s opinions should be kept to themselves. When they share their opinions with us they are actually projecting their own perceived imperfections onto us. Most people are just starring in their own moving picture and don’t ever really see us. The third agreement goes along with the others quite nicely, it has to do with not making assumptions. We can get into real trouble and cause undo strife when we assume that everyone else thinks the way we think. Or we assume that we know what they meant us to understand when we really only heard our own story playing in our head. Ruiz tells us to find the courage to ask questions. Asking questions is the only way to make certain we are communicating clearly with each other. He also says that we should not be afraid to say what we really want. How many times do we put undo stress on ourselves by not speaking with our true voice? We hold our tongues instead of speaking our truth. We have a need and right to be heard rather than be silent. It really is all right to communicate clearly, that way we avoid sadness, drama and misunderstandings. The path to joy and contentment is less encumbered when the clarity of mutual understanding is present. The fourth agreement rounds everything out with advice to always do our best. We can all avoid guilt and recriminations when we realize that we did our best in each moment of time. We have a tendency to replay moments in our lives that we think we should have done differently. We can open ourselves up to other people’s opinions of our actions when we still are in doubt about ourselves. If we look upon each moment of the day as perfection, in that moment, we will find peace. We will be at peace with ourselves and with others when we acknowledge that we all do our best with what we have to work with at that moment in time (Ruiz).

------This step has proven to be a very big step to happiness in my marriage. My husband, Steve, helped me get through some very difficult times when he introduced the concept of acknowledging that I did the best I could with what I had to work with at the time. At the time, I had chronic depression, lifetime physical health problems, family problems, relationship problems, work problems, and self-esteem problems. I was really struggling with recriminations for past, present and even future acts. Thoughts of sins of omission and commission were running rampant through my mind. When Steve gave me that powerful tool, my life turned around. The negative feelings that were living inside of me no longer had power to overcome each aspect of my life. The inherent positive feelings of happiness began to shine the light of truth into the darkness of the shadows in my mind and the lies disappeared. I could actually see the past for what it was: done. I no longer looked at my life to pass judgment on my actions from the perspective of the more enlightened person I had become. I began to look through the eyes of who I was at the time. I could acknowledge that I did the best I could with what I had to work with then. I also began to look at the actions of others with the same viewpoint and consideration I learned to use with myself. Then my relationships changed, my health began to improve, I began my own vision quest, and I had a zest for life and a lightness of being. I found joy and contentment: that bubble of happiness that does not burst was mine to claim as my own. Much to Steve’s relief, I achieved a level of happiness that led to self-actualization: I found my bliss. At 45 years of age I discovered gifts and talents that had been hidden inside me. The sleeper within me had finally awakened. And I could enjoy my husband and my marriage in a way that had previously been beyond the realm of possibility. I found the balance that is a life of happiness.

------ Steve’s version of the shift in me is a little different: “I married my wife, Colene, in August of 1990. I knew that she had serious health problems before the marriage. I came to appreciate more and more throughout the years exactly what it meant to live with chronic illness. Colene had more bad days than good through most of the 1990s. More specifically, she
usually had no more than four good hours in any given day before she was exhausted and ill. This made her very unhappy because she saw no way to ever achieve her goals or even make life worth living. Then in 1998, Colene went on an austere vegetable juice diet. The strategy behind the freshly squeezed vegetable juice was to allow quick absorption of the nutrients in her shortened small intestine before it passed out almost in the same form it entered – nutrient wholly unabsorbed. It worked. Within days, Colene seemed to have more energy than during our whole married life. I was away on business during this time; however, I could hear and even feel the exuberance in her voice during our phone conversations. I could hardly wait to get home to see the miracle. Health isn’t the total, unique ingredient of happiness, but Colene was infinitely happier with the new lease on life provided by a boost in health through better
nutrition.”

------Steve played a significant part in my happiness, but he does not realize how large of a role he played besides suggesting that I drink the raw vegetable juice. He had great advice for my physical health that helped open the way for my further exploration in finding the balance in my life. Steve does know that there was a great change in me. For the first time in my life I was happy every hour of the day. My journey to achieving happiness included craniosacral therapy, massage therapy, Jin Shin Jyutsu, crystal layouts, nutrition, herbal therapy, flower essences, essential oils, meditation and studying. My life is geared toward balance in all aspects of my life.

------After experiencing the profound change in me, Steve says, in all seriousness, that happiness is not to be found here on earth. He agrees with the observation of King Solon: that happiness will not be obtained in this lifetime, but will be gained on his deathbed. Steve wants to be able to look back at his life and say that he did the best he could with what he had to work with and that will be his happiness. Steve will wait for his creator’s concurrence with his deathbed assessment and for and that will be the sign of Steve’s happiness.

------According to Montaigne (Essay I. 18, p 27 Vol. 25) Crœsus laments that King Solon was right: “That men, however fortune may smile upon them, could never be said to be happy till they had been seen to pass over the last day of their lives” (18). Montaigne continues: “by reason of the uncertainty and mutability of human things, which, upon very light and trivial occasions, are subject to be totally change into a quite contrary condition” (18). Happiness would not come in the lifetime since a rich man may still suffer misfortunate and a poor man may posses his limbs and healthy sons. Then the various vicissitudes of life would preclude a state of happiness in our lifetime. That would mean that happiness is dictated by occurrence of the uncontrolled actions and interactions around us, then, it would depend on other people and the elements ad infinitum.

------Aristotle’s definition of happiness springs from consideration of the roles goods of fortune (“wealth, health, auspicious birth, native endowments of body or mind, and length of life,”) may play in our lives (Great Ideas: A Syntopicon. Vol. I, Angel to Love, p 483). If the roles of these goods are important and yet, out of our control, then our happiness will rise and fall with the daily vicissitudes of life. Each ripple of fortune or misfortune will have the possibility of turning into the tsunami of our lives. Our happiness and our sanity will then rise and fall with the tides of externalities. Happiness will become the ever-elusive phantasm and a time-consuming exercise in futility. This will be an affective distraction from the higher purpose of our lives, which is to achieve that inner glow and balance rather than feeling happy for a fleeting moment. Daily life would become, yet again, the pursuit of the satisfaction of insatiable and perhaps unsuitable desires rather than the achievement of a happy life.

------Karl Barth (Immortal Longings: Versions of Transcending Humanity by Fergus Kerr) is said to consider that we have a desire to transcend our human condition. Barth suggests that there is a way to transcend our existing humanity and it is a way of finding our humanity by denying the traditional opposition between time and all eternity. “If we redefine history as the event of differentiation we can say that the inner life of the eternal God [higher power] is the only ‘real time’” (42-43). The inner life is what helps us deal with the outer life that contains the “goods of fortune” Aristotle speaks of. The strife of life does impact us. The immediate transient happiness is more of a self-gratification whereas the subtle enduring happiness in life requires “The Courage to Be” (the title of Paul Tillich’s book.) We are the sum total of our experiences and choices and the choices and experiences of those around us.

------We can achieve happiness before our deathbeds, since that journey for happiness begins within us and not outside of us. Again, we can recognize the struggle “between feeling happy at a given moment and being happy for a lifetime, that is, living happily. It may be necessary to choose between having a good time and having a good life” (Great Ideas Syntopicon, Vol. I, P 477). We can make a rational or irrational life choice. We can listen to our inner voice. We can find the courage to be. One of the greatest steps in the journey for happiness is finding that mind, body and spirit connection. When we pay attention to the six aspects or our lives (see diagram on page 16): the Spiritual Aspect, the Emotional Aspect, the Physical Aspect, the Intellectual Aspect, the Social Aspect, and the Environmental Aspect we will reach self-actualization. That joy and contentment which is happiness will be ours. We have the freedom to choose to leave the psychosocial drama of our history behind in that old pursuit of happiness in the good time and achieve real personal happiness in the courage of the good life.

