Apart from sharing my delight for the Hungry Jacks advertisement in me previous post, it has been many months since I have written a post. Was it the shock of losing my close friend Waratah Rose Gillespie to a major stroke on 21.06.2010, or the battle to prevent the Humanist Society of NSW being taken over, or just life being too busy. Nevertheless, I remember asking myself over and over – where’s my passion gone? No posts, no sketches, no poetry! I had planned to write about Waratah’s passing away last year, and this June a memorial article and I did neither.
Adam Lambert: American Idol audience prejudice
Posted on July 16th, 2009 in Life Strategies
I don’t usually follow talent shows because the final choice is quite often unexpected. Nevertheless, as I flicked onto one of the American Idol shows with Adam Lambert performing, my hair stood on end at the talent of this man. His voice and performance was iconic. Every time there was a new segment I watched with anticipation and recommended it to others.
He is a star in the making and everyone who watched him with me agreed. We got goosebumps every time he performed. He may have sometimes looked Gothic and with his black nail-polish could be misinterpreted but he was pure talent and the judges even gave him standing ovations. Adam changed his appearance to suit the genre assigned for that particular show, and any mentor supervising their performances could only confirm the enormity of his unique talent.
Bougainville Seminar a Success
Posted on April 16th, 2009 in Peace
The Bougainville Women’s Seminar in International Women’s Day Week on Wednesday 11th March in State Parliament House was a success. It was in the Theaterette and attended by over 80 people. However, the Lateline DVD which had worked well at Humanist House previously did not work in the Theaterette.
Waratah Rosemarie Gillespie who had experienced some of the trauma in Bougainville, and wrote a book with sworn statements from Bougainvilleans, spoke explaining those statements some of which were read out by several actors of note such as Lynda Stoner, Andrew Vial, Fran Macpherson, Isobel Kirk, Gillian Levett, Janice Potten, Jonathan Marshall and Sean Foley.
The Chorus of Women in their attractive red outfits sang several meaningful songs to enhance the occasion.
13th Stepping Protection
Posted on August 24th, 2008 in Compulsion & Recovery
setting foot on the ceiling 3, photo by Thiago Tavares, Maringa, Brazil, semcriatividade.com/tchago, sex addiction
A discussion has evolved from my post on the practice of 13th Stepping – having sex with a person who is more vulnerable than yourself. There have been comments denigrating the 12 Step program, partly blaming 13th stepping. Having worked for over 20 years in the recovery field I can only say that if someone criticises the 12 Step program and fellowship then they are ignorant about how beneficial and lifesaving it is for those who suffer from addiction. There are other programs such as cognitive behavioural therapies which may work for those who commit fully to them but nevertheless larger numbers have benefited from the 12 Step program. Now I will deal with this particular request:
When motivation waxes and wanes
Posted on May 30th, 2008 in Life Strategies
Energy can seem to disappear when motivation becomes low. It is important not to hand over our power to the negative feelings which are also affected by negative associations. Notice how invincible we feel when motivation is high and we then have the energy to reach great achievements. So when motivation waxes and wanes we need to remember that it is a natural occurrence and not allow ourselves to over react one way or the other. Some strategies are listening to relaxing music, writing, reading, dancing, drawing, yoga, walking and many other options including regular medication as required, meeting with people we like, discussing our state with a therapist, mentor or priest. Quite often lack of motivation can create problems in recovery from obsessive compulsions and it becomes extremely hard to stay committed to the program we have chosen. At such times, rather than resort to substance or process abuse to relieve our pain, we can use whatever has worked in the past that results in a healthy outcome.
Love and music keeps us alive
Posted on April 17th, 2008 in Life Strategies
No matter how happy we are living alone we need love and music to keep us alive and happy. Notice how feelings change when we put music on. When the music is adagio, the heart warms and the serotonin is released making us relax. The same applies to other music such as some Chopin or Mozart, once played in psychiatric wards to calm the patients. Heavy metal music although popular with some youth, I found creates hostile behaviour. Romantic and country music may create more depression in lonely or depressed people. Admittedly, there are some who are affected differently than others. Nevertheless, one of most healing processes is love with soothing music or even Latin American – think of how many times the tune ‘Sway‘ has been popular over the decades.
