Category » Applied Philosophy & Psychology
Stoic Values
I suspect there are readers who find some of these blogs too philosophical. If that’s you, skip this one. This blog focuses on a subject I have wanted to clarify for at least a decade: Stoic values, particularly what the Stoics meant when discussing the “indifferents.” As always, the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) has […]
The Stockdale Paradox
Learning about Admiral James Stockdale (1923-2005) was one of my earliest exposures to Stoicism, a philosophy I have never studied in a philosophy faculty, despite having a degree in that discipline. (Such courses weren’t offered.) As I recall the legend, Stockdale was shot out of the naval plane he was piloting while over Vietnam. As […]
The Hamster Wheel
This blog comes from questions emailed by a thoughtful attendee of one of the SMART Recovery meetings with which I’m involved. There are some complex and related issues here, and that person was in no hurry for an answer, so I promised I’d use the questions to generate a blog. Here goes. The correspondent observed […]
Craftsmanship as a Life Skill, V
During the past four weeks, craftsmanship has been defined as an awareness that something can be done half-consciously or with attention to detail. Formulaically, craftsmanship = skill + concentration. Either as part of craftsmanship, or maybe preceding that awareness, is the need to understand the problem or issue at hand. This is a subject prevalent in […]
Craftsmanship as a Life Skill III
We’ve been exploring the notion of craftsmanship applied to human lives, particularly the steps involved in moving from a life of addiction to a balanced life in recovery. Two weeks ago, the general idea was explored. Last week focused on the first point of SMART Recovery’s four-point program, building and maintaining motivation. Our takeaways were, […]
Craftsmanship as a Life Skill II
If we examine the tools, used in SMART Recovery, to guide a person from addiction to recovery, we have a starting point for growth. It’s not perfect, but few things are. Let’s begin with what’s read aloud during the introduction to every meeting: the four-point program. Building and maintaining motivation Coping with urges Managing thoughts, […]
Craftsmanship as a Life Skill
The first serious job I had was working at the Riverside in Oakville. That’s a long time ago now, and that place—in downtown Oakville, on the west bank of the Sixteen Mile Creek—is long demolished but some of what I learned remains. An older French chef was astonished to realize that he’d hired me out […]
Relating: Meaning & Significance
In psychotherapy, as in life, a lot of what comes up concerns how a person relates to another person, place, or thing. I woke up this morning thinking about the history of the roots of the word relate. Intuitively, it didn’t make much sense. The prefix, re, led me to again, to a re/peated thought, […]
Making Choices: Cost-Benefit Analysis
This is an experiment. I have a decision to make, three ideas to consider, and three tools: philosophy, psychology, and three-score years experience on Earth. Why should you care? You might care because of the ways philosophy, psychology, and experience might help with decisions you’re considering. Or you may care because you find human processes […]
Maybe
This is a blog about a state of mind I have tried to foster in others. If I could do it, I would be the most successful psychotherapist known to humanity but alas, I cannot create motivation in another human being. Still, that inability hasn’t stopped me looking for ways to help people turn […]