Lift up your faces, you have a piercing need
For this bright morning dawning for you.
History, despite its wrenching pain,
Cannot be unlived, but if faced
With courage, need not be lived again.
Maya Angelou, from On the Pulse of the Morning
Works Cited
Adler, Mortimer J., Associate Editor. Stringfellow Barr, Scott Buchanan, John Erskine, Clarence H. Faust, Alexander Meiklejohn, Joseph J. Schwab, and Mark Van Doren, Members of Advisory Board. A. F. B. Clark, F. L. Lucas, and Walter Murdoch, Editorial Consultants.Wallace Brockway, Executive Editor. Great Books of the Western World. Great Ideas: I. Vol. 2. P 477. Il. 1952
Angelou, Maya. Excerpt “A Pulse on the Morning” Idaho Human Rights Education Center, Ann Frank Memorial, Boise, Idaho
Aquinas, St. Thomas. Translated by John A. Oesterle. Treatise on Happiness. Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1964.
Aristotle, Great Ideas: A Syntopicon. Vol. I, Angel to Love, p 483
“As Above, So Below.” Chart. “How it All Began.” October 23, 2005

Carlson, Richard, Ph. D. You Can Be Happy No Matter What. California: New World
Library, 1992.
Chakra Systems and Diagrams. Spirit Nexus. October 23, 5005

Diener, Ed. “Frequiently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) About Subjective Well-Being (Happiness and Life Satisfaction).” September 13, 2005.
Donatelle, Rebecca J. Health: the Basics. Illinois: Pearson Education, 2005.
Gillispie, Nick. Rev. The Happiness Scam by Steve Salerno. The New York Sun. July 6, 2005. September 19, 2005
Introduction to the Chakras. Chakra Key. October 28, 2005

Jensen, Colene Moss, LMT. Personal Consultant. Personal Experience.
Jensen, Steven Leon, B.S., M.B.A. Personal Interview.
Kenner, Ellen, Dr. “What is Happiness.” September 12, 2005

Kerr, Fergus. Immortal Longings: Versions of Transcending Humanity. Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press. 1997
Maurer, Leon H. “Chakra Field Diagram.” The Secret Doctrine – The synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy.Uniworld Artisans Guild. 1998. October 23, 2005
<http://users.aol.com/uniwldarts/uniworld.artisans.guild/UAG.home.html>
Montaigne, Michel Eyquem. Translated by Charles Cotton, Edited by W. Carew Hazlitt. The Essays: Essay I. Chapter 18. The Great Books of the Western World. Vol. 25. Il. William Benton. University of Chicago. 1988
Powell, John, S.J. Happiness Is an Inside Job. Texas: Thomas More, 1989.
Rand, Ayn. Edited by Harry Binswanger. The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z. New York: Meridian, 1986.
Ruiz, Don Miguel, M.D. The Four Agreements. CA.: Amber-Allen Publishing.1997.
Sharamon, Shalila and Bodo J. Baginski. The Chakra-Handbook. WI: Lotus Light-Shangrila Publishing. 1991
“Unblocking the Chakras.” Chart. CHIOS® Energy Field Healing October 23, 2005

Chakra Charts and Diagrams

2005-10-29T11:12:00.000-06:00

Chakra Introduction

Name.......................Color....................Key Concepts

7th Crown..............Violet/white........Spiritual awareness, Direct Connection with the Divine.

6th Third Eye........Indigo/purple.....Psychic awareness, Higher Service/The Great Work,
Communication with the Divine
5th Throat............ Blue..................... Communication, expression, fulfillment, right livelihood
4th Heart ..............Green (Pink)...... Love, compassion, healing, community connection
3rd Solar Plexus...Yellow.................. Will, power, self-esteem & self-love, gut-level intuition, lower Mind, "The Big Motor"
2nd Sacral............ Orange................. Joy, creativity, higher sexuality, movement, flow, capacity to celebrate duality
1st Root................ Red........................ Security, the physical realm, groundedness, survival, primal sexuality

Great Women of Our Time are Crossing Over and Passing Their Legacy on to Us

2005-10-27T11:21:00.000-06:00

Rosa Parks passing, this week, reminded me of another great loss we suffered last May. Alberta Hill Henry passed on after a battle with cancer. That was just one of her many battles in her lifetime. One thing I learned from Alberta Henry is to live my life with purpose.
Her passing has significance to me because I have felt the power of her presence and conviction. About 30 years ago, Ms. Henry walked into the lobby of Tracy Collins Bank and Trust when I was bank teller in my early twenties. I was at my station when I felt an overpowering desire to look up and see who had walked into the lobby. There she was, flanked by the two very confident directors of the Women's Center of Tracy Collins. The directors' energy had always been very strong and exuded a sense of a "Ta-Da" sort of confidence and purpose when they were around. I'd come to expect that in older, white business women. But, Ms. Henry had a presence that out did everyone. It was awe inspiring and a little intimidating. I felt like I was in the presence of, and sharing the energy of, someone beyond life as I knew it. I wasn't introduced to Ms. Henry, but just being 15 feet away from her was more than enough to change my life. To me she is definately a person of significance.
You may wonder why I paid so much attention to that one experience, especially since no one ever told me her name. Well, I'd seen Ms. Henry on the news the night before and she was talking about racism and the history of segregation in Utah. Silly me. It never occured to me that there was a history of segregation and racism in Utah. So I quizzed my mother. She was in a unique position to relate conditions of an earlier age since she was born in 1913. I remember some strories my father (b. 1912) had told of his mother's funeral. He mentioned that the "Negroes" had loved his mother and were standing outside the church door, hats in hand, during the funeral. I'd always wondered why they hadn't gone inside. But I never asked either. My mother did not know what segreation was, so I had to prompt her. I asked if there had been seperate seating for the Blacks at the counter of a downtown store and she said "yes." It hadn't occurred to her to question it or try to change it.
I never heard a bad word or racial comments in my home while I was growing up. I did not know about the Civil Rights movement or the Vietnam war. Silence isn't always golden. I never have understood why people are mean to each other. Maybe that's because I was always picked on while I was growing up. I never fought back because I did not have an issue with the other person. Things have changed in my life. I would stand up for other kids, like the playground bully stood up for me. Now I stand up for myself. I have purpose in my life: to make a difference in the way we treat one another.
Thanks Alberta and thanks Rosa for leading the way for this little, white "Mormon" girl.

Alberta Hill Henry's Legacy Celebrated in Memory

2005-10-27T11:17:00.000-06:00

Activist Alberta Henry dies at 84
She dedicated life to improving civil rights for minorities in Utah
By Deborah BulkeleyDeseret Morning News
Civil rights leader Alberta Hill Henry, former educator and head of the local chapter for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, died Wednesday, May 11, 2005. She was 84.

Alberta Hill Henry Henry, who had been diagnosed about a year ago with cancer, according to her family, had been treated at CareSource Home Health and Hospice since Saturday. "Feisty," "dedicated," and "strong willed," are a few words those who worked with Henry used to describe the woman who dedicated her life to civil rights causes ranging from housing to employment to education. "She was a primary and strong mover here in the community for many years," said the Rev. France Davis of Calvary Baptist Church, Henry's pastor and friend. Henry's daughter, Julia Leyba, remembered her mother as "just a very strong person, a pillar of the community, an advocate of civil rights . . . "She loved to help people," Leyba said. "I loved my mother. . . . She made a lot of impact on a lot of people's lives. And she was my friend, not just my mother, but my friend." Jeanetta Williams, president of the Salt Lake Branch NAACP, also praised her predecessor. "We are saddened to hear about her death, our condolences go out to her family. She was very dedicated to the NAACP and the civil rights movement." Henry served as president of the NAACP's Salt Lake Branch for 12 years. She had also served on the chapter's board of directors and as youth adviser. In 1967, she established the Alberta Henry Education Foundation, which has helped hundreds of underprivileged students pay for college. Henry served on more than 100 boards and committees, including the Utah State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, the United Way, Utah Endowment for the Humanities, and the Black Advisory Board to the University of Utah.

