Hypnosis at My House on Friday

This is a plug for the wonders of my magical husband. A clinical psychologist, Bob teaches self-hypnosis in an all-day seminar at our house about every three months. This quarter's "all-day," as we call it, is this Friday at our log cabin beside a pond in the woods.

Participants learn to use self-hypnosis for whatever purpose they choose: enhancing creativity, managing pain, improving focus, dealing with emotions, or who-knows-what else. I've been to a couple of these one-day classes myself; the day after the first one, I started Revelation, my first published novel.

If you're going to be anywhere near the Chapel Hill/Jordan Lake area of North Carolina and are interested, call Bob Dick at 919 215-4703 for info. It's a bold step toward your goal.


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Stephen King and Colonel Sanders

Reminders to persist toward your bold goals:

"Colonel Sanders was in his 60s before he founded Kentucky Fried Chicken.
...Stephen King wrote many novels before he had his first one published.
Dolly Parton was told that she sang like a billy goat and had no chance of making it in show business."

Please note the source of this encouragement: SZ Magazine, a publication on dealing with schizophrenia, created and edited by Bill MacPhee, who was diagnosed with this ailment at the age of 24.

"Over the years of publishing SZ Magazine," he writes, "I've noticed one common denominator: The people who deal well with their illness have persistence. that seems to be the difference between people who succeed and people who do not. People who keep trying...succeed despite their failures."

This is also true of people who don't carry the burden of schizophrenia.


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September Energy and Fresh Resolve

All grownups need the fresh start of the first day of the school year. Kids have this, of course. And my academic pals do, too.

For me, time seems weirdly seamless. Gardening season eases into kayak season which cools back into gardening. And work is the same year-round: except that in August a lot of people are hard to get hold of.

New Beginning

Now August is over, and yesterday and today here are suddenly crisply September-the-way-it's-supposed-to-be. Makes me want to start fresh, buy a ring binder and a Sheaffer cartridge pen and some Blue Horse notebook paper (the basics of my long-ago school days.)

I did clean out some files yesterday (only because my computer was "in the shop") and it was almost as good as new school supplies.

Because of the change in weather, September--not January--feels the proper time for new resolve. Got any new goals or resolutions for this semester? I plan to have my nailed down by Labor Day.

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Ideal Self

It would be a bold undertaking indeed, to be one's ideal self for even an hour, much less regularly. The idea keeps coming up in my mind. When I want a behavior change, rewards usually work pretty well. But most rewards that interest me are not ideal, often involving too much sugar or cash. Ideally, being one's best would be its own reward. I've yet to have that work, maybe I haven't held out long enough.

I could start by figuring out exactly what this individual would look like. I know she would be less self-involved and more altruistic. I also know that I'm much more interested in getting into Barbie doll physical condition, which is not likely to happen, and a waste of time to attempt. (But doing it wouldn't rule out altruism; it's not either/or.) Obviously, my first bold step would be for my operating systems to get a clear idea of what my Real Best would be. Or maybe this is just procrastination, and I should go straight to work at a soup kitchen this minute, without much more than a glance in a mirror, or any further nattering over self-improvement.

Do you feel you're living at your potential much or most of the time? What does that mean? How'd you get there?



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