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Thoughts on lots of things, especially education, psychology, culture, religion, and personal growth.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Whatever you do, DON'T touch the plants!

My youngest child is 9 months old, and while he can't walk by himself yet, he's almost there.  His most-favoritest thing to do is teeter around the house, holding an adult's finger in one hand, and exploring the fascinating objects that he passes by with the other hand.  This is cute, and it's alright, as long as all unsafe objects are out of the way.  When we go to my mom's house, however, there are several potted plants at just the right height for a 9-month-old to grab!  My first reaction is to say, "No! Don't touch the plant!" and pull him in a different direction.  My wise and experienced mother, however, has a different approach, which I've recently noticed.  She says, "Pretty plant!" and holds Baby's free hand, so he can touch the leaves without grabbing them.  In a few seconds, his attention span has been used up, and he moves on.

I like my mom's approach, because it tells Baby, "plants are good things that we are not afraid of. We can learn to touch them in the right way."  Of course, this is an obvious statement to an adult, but how much easier is it just to tell Baby "NO!" and pull him away before he shovels Miracle-Gro-infused potting soil into his mouth or picks all the leaves off of that rare hibiscus hybrid?

Monday, July 18, 2011

Found: Personal Demon. Someone please claim. It showed up at my door, and I swear, it's not mine...

We all know people like these... People who are constantly a victim; everything in their life is someone else's fault.  Then there are the people who keep themselves so busy, they never have time to relax and just be with themselves to think. Then there are those with rage always simmering just below the surface, ready to boil over and burn the people around them at the slightest offense.  These (and more) are all signs of what I'll call "unclaimed personal demons" at work.


Ah, the demons.  Lurking around within some of us are traits we'd rather not identify with.  Pains we'd rather not feel.  Problems we'd rather not face.
As humans, we'd do anything not to take responsibility for our issues.  "What? That's not MY demon! I don't know where it came from. Must be a stray."
So we deal with them in one of two ways.  We either "exorcise" them so they are constantly outside of ourselves-- causing perplexing havoc and destruction to follow us everywhere we go.  Or we deny they even exist, essentially banishing them to the basements of our minds-- where they knock around, howl, and haunt, trying to be released.  Unruly things, these demons.


You'll see them in your dreams.  (What, you don't think YOU have them too?)  

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Propositioned

Last night I dreamed that I was in some building that felt like a university building, and Man A (a former professor I never knew very well) came up to me and asked, "Hey, would you like to take a walk with me?"  So we started walking, with him at my left, and it was a long walk through lots of places in this building. He was constantly quiet, imposing, stoic, a very solid presence at my side.  I felt it was awkward to have silence, so I filled in by chattering constantly.  I don't even remember what I was talking about, but I just kept talking cheerfully!
We ended up in what at first looked like a train car, but was actually a moving truck.  We walked in from the back, and even though there were things inside, there were aisles so we could walk through it easily.  I looked around and said, "Oh yeah, all my belongings will easily fit into this big truck!"
Then Man A went into the cab of the truck, while I looked out the windows in the back.  Then I noticed the truck was moving, and realized that Man A had removed the brakes, and it was rolling backwards!  The ground was only on a slight incline, so it wasn't moving very fast, but I saw that it got steeper as it went on, and the road led right into a busy highway!  Man A was laughing maliciously.  I was scared.  I don't remember what I said to him exactly, but I chided him for treating me like this and told him to go away. He went away, and everything was OK.
Then I saw Woman B (also a professor), and I said, "You wouldn't believe what just happened to me!" I told her everything that happened.  She looked at me strangely and said, "You know what he wanted, don't you?  He was going to proposition you!"  (The implication was that I would sleep with him in exchange for good grades, but she didn't say it.)  I was shocked, outraged, and upset.  I told a bunch of people, "I can't believe it! He was planning to proposition me!"