document.writeln(AAMB6);
Gov. Jon Hunstman Jr. acknowledged Henry's service, saying, "She lived a life worth emulating and always stood tall in championing basic human dignity." Retired Judge Raymond Uno noted, "she got people's attention when she spoke." In July 1970, Henry received a commendation certificate from President Richard Nixon "in recognition of exceptional service to others in the finest American tradition." The University of Utah awarded her an honorary doctorate degree in 1971, and she was reportedly the first black woman to be inducted to the Salt Lake Council of Women's Hall of Fame. "I believe everyone — black and white alike — should be dedicated," Henry said in a 1970 interview. "To want to accomplish something worthwhile, to really want to do something of significance with your life, is the most important thing there is." Henry worked for five years at the Headstart Day Care as head teacher and parent coordinator. In 1972, she she was hired as a minority consultant for the Salt Lake City School District and later became community relations coordinator. She retired in 1986. When textbooks left out the history of minorities in Utah, she pushed for minority inclusion in the curriculum. She also established the Black Honor Society, later renamed the Rainbow Honor Society, to help black students improve their grade point averages. "She was very instrumental in making sure districts treated minority kids well, and instrumental in the hiring of minority teachers," said Archie Archuleta, chairman of the Utah Coalition of La Raza, who worked with Henry at Salt Lake City School District. Born Oct. 14, 1920, in Louisiana, Henry moved to Topeka, Kan., with her parents in 1923. She graduated from Topeka High School in 1939. Henry first moved to Utah in 1949, working as a housekeeper because no one would hire a black woman for a professional position. In Kansas, she had worked at a movie theater, as a taxi cab radio dispatcher, and as co-manager of a cafe. In a 1971 interview, Henry recalled that she decided to move to Utah after complications from a ruptured appendix had left her with little hope of survival. She had decided that if she were to live, it had to be for a reason. "I decided if I were to accomplish things I couldn't be surrounded by friends and family, so I just picked Salt Lake City where I had neither," Henry had said. In 1953, she joined the Pilgrim Baptist Church and started working on racial discrimination in housing and public accommodation. In 1961 she was elected president of the Utah Idaho Baptist Association Missionary Department and traveled throughout the district. "I noticed that few young people considered college, and those that did go went out of state," she said in a 1971 interview. That inspired the nonprofit Alberta Henry Education Foundation, which she started by collecting nickels and quarters from friends. "She is a very strong willed, God-fearing woman, who believed that a part of her destiny was to take up permanent residence here in Salt Lake City, and do what she could to guarantee the equality of educational opportunities for all young people," Ron Coleman, history and ethnic studies professor at University of Utah and board member of the Alberta Henry Education Foundation. Henry herself took courses at the U. and earned a bachelor's of science degree in education in 1980. "I wanted to show the students that I did know their problems," Henry said. "I have over a three-point average and I tell them, 'If I can do it, so can you.' " Funeral arrangements are pending.
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com

Speakers remember Henry's good works
Civil rights leader fought for the poor, led NAACP branch
By Deborah BulkeleyDeseret Morning News
The Rev. France Davis remembers the first phone call he received from Alberta Henry.

Jason Olson, Deseret Morning News
The Rev. France Davis delivers a eulogy at Calvary Baptist Church in Salt Lake City Tuesday. She wanted his help on a project after he had spoken on civil rights at the Ogden Branch NAACP, shortly after he arrived in Utah in 1972. "Every time I looked around, she continued to call, until just the other day," Davis said. Alberta Mae Hill Henry, 84, died of cancer Wednesday, May 11, 2005. She was laid to rest Tuesday, but her legacy lives on in the lives she touched as a longtime educator and president of the Salt Lake Branch NAACP. Davis told hundreds of mourners at Calvary Baptist Church Tuesday that Henry "never, never, never gave up." Those who spoke at Henry's funeral challenged mourners to honor Henry's legacy by continuing to work toward an equal and just society. "I suggest to you we are better off today, because she kept the faith," Davis said. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson said, "Alberta Henry's life is an example for all of us. "Her huge heart and brilliant smile . . . inspired us," Anderson said. "She never chose the safe road. . . . She was unafraid to fight for justice, even if the cause was highly controversial." Michael Styles, director of the Utah Office of Black Affairs, said Henry "turned a rebel-without-a-clue into a soldier-with-a-cause. . . . I just want Mrs. Henry to know we'll continue to stand and to fight the good fight." Henry never intended to stay in Salt Lake City when she moved here from Topeka, Kan., in 1949 to recover from an illness, Davis said. But he remembers she often said, "God wouldn't let me leave here." A few of Henry's contributions since then include:
• She led the the Salt Lake Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for 12 years.

document.writeln(AAMB6);
• She started the Alberta Henry Education Fund in 1967, which still helps disadvantaged students pay for college.
• She created the Opportunities Industrial Center, which for 11 years helped retrain workers and lift people from dead-end jobs.
• She fought for fair housing and worked for a Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and street.
• She challenged the death sentence of William Andrews, who was executed in 1992.
• She was instrumental in the inclusion of minorities in Utah's history textbooks.
• Henry earned a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Utah at the age of 59. She was also awarded honorary degrees from both the U. and Salt Lake Community College.
Davis said Henry had left him clear instructions that this is "not just to be a mourning service. . . . This will be a celebration of her rich and meaningful life." One woman wiped a tear from her eye as she nodded to the gospel choir. A few people stood, many clapped along in a celebration of Henry's spirited life. The Salt Lake Branch NAACP and the Calvary Baptist Church issued resolutions honoring Henry. Ron Coleman, U. history and ethnic studies professor and chairman of the Alberta Henry Education Foundation, said the board had made a "special donation" to the scholarship fund and encouraged donations. "We can think of no better way to honor Mrs. Henry's life work than to make sure (higher education) opportunities are available." Henry was buried at the Mount Olivet Cemetery, 1342 E. 500 South.
E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com

