As a culture, we are highly concerned with self-esteem. And this is a good thing. How we feel about ourselves determines how we treat those around us and vice versa. In 1890, William James identified self-esteem as a fundamental human need, no less essential for survival than emotions such as anger and fear. And yet,… Read more »
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Remaining undifferentiated renders one unable to fully accept the gift of life and, instead, leaves one merely living out the life of another. The Self Under Siege I believe a fundamental question for people to consider is whose life are they living? Are they pursuing the things that really light them up, that matter to… Read more »
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John Irving’s latest novel, In One Person, is a timely statement about men and women, the nature of sexuality, and society’s assault on the self. Although a work of fiction, the book faithfully reports the real-life struggles of certain people to become who they were destined to be; people different from the rest of us,… Read more »
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Memorial Day was established as a day for honoring and acknowledging all of the men and women who have died serving the United States. And in this past decade, there have been many. For those who we’ve lost, we can offer remembrance. But now is also a time to call attention to the thousands of… Read more »
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“The irony of man’s condition is that the deepest need is to be free of the anxiety of death and annihilation; but it is life itself which awakens it, and so we must shrink from being fully alive.” ― Ernest Becker, The Denial of Death As humans, our awareness of death is inherent. When confronted… Read more »
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The following transcript contains part of an exclusive interview with Dr. Lisa Firestone and Dr. Sheldon Solomon. Sheldon Solomon describes the elements of an ideal society. SS:And so here, if I recall accurately, we talk about three things: borrowing heavily from Becker, where he said, “OK, first and foremost, is, you know, does the culture… Read more »
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Last month, Michelle Obama made a special guest appearance on the long-running hit TV show, The Biggest Loser. I’d heard about the show’s premise: contestants who struggle with obesity and often face serious health risks relocate to a fitness ranch, where together they learn about nutrition, diet, and exercise, while competing to lose weight. But… Read more »
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The other day, I was reminded of reading Nancy Friday’s book, My Mother/My Self many years ago; so I took Friday’s book down from a shelf in my office and opened it, quite by chance, to page 388, where I found this heavily underlined quote: “As we get older and the tie to mother is… Read more »
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I must admit, I was curious as to why my sister was sitting me down to show me a recording of a dance she’d seen on a popular TV show.I watched, a bit skeptically, as the choreographer explained how she wanted the contemporary dance to symbolize a person’s struggle with addiction. The upbeat intro showed… Read more »
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