Rosa Parks Leaves Behind a Great Legacy

2005-10-27T11:04:00.000-06:00

The thread that unraveled segregation

Rosa Parks tugged at nation's conscience and triggered a movement

APPRECIATION
By Wil Haygood
The Washington Post
Updated: 4:00 a.m. ET Oct. 26, 2005
WASHINGTON - Rosa Parks wanted badly to attend the wedding. After all, she had done the alterations on Lucy Durr Hackney's wedding dress, which had been handed down to her from a cousin. Over the years, she'd done a lot of sewing for Lucy's parents, who were her best white friends in Montgomery, Ala.
"She was a beautiful seamstress," Hackney recalled yesterday, in a voice that made it seem the seamstress was something of an artist.
Then the officials at St. John's Episcopal Church told Lucy that if Rosa Parks was going to attend the wedding, she would have to wear a uniform -- "like a servant," Hackney says. "Or sit in the balcony."
Parks had risen to national fame during the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955, two years before Lucy's wedding.
And now her options were the balcony, or a uniform.
The seamstress politely declined to attend.
"If I would have been braver," Hackney says, "perhaps I would not have gotten married at that church. But the wedding was too far down the line at that point. It was very sad."
The seamstress had come out of a world in which she was told where to sit, where to eat, what stores she could and could not go into. She had come out of a world in which she had to give up her seat to any white person if he didn't have a place to sit on the bus.
Then it changed. The so-called uppity and brazen blacks of Montgomery launched their renowned boycott and won the right -- with the backing of the U.S. Supreme Court -- to desegregate the local buses.
Who was Rosa Parks?Suddenly, Rosa Parks was a bigger name than all of the grandes dames of the civil rights movement at the midpoint of the 20th century.
And yet, many wondered, who was she?
Life and Look magazines and the newspaper headline writers of the day knew of Mary McLeod Bethune (who had died in 1955, just months before the bus boycott), and they knew of Dorothy Height, both famous women in the male-dominated civil rights movement. But they did not know Parks, who died Monday at the age of 92.
How and why did history touch her?
Other black women had refused to give up their seats on the Montgomery buses. How did it happen that she was the one who leapt into the bruised air of the Deep South? And America?
The answer, in short, is that history was ready for her. Her journey, arduous as it was, was beautifully timed.
Television was still fresh enough to alarm and shock. (The dogs snapping at the ankles of blacks in 1960s Birmingham would bring the point home even more potently.) And in 1955, a year-old station (WSFA-TV) under News Director Frank McGee focused its lenses on the city's bus boycott. "TV speeded everything up," recalls David Halberstam, whose book "The Fifties" in part chronicles Park's odyssey. "Frank McGee kept the rest of local TV from blacking the story out. Every Southern TV station didn't report on civil rights. But if you put it on TV, the newspapers couldn't censor it or avoid it."
Parks not only had a mass movement ready to rally behind her, she had the black press as well. The executives at Jet and Ebony magazines pounced on the boycott story.
'Timing is everything'Something was in the air. The Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision had come down from the Warren Court a year earlier. But the air was a long way from being cleared of legal injustices.
"Timing is everything," allows historian John Hope Franklin.
Franklin had lived in Montgomery in the early 1940s. "In the liquor store, you would use the same clerk as the whites, but walking up to the clerk, there was a wall that separated you from the white person. So all you saw was that white person's hand. I know what Rosa Parks was up against," Franklin says.
Franklin talks about going to Richmond in 1947 to give blood for his brother, who had taken a fall from a hotel window. The transfusion left him exhausted. When Franklin finally boarded a bus, he sat in the whites-only section because there was no place else to sit. The white driver told him to get up, now.
"I told him I was just too tired," Franklin recalls.
Then he heard a cacophony of voices from the black section in the back of the bus. "The blacks were yelling at me: 'Stand your ground!' "
The air grew thick, but Franklin says he lacked the strength to move. "And you know what? That bus driver drove on off with me sitting right there. My point is, it didn't start a movement. The timing wasn't right then."
Suddenly in the eye of camerasParks was 42 years old at the time, married but childless. She considered her membership in the NAACP a point of special pride.
A young Martin Luther King Jr. would ultimately lead the 380-day bus boycott, along with E.D. Nixon, a stalwart of the Alabama NAACP. Her good friend Jo Ann Robinson, president of the Women's Political Caucus in Montgomery, arranged transportation for the boycotters.
Suddenly, the cameras caught her. Negro newsmen sought Parks out, lifting their fedoras to her and wondering if they might have an interview.
She looked so prim and proper in that famous photograph: She's down at the police station, being fingerprinted, in her tweedy outfit, her glasses, her hair swept up, just a little, and pressed back. A meticulous woman, who looked almost severe, as if she had just arrived from a social tea. You might imagine she had a pair of spotless white gloves in her purse.
She had, in fact, tasted integration while working on a military base. It was as if she had partaken of something precious and sweet -- and she never forgot the taste.
Virginia Durr -- Lucy's mother -- was a writer in Montgomery, and passionate about civil rights. Parks would sit with Durr before the boycott catapulted her into the limelight and the two women would chat and cackle.
"They'd talk about the dailiness of life," Lucy Durr Hackney says.
She goes on: "They'd talk about the gossip in the black community and the gossip in the white community. They'd talk about ending segregation. And they'd talk about which white men were sleeping with black women in town."
It was no secret that a transportation boycott would happen in Montgomery, Hackney says. And yet, no one knew it would be Rosa Parks. No one knew what day -- Monday? Thursday? -- she'd refuse to get up so a white man could have her seat. "The day she sat down and didn't get up was a decision she herself had made," Hackney says.
A simple, elegant declaration"Rosa Parks was a gentle person and a real 'lady,' a term very seldom applied to black women in Alabama then," says Sheldon Hackney, Lucy's husband, a native Alabaman and former president of the University of Pennsylvania. "You would not think of her as a revolutionary. She was described as a simple seamstress, but she was anything but simple."
When the Supreme Court decision came down, the men in the movement -- Nixon, King -- dominated the TV cameras. Parks refused to complain.
Of course she lost her job. Of course there were death threats. Parks left Alabama in 1957, finally settling in Detroit.
Later in her life, as she became a symbol and a myth, a publicity machine built up around her. At times she seemed like someone caught in the klieg lights.
"She was so self-effacing," Franklin says.
For the rest of her life, Parks gave the impression that her nation-altering protest would have occurred even if there had been no TV cameras, no radio, no newspapers. Her move seemed deep as Gospel and in the end, timeless. A declaration both simple and eloquent: I am a lady. And I'd like to remain in my seat, please.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
function readCookie(ck){var anyCookies=document.cookie;var pos=anyCookies.indexOf(ck.toUpperCase()+"=");var value="";if(pos != -1){var start=pos + ck.length + 1;var end=anyCookies.indexOf(";",start);if(end == -1){end=anyCookies.length;}value=anyCookies.substring(start,end);value=unescape(value);}return value;}
8&&s_p2r.substring(0,4)=="pi6=")?s_p2r.substring(4,9):""
var s_pageName="StoryU.S. Newswashington9819460The thread that unraveled segregation"
var s_channel="U.S. News"
var s_prop1="The thread that unraveled segregation"
var s_prop2="Rosa Parks tugged at nation's conscience and triggered a movement"
var s_prop3="Wil Haygood"
var s_prop4="U.S. News"
var s_prop5="washingtonpost.com Highlights"
var s_prop6=""
var s_prop7="handheld"
var s_prop8=(s_p1r!="")?"Y":"N"
var s_prop9=s_p2z
var s_prop10=readCookie("CP")
var s_prop11=s_p1[6]
var s_prop12=s_p1[2]
var s_prop13=s_p1[5]
var s_prop14=s_p1[11]
var s_campaign=""
var s_zip=s_p2z
var s_account="msnbcom"
var s_visitorSampling="100"
//-->
© 2005 MSNBC.com
var url=location.href;var i=url.indexOf('/did/') + 1;if(i==0){i=url.indexOf('/print/1/') + 1;}if(i==0){i=url.indexOf('&print=1');}if(i>0){url = url.substring(0,i);document.write('URL: '+url+'');if(window.print){window.print()}else{alert('To print his page press Ctrl-P on your keyboard \nor choose print from your browser or device after clicking OK');}}
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9819460/

The Spiral Staircase

2005-10-09T22:02:00.000-06:00

Reading Log for Oct 4-9, 2005 (5 hrs.) Karen Armstrong visited Boise State University campus Tuesday. I was impressed enough to buy several of her books at the campus bookstore. Armstrong writes about her journey, aka "The Spiral Staircase: My Climb out of Darkness." Her journey into comparative theology is what brought her the transcendence she had never felt as a nun (from 17 to around 24). This transcendence fits in with my own personal jouney, some of which I mention in the paper on achieving happiness. I started reading A History of God, but my husband took of with it so I continued with The Spiral Staircase. A couple of her other books that I'm reading are: The Battle for God, and Islam: A Short History. I'm really going to have an interesting time getting to know Ms. Armstrong and her ideas better.

English 102-015

Informative Television?

2005-10-09T21:16:00.000-06:00

Our assignment was to watch an hour of what we considered informative t.v. So, I watched our local PBS station this Sunday morning. I really liked To the Contrary. The half hour was divided between two topics: the Supreme Court nominee and Predatory Loans. I felt like I was in the same room taking part in a great conversation. There were viable questions about a Supreme Court nominee without a judicial tract record. Granted, there have been other nominees without a record of judicial opinions, but they were higher profile and were not such an unknown quantity. There were questions raised about a possible reversal of Roe v. Wade since Mier is such a conservative. This was very timely and gave me a point of reference for further developements with President Bush's nominee.
The second part of the program involved something I had never looked at in this way before: Predatory Loans. The lending institutions are preying on unsuspecting, lower income, single, head-of-household women. The women that were interviewed owned their own homes but needed money to repair the roof of each home. The lender talked them into "products" that they neither needed, nor could afford. The loan rates escalated and there were exorbitant prepayment penalties. It was more like extortion and was definately criminal these desperate people were treated. These were reputable banks that were talking the trusting customers into loans for amounts they did not need and hidden costs. When the customers could not pay the loan bake the banks were ready to forclose. It was a bate and switch skeem. Their cases were not unusual. I was so not aware. They also discussed other types of Predatory Loans like the Pay Day loans at rates of up to (and sometimes over) 100% interest. The Tax Refund loans gave the customer a check a week or two before the IRS refund arrived and charged 40% interest on a $500 refund. The single mother needed the income credit and it all went away for a two week wait. The company did not make it clear to her that they really were not helping here. Hey, free enterprise. Noone cares who gets hurt. They also discussed the Interest Only mortgages that were refered to as another "product" brokers are offering. I was really interested because that was what my brother tried to get us to do. The panelist talked about how this type of loan lets you pay the interest only for five years and then full payment is due. The housing market is predicted to go down in price and not up so guess who loses? I keep coming back to the old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probalby is." This was worth watching.
The second half hour was filled with the McLaughlin Group. This is always fun. Mr. McLaughlin had Pat Buchanan of MSNBC, Eleanor Clift of Newsweek, Tom Blankley of the Washington Times, and Caroline Daniel of the Financial Times. They discussed Harriet Mier's nomination to the Supreme Court. This was really good. Their opinions ranged from qualified to not qualified. They brought up Mier's baptism in an Evangelical church at the age of 30-something. Ther church's position is that abortion is murder. Her former campaign manager (she was a city councilperson) said that Mier was a Democrat and a right-to-lifer, then she saw the light and became a Republican antiabortionist. We should worry about Roe v. Wade. If Mier's personal beliefs interfer with her judicial interpretation of the Constitution Roe v. Wade could be reversed. Other things they brought out is the fact that the nominee is a Bush Booster. Sycophant is the word Clift used. Boy did McLaughlin dislike that charactorization! One opinion was that President Bush was tired of being told what to do and thought that this nominee would just breeze on through. Her history with President Bush began when he was a governer. They are friends. She has been refered to as a Bush Crony. Cronism on the Supreme Court is not something I look forward to. I hate to think that our form of government be like without checks and balances. Anyway, it was a fun if thought provocing half hour. I am now even more adamant that this Supreme Court nomination does not get ratified by the U.S. Senate. They finished up by listing the Bush Adimistration problems and what needed to happen to change his approval rating. Everything going smoothly in Iraq and gas prices were the two main items mentioned. Oh, well. I'll keep wathcing the different news sources and see what happens...As the World Turns...

Assignment
English 102-015

Is Happiness Personally Achievable?

2005-09-28T15:44:00.000-06:00

Years ago Americans were first introduced to Thomas Jefferson’s declaration that we have an inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. “It’s been downhill ever since, as we desperately strive to get too rich and too thin – all while blaming toxic parents, codependent spouses, abusive bosses, and total strangers for every problem, big and small, in our endlessly tortured and continually disappointing lives” (Nick Gillespie). While we do seem to be consumed with the pursuit of some version of happiness; our personal happiness has become the domain of advertisers, corporations, religions, and governments. They all have their own agenda, their own self-interest, and their own ideas about how to get us to buy into their idea of our needs. They are selling us on what they want us to buy: beer, big business, God, and candidates. A considerable amount of time, money and research is expended to make their respective products appealing. We’ve turned into a quick fix, gratification now, automatically redeemed, blame-the-other-guy, live-for-today, and an “I’ll think about that tomorrow” country. Now here we are, hundreds of years later, busy pursuing what looks like happiness maybe feels like happiness and could possibly be happiness. Jefferson did not define what the pursuit of happiness is, but he felt it was important enough to include it with life and liberty as rights that cannot be taken away from us. Jefferson left it up to us to figure out what happiness is, the significance of happiness in our lives, and if happiness is personally achievable.

It is time to leave the pursuit of happiness and move on to achieving it. We’ll take the first step by exploring what happiness is. My idea is that happiness is concomitant with balance in one’s life: an inner glow that shines outward, and a lightness of being. It comes from a sense of personal and spiritual integrity. Happiness comes from being in line with that which is for our highest good. Happiness comes from accepting responsibility for who we are. Happiness does not come from the temporary euphoria from an adrenalin rush, or the stupor of thought from drugs or alcohol. They only mask the sadness and disharmony that can be part of our lives. Hence, they become temporary fixes that are dealing with the superficial feelings of pleasure, pain and fear. We need to leave the path of the physical and superficial pursuit that we are currently being influenced in. We need to find the path that leads to the happiness within us.

Rebecca J. Donatelle’s idea of happiness, as expressed in her textbook on personal health, refers to an uplifting feeling of inner peace and wonder (Donatelle 41). Richard Carlson, Ph.D. believes that happiness “is characterized by feelings of gratitude, inner peace, satisfaction, and affection for ourselves and for others. Our most natural state of mind is one of contentment and joy” (Carlson Introduction). This natural state of mind is such a desirable state to achieve that Dr. Ellen Kenner, a psychologist, developed a radio show called The RATIONAL Basis of Happiness®. Kenner’s definition is that: “Happiness is an emotion…happiness is a long lasting enduring enjoyment of life, it is being in love with living. It is your reward for achieving a good character and personal rational values in life” (Kenner). Since, Kenner’s website has a partial quote from Ayn Rand right at the top of the web page, we are lead to believe that Dr. Kenner’s definition of happiness finds an influence in Rand’s ideas on personal happiness. The more complete version of Rand’s idea of happiness is found in The Ayn Rand Lexicon. The lexicon states that:

“Happiness is not the satisfaction of whatever irrational wishes you might blindly attempt to enjoy. Happiness is a state of contradictory joy—a joy without penalty or guilt, a joy that does not clash with any of your values and does not work for your own destruction, not the joy of escaping from your mind, but of using your mind’s fullest power, not the joy of a drunkard, but of a producer. Happiness is possible only to a rational man, the man who desires nothing but rational goals, seeks nothing but rational values and finds his joy in nothing but rational actions. Just as I support my life, neither by robbery nor alms, but by my own effort, so I do not seek to derive my happiness from the injury or the favor of others, but earn it by my own achievement. Just as I do not consider the pleasure of others as the goal of my life, so I do not consider my pleasure as the goal of the lives of others. Just as there are no contradictions in my values and no conflicts among my desires—so there are no victims and no conflicts of interest among rational men, men who do not desire the unearned…” (Rand 198-199).

It appears that Dr. Kenner’s view of happiness as emotion fits her own personal ideas, and Kenner’s idea of happiness being a “reward for good character,” does not seem to fit Rand's take either. My view is that Rand is basically saying that happiness is a balance of what comes naturally out of rational values being inline with rational goals and achievement. Then happiness is more of an individual effort, the product of a reasoned sentient being’s actions.

This furthers the idea of personal responsibility as part of achieving happiness. Then happiness is more of a product of consciousness building a value system and working that system in our daily lives. St. Thomas Aquinas’ belief that we have the capacity for happiness, or the supreme good, goes along with the idea of a value system guiding us in our choices. St. Thomas Aquinas states that, “happiness is the ultimate end to which the human will tends naturally…happiness is said to be the supreme good in man because it is attainment or enjoyment of the supreme good” (Aquinas 62). Aquinas reasons that man can move past the angels (spiritually) by understanding that what we find in the day-to-day mundane life is not all there is. There is something beyond what we see each day. Aquinas defines happiness to be the supreme good, which is God. It is that supreme good, or happiness, that is the connection to the inner being. It is the connection to who we really are. It is the self we were born with which is the bubble of joy that never bursts. The outside world intruded upon our inner world and tried to stick pins in our bubble. But our natural state is still one of happiness. In Happiness is an Inside Job John Powell, S.J. presents this concept by stating that, “happiness is a natural condition” (Powell 1).

Since happiness is our natural condition, then the unnatural condition of unhappiness will create a state of disharmony throughout our body, mind and spirit. Our entire being would be in a state of distress. A state of distress can manifest itself in many ways. The characteristics of the possible disharmonies appear on page 31 of Donatelle’s textbook Personal Health: the Basics. A shortened version of the table of clinically observed characteristics follows:

Shows poorer coping than most
Finds that others often disappoint
Has regular relationship problems
Tends to be cynical/critical of others
Lacks focus much of time
Hard to keep intellectual acuity sharp
Poor time manager
Overwhelmed by circumstances
Quick to anger
Volatile in interactions
Sense of humor / fun evident less often
Overly reactive
Overly stressed
Seldom takes time out for fun
Anxious and pessimistic attitude
Friends similarly negative/critical

When we are in a state of prolonged disharmony, distress or unhappiness, the behaviors are magnified and there is a general pejoration of the state of being. It would appear that unhappiness causes a great disturbance in our ability to function in our everyday life. We may feel like we are alone, but we do not suffer alone. We impact the people we are in contact with each moment of every day of our lives. It is obviously more desirable to have a positive impact in the lives of those who are around us. Happy people are more fun to be around. Here are some other reasons to be a happy person:

Better immune systems
Live longer
More creative
Better citizens at work
Earn more income
Tend to help others more
Better marriages
Skip work less
Get job interviews more
More successful
Do better in social relationships
Better able to cope with difficult situations
Like themselves/other people more
Others like them
More helpful and altruistic (Diener)

Donetelle’s table adds:

Zest for life
Spiritually healthy
Intellectually thriving
High mental acuity
Manages time and stress
Non-bigoted/open/receptive
Adapts to change easily
Love of nature/environment
High energy
Resilient
Enjoys challenges
FocusedRealistic sense of self and others
Sound coping skills
Sensitive to others and environment(Donetelle 31)

Richard Carlson, Ph. D. describes what it is like when we are happy when he said, “when we feel better we have more access to our own wisdom and common sense. We tend to be less reactive, defensive, and critical; we make better decisions and we communicate more effectively” (Carlson Introduction). We can see that when we are happy, we are in a better condition to make decisions about how we are going to respond to people, situations, change and life in general. We are able to be still and listen to our inner voice when we are no longer burdened with the pain of unhappiness. It is in the lightness of being that great personal growth can occur. Happiness truly does play a significant role in our emotional, physical, social, mental, intellectual, and environmental well-being. When all six aspects or our well-being are in balance, we are able to experience our own inner knowing and seeing.

Now, this happiness is something worth pursuing. Carlson furthers us along this path by explaining his belief that feelings of joy and contentment are made up of our inherent positive feelings. And that this state of mind allows us to be more lighthearted and easygoing—life seems less complicated and our problems are lessened (Carlson Introduction). When we are able to let the positive feelings of our nature come through, we have better coping skills for life. These skills enable us to tap into our own inner being: our self-actualization. Powell furthers the idea of working from within us when he sates that, “happiness is an inside job” (Powell 2). My personal journey for contentment and joy has been filled with personal study, seminars, classes, personal contacts, bodywork and an apprenticeship. The basics of my journey have lead me to conclude that centeredness and a firm sense of self, comes with balance in our lives. The balance I speak of comes with an alignment and cleansing of our energy centers, or chakras. Total mind-body-spirit alignment puts us in touch with that bubble of contentment and joy that does not burst.

Steps to alignment and balance are very personal and therefore quite individual. We can find help to discover what the best tools are for us personally. Powell offers a way to happiness that is a pretty good way to bring balance to the energy centers and hence an alignment with our inner capacity for happiness. Keep in mind that we are accessing our inherent positive feelings so we can move beyond the perceived burdens of the day. The 10 Practices that Powell has designed to lead us to happiness allow for personal growth or self-actualization.

The 10 Practices are:

1. We must accept ourselves as we are. Find a joyful satisfaction of who you are.

2. We must accept full responsibility for our lives. Growth begins where blaming ends.

3. We must try to fulfill our needs for relaxation, exercise, and nourishment. We are a magnificent oneness that has three connected parts: body, mind and spirit.

4. We must make our lives an act of love. The loving person is surrounded in the twilight of life with the presence and the caring of others.

5. We must stretch by stepping out of our comfort zones. We are all pilgrims, beings in process. Each one of us must march bravely to a personal drummer…

6. We must learn to be ‘goodfinders.’ We all seem to find whatever we are looking for.

7. We must seek growth not perfection. Nothing is ever perfect. The human condition is trial and error.

8. We must learn to communicate effectively. The person who has opened up to another
and has been heard feels a sense of relief and exhilaration. ‘Thank God, someone finally knows what it is like to be me.’

9. We must learn to enjoy the good things of life. ‘Everyone will be called to account for all the legitimate pleasures which he or she has failed to enjoy.’

10. We must make prayer a part of our daily lives. ‘There really was a God. And he had been inside me all the time’” (Powell introduction).

The idea of a daily prayer is actually a stillness we create within when we stop to listen to our inner voice. Powell is offering us a way to happiness by inner growth. He ends the practices with advice on prayer. What he is referring to is our own personal way to pray or meditate. He is asking for a moment of stillness in a part of our day so that we may listen.

Some people do a formal meditation ritual like the Buddhists. Others accomplish this through concentrating on breathing deeply. Yoga and Jin Shin Jyutsu help accomplish a relaxation in the body that releases the mind and awakens the sleeper within. This allows transcendence beyond the daily strife and a deeper understanding of what is beyond what we can see. Aquinas mentions that man has an ability to see that divine essence and that the perfect or complete happiness of man consists of this vision (Aquinas 62). This is part of what we feel as a universal energy that connects us to each other. Aquinas furthers this concept when he makes the comment I alluded to earlier that man can go beyond angels “by an act of the intellect when he understands that there is something above the angels which makes men happy and that when he perfectly attains it he will be perfectly happy” (Aquinas 62). The sense of divineness about us, which we can connect to and understand that there is more to this life, is what Aquinas, Powell, Carlson and I talk about as a sign of happiness.
We have the tools for each aspect of our life.

We can follow Powell’s practices for happiness. Or we can look for our own way. One book that really helped me is The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz. The Four Agreements offers a code of life. It is a way to conduct ourselves each day so that we may achieve happiness. The first agreement talks about being impeccable with our word. That means we should say what we mean and speak with integrity. We can avoid a lot of misunderstandings and strife that add to our unhappiness factors if we are pure in what we say. The second agreement suggests that we do not take anything personally. People’s opinions should be kept to themselves. When they share their opinions with us they are actually projecting their own perceived imperfections onto us. Most people are just starring in their own moving picture and don’t ever really see us. The third agreement goes along with the others quite nicely, it has to do with not making assumptions. We can get into real trouble and cause undue strife when we assume that everyone else thinks the way we think. Or we assume that we know what they meant us to understand when we really only heard our own story playing in our head. Ruiz tells us to find the courage to ask questions. Asking questions is the only way to make certain we are communicating clearly with each other. He also says that we should not be afraid to say what we really want. How many times do we put undue stress on ourselves by not speaking with our true voice? We hold our tongues instead of speaking our truth. We have a need and right to be heard rather than be silent. It really is all right to communicate clearly, that way we avoid sadness, drama and misunderstandings. The path to joy and contentment is less encumbered when the clarity of mutual understanding is present. The fourth agreement rounds everything out with advice to always do our best. We can all avoid guilt and recriminations when we realize that we did our best in each moment of time. We have a tendency to replay moments in our lives that we think we should have done differently. We can open ourselves up to other people’s opinions of our actions when we still are in doubt about ourselves. If we look upon each moment of the day as perfection, in that moment, we will find peace. We will be at peace with ourselves and with others when we acknowledge that we all do our best with what we have to work with at that moment in time (Ruiz).

This step has proven to be a very big step to happiness in Steven Jensen’s marriage. Jensen helped his wife get through some very difficult times when he introduced the concept of acknowledging that she did the best she could with what she had to work with at the time. Jensen’s wife had chronic depression, chronic physical health problems, family problems, relationship problems, work problems, and self-esteem problems. She was really struggling with recriminations for past, present and even future acts. Thoughts of sins of omission and commission were running rampant through her mind. When Jensen gave her that powerful tool, her life turned around. The negative feelings that were living inside of her no longer had power to overcome each aspect of her life. The inherent positive feelings of happiness began to shine the light of truth into the darkness of the shadows in her mind and the lies disappeared. She could actually see the past for what it was: done. She no longer looked at her life, to pass judgment on her actions, from the perspective of the person she had become. She began to look through the eyes of who she was at the time. She could acknowledge that she did the best she could with what she had to work with then. She also began to look at the actions of others with the same viewpoint and consideration she learned to use with herself. Then her relationships changed, her health began to improve, she began her own vision quest, she a had a zest for life and a lightness of being. She found joy and contentment: that bubble of happiness that does not burst was hers to claim as her own. Jensen’s wife achieved a level of happiness that led to self-actualization: she found her bliss. At 45 years of age she discovered gifts and talents that had been hidden inside her. The sleeper within her had finally awakened.

After experiencing the profound change in his wife, Jensen says, in all seriousness, that happiness is not to be found here on earth. He agrees with King Solon; happiness for him will be on his deathbed. Jensen wants to be able to look back at his life and say that he did the best he could with what he had to work with and that will be his happiness. Jensen will wait for his creator to pronounce Jensen’s deathbed assessment accurate and that will be his happiness. We have the wisdom of so many people who are willing to share their discoveries and thoughts. Please, lets not wait until our deathbeds to find happiness.

We can achieve happiness before our deathbeds, since that journey for happiness begins within us and not outside of us. We can listen to our inner voice. As was mentioned before, one of the greatest steps in the journey for happiness is finding the mind, body and spirit connection. When we pay attention to the six aspects or our lives (see diagram on the next page): the Spiritual Aspect, the Emotional Aspect, the Physical Aspect, the Intellectual Aspect, and the Social Aspect we will reach self-actualization. That joy and contentment which is happiness will be ours. Then, we will prove that we don’t just pursue happiness we achieve personal happiness.

Works Cited

Aquinas, St. Thomas. Translated by John A. Oesterle. Treatise on Happiness. Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1964.

Carlson, Richard, Ph. D. You Can Be Happy No Matter What. California: New World Library, 1992.

Diener, Ed. “Frequiently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) About Subjective Well-Being (Happiness and Life Satisfaction).” September 13, 2005. http://www.psych.uiud.edu/~ediener/faq.html

Donatelle, Rebecca J. Health: the Basics. Illinois: Pearson Education, 2005.

Gillispie, Nick. Rev. The Happiness Scam by Steve Salerno. The New York Sun. July 6, 2005. September 19, 2005 http://www.nysun.com/article/16523

Jensen, Colene Moss, LMT. Jin Shin Jyutsu Practioner,Iridologist and Personal Consultant. Personal Experience/Knowledge.

Jensen, Steven Leon, B.S., M.B.A. Resident Curmudgeon. Personal Interview.

Kenner, Ellen, Dr. “What is Happiness.” September 12, 2005 http://www.drkenner.com/what_is_happiness

Powell, John, S.J. Happiness Is an Inside Job. Texas: Thomas More, 1989.

Rand, Ayn. Edited by Harry Binswanger. The Ayn Rand Lexicon: Objectivism from A to Z. New York: Meridian, 1986.

Ruiz, Don Miguel, M.D. The Four Agreements. CA.: Amber-Allen Publishing, 1997.

English 102 Class

Angels Can Fly Because They Take Themselves Lightly

2005-09-25T16:38:00.000-06:00

Reading Log for the weekend of September 23-25. Read for about 3 hours. I've been reading and writing the research paper "draft" that is due for Workshopping Monday. I needed many laughs, so I unearthed Robert Kirby's collections of Salt Lake Tribune articles along with some unpublished articles. The books include cartoons by Pat Bagley. The books are titled Sunday of the Living Dead, Wake Me for the Resurrection, and Pat and Kirby Go To Hell. One of the funniest articles in Pat and Kirby Go To Hell is titled "Light Minded Legend" and it goes like this:

"The hardest I ever laughed in church was the time my friend Leon Krygowsky fell off the podium while passing the sacrament.

It happened because Leon had to wear his older brother's pants to church. I know because I helped Leon ruin his own church pants the day before by daring him to ride his bike off our garage roof.

Anyway, after passing the sacrament to the bishop, Leon had just started down the podium steps when the pants slipped off his skinny hips. Grabbing at them, he missed the first step. This caused him to careen down the remainder of the steps and bash headlong into Sister Gwathney with a fully loaded tray of water.

Myself and six other deacons [about 12 years old] nearly died of heart attacks. We didn't laugh right out loud, of course. We finished our sacred duty blind and red faced. Most of us anyway. On the verge of incontinency, Ralph finally staggered out into the foyer where he collapsed howling.

After church, the bishop herded the Aaronic Priesthood into a room and tore into us about the evils of lightminded behavior. According to him, laughing during the sacrament was right up there with murder, something that we already knew from last year's Scout camp would keep us from going on missions.

This is one of the problems I have with organized religion. Regular church attendance invariably gives people a clear idea of the things that make God mad enough to kill them, but absolutely no idea what makes him laugh.

Why is that? Maybe it's because a church's purpose is to get us to pay attention to God, and it's easier to do that by scaring the crap out of us than by getting us to lighten up. That's probably why most paintings of God make him look scary enough to cause cancer and why Jesus never smiles in his.

Personally, I think God has a ripping sense of humor. It's people who have weaned religion from the benefits of laughter. We have this moronic tendency to become dangerously self-important about our beliefs, as if God is on our side rather than it being of necessity the other way around.

This general shunning of laughter in religion has contributed to the stereotypical image of devout believers as a bunch of sourpusses whose colons have been tied in knots. We're known for our infatuation with sackcloth, martyrdom and a level of piety that sometimes leads us to social behavior that would embarrass a school of hammerhead sharks.

If laughing about church stuff is a sin, why isn't it a bigger sin to take it too seriously? Sure, laugh too much and you may hurt your ability to be spiritual. Don't laugh enough, however, and you could end up being dangerous to everyone around you. History backs me up here. How many clowns and stand-up comics can you name who have led jihads and pograms?

According to a recent Assocated Press story, laughter 'lowers blood pressure, increases muscle flexion and triggers a flood of beta endorphins.' Mirth also increases cells that combat viruses and tumors. Move over Word of Wisdom.

Thirty years later, I can't remember much of what the bishop said about reverence in the chapel. I'm still thanking God for making Leon such a klutz, though. Memory of the sacrament cup stuck behind the dripping lens of Sister Gwathney's cat eye glasses has gotten me through many a dull church meeting."

I too firmly believe that God has a sense of humor. How else can I expain me, my life, or my marriage? A M U S E M E N T for the observers on the otherside I'm sure. I know I can't stop laughing!

English 102 class

Bodywork by Cocomo...total mind-body-spirit relief

2005-09-21T21:02:00.000-06:00

I thought I would share some of the basic principles of mind-body-spirit relief I use in my bodywork practice.

Jin Shin Jyutsu physio-philosophy is an ancient art of harmonizing the life energy in the body. JSJ brings balance to the body's energy which promotes optimal health and well-being, and facilitates our own profound healing capacity. Jin Shin Jyutsu employs 26 "safety energy locks" along energy pathways that feed life into our bodies. When one or more of these paths become blocked,the resulting stagnation can disrupt the local area and eventually disharmonize the complete path of energy flow. Holding these energy locks in combination can bring balance to mind, body and spirit.

Iridology is the study of the colored part (iris) of the eye to determine potential health problems. The shifts and changes in the iris can be studied along with the development of red lines, in the white part of the eyes, to help one understand their body's basic health issues. Early detection of potential health problems gives one time to explore health care options to help prevent full-blown crises.

BioSonic Tuning Forks are used in sound therapy to alter the body's biochemistry and bring the nervous system, muscle tone and organs into harmonic balance. Like a piano, the body can be tuned to achive optimal physical balance.

Crystals are used in various therapies to raise the body's vibrations to a lighter and brighter balance. The electromagnetic energy of different crystals matches energies of different parts of the body. We work with Chakra energy systems, Aura fields, organ energy sytems, etc. and how they manifest problems in the body as pain or dysfunction.

Craniosacral Therapy (CST) is a gentle, hands-on method of evaluating and enhancing the function of a physiological body system called the craniosacral system (comprised of the membranes and cerebrospinal fluid that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.) CST enhances the body's natural healing processes and has been effective for a wide range of problems associated with pain and dysfunction, including; migraines, neck and back pain, emotional difficulties, stress and tension related problems, TMJ, chronic fatique, scoliosis, fibromyalgia, learning disabilities, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc.

Massage Therapy is the manipulation of the soft tissues of the body. It helps to ease stress and muscular tension, relieve pain from injuries, and speed healing from certain acute and chronic conditions. It is an effective form of health-care maintenance for day-to-day stress relief or to help manage chronic conditions such as migraine headaches, chronic fatique syndrome, fibromyalgia, sports or work related injuries, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, scoliosis, etc.

I hope that answers the questions I got on the Blackboard Discussion and in person.

If you want to know more, you can always ask me or google the therapies yourself.

The basic idea is to help you help yourself find balance, and a greater sense of self.

How Do We Deal with an Adult Bully?

2005-09-16T07:56:00.000-06:00

Now that we are "grown-ups" how well are we doing in the World Playground? From the schoolyard to the breakroom and beyond; we deal with bullies everyday. How well are we doing? Do we recognize them? Do we know how to deal with the bullies in life?

Lets be creative. We are better equipped than they are. Right? Not so fast. Do we even know when we are being bullied?

Beyond Fear...A Toltec Guide to Freedom and Joy

2005-09-15T21:26:00.000-06:00

I read for more than 3 hours over the last few days while I've been sick. I tackled the book Beyond Fear. It is a continuation of Don Miguel Ruiz's teachings. Basically it is suggested that before we can Master Love we need to Master the Four Agreements, and before we can Master the Four Agreements, we need to move Beyond Fear.

Its an interesting journey if you are interested. Some of the ideas can be mapped into self-help or spiritual, religious and philosphical thought. Its a different read and kinda fits with the New Age Movement. I went over some of the chakra books and Feelings Buried Alive Never Die to add to my pool of ideas.

Happiness...what is it?

2005-09-11T20:43:00.000-06:00

It will be interesting to see where this subject takes me. I'm not certain if there is a bad source for this. Interviewing a curmudgeon like my husband could go anywhere. Then there is my sociology professor. He might think that one should sacrifce their own happines to help someone else. There is the philisophical route, the physical route and there will always be the religious route to explore. Commercial America has their view too. No bias there. We'll see if my subject is bigger than the pages allotted.

Stay tuned.

Eng 102 pre-research.

The Mastery of Love

2005-09-11T20:04:00.000-06:00

Reading Log for Sunday/Saturday Sept 10/11 Read for 2 hours. I've continued my exploration of what Don Miguel Ruiz has shared with the world. The Mastery of Love, A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship is another Toltec Wisdom Book. There are three basic masteries discussed in the book:

1) The Mastery of Awareness. "Let us see ourselves with Truth." I call this looking inside...a willingness to BE. Don Miguel is asking us to be aware of what we really are.

2) The Mastery of Transformation. Basically, each life is a dream. We can change that dream by changing our agreements and our beliefs. This mastery leads to our becoming 'spiritual warriors.' My way of thinking is that all who seek enlightenment are spiritual warriors.

3) The Mastery of Love. This mastery is the result of the first two masteries. The Toltec view is that everything is made of Love. [They aren't the only ones.] "When we master love, we align with the 'Spirit of Life' passing through us."

Basically he/they are looking at raising our vibrations to be one with God. I usually refer to this as creating wholeness out of the fragments of life: mind, body and spirit. When we create wholeness, we create soul. And soul communicates on a totally different level.

Awareness, Transformation and Love...the Mastery of Life.

Friday's class dis on research sources...

2005-09-11T19:52:00.000-06:00

One of the main ideas that we discussed is bias. Along with personal bias, we need to consider the audience the source wants to reach. Also, the kind of info they are offering.
One research help the class may want to check is the Library Skills class info on the Library homepage.
Luck to us all.

Eng 102 Class

The Four Agreements "A Practical Guide to Personal Growth"

2005-09-08T21:30:00.000-06:00

Thursday, September 8, 2005 I read The Four Agreements a total of 1 1/2 hours between Wednesday and today. Don Miguel Ruiz's book is touted as: A Toltec Wisdom Book. My friend that introduced me to crystals, also introduced me to The Four Agreements.

The agreements were already part of my code of life...I just hadn't put it so succintly:

1) BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD...Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2) DON'T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY...Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3) DON'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS...Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness,and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4) ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST...Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

I truly needed to be reminded of this. When depression hits I forget what I know. But, I have been doing the best I can given the circumstances I have been living through. The best is yet to come.

Life: It's a kinda magic.

Depression-Free for Life cont

2005-09-06T20:44:00.000-06:00

Tuesday, September 6, 2005 I finished reading another 1 1/2 hours from Dr. Cousen's book. This book has taken a while to digest...The hostile environment created by too much of one thing taking over another in the body is amazing. Consequences are quite dire; mind/mood imbalance and an increase in hostility, suicide and depression rates.

I think I'm ready to move on to another book...I've already started changing my diet and adding supplements. I am doing personal stress relieving rituals for me: music, breathing, meditating, dancing...Ahhh

Depression-Free for Life cont

2005-09-06T17:56:00.000-06:00

Log for Monday/Tuesday...read for an hour and fifteen minutes about the "fat factor" in our diets. The imbalance of proper/improper fat in our diets may "alter crucial neurotransmitters such as serotonin and certain biochemicals known as prostaglandins that can increase the risk of depression." Essential-fatty-acids are crucial in our diets. We need to be more aware of what our bodies need and how to get it.

A lot of our diets are rich in simple sugars and saturated fat; processed and refined foods; and vegatable oils. The diets are missing nuts, seeds, fish and other sources of natural fats.

We need a reasoned balance response to the improper diet. Otherwise, we make exagerated choices out of fear. Panic is not the best way to go. Education and pacing should work.

Jamba Juice is it all that it is juiced up to be?

2005-09-03T13:44:00.000-06:00

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Can the smoothies and juices at Jamba Juice keep the doctor away or are they hurting more than they are helping?

A peeled, sliced and juiced apple blended with icecream may well put you right in his/her office.

JJ advertises that "great taste and nutrition couldn't come in a better package," but their juices and smoothies don't live up to their claim.

JJ claims to be THE tastiest way to get your five servings of fruit a day, but nothing is tastier than fruit by its self plus you can by-pass the unhealthful amounts of sugar.

And they called us "our neighbors." Tchah!

CLASS ASSIGNMENT

King of the Hill

2005-09-01T20:00:00.000-06:00

The animated television series requires considerable research from concept to broadcast. The producers need market research to tell them whether or not the public is likely to watch (and if they are watching) an animated show about a propane salesman in Arlen, Texas. The director, writers, animators and actors need a body of research for the setting in Texas, the various occupations of the charactors, the likely behavior of a flawed family man, his wife, son, friends, neighbors, coworkers, boss, etc. The show has proven to be successful. As for my experience, for a brief half hour I believed I was experiencing the life, albeit exagerated, of citizen Hank Hill. But, then, I have never been to Texas.

Class Assignment
English 102-015

Depression-Free for Life

2005-08-31T07:00:00.000-06:00

Day one, Friday, August 27, 2005. Reading for 1 hour. Depression-Free for life "A Physician's All-Natural, 5-Step Plan" by Dr. Gabriel Cousens. There is hope! Dr. Cousens offers a way for me to take charge of my life, my body and my stress relief.

Day two, Saturday, August 28, 2005. Reading for 3/4 hour. I read more about the challenges of depression and a new approach to alleviating depression. Dr. Cousens discusses how taking natural amino acids compares to taking prescription drugs. As always, cost is also a factor.

Day three, Sunday, August 29, 2005. Reading for 3/4 hour. I read more about picking which biochemical profile fit me. This way I can choose which plan is more right for me. This is getting to the light at the end of the tunnel. Since herbs and nutritional supports are not unfamiliar to me, this approach is much more comforable to me than the medical/chemical approach.

Day four, Monday, August 30, 2005. Reading for 1/2 hour. I've reached the part of the book where Dr. Cousens goes into each step of the 5-step plan. This chapter is about taking mood-boosting amino acids. This is a doable. Wahoo!