tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.comments2023-10-19T10:26:30.108-04:00Yin and YangUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger767125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-75046347160279004702014-05-27T14:56:04.801-04:002014-05-27T14:56:04.801-04:00I seldom leave a response, however after looking a...I seldom leave a response, however after looking at a great deal <br />of responses here "John Lennon's Killer Denied Parole For The 7th Time".<br /><br />I do have 2 questions for you if you do not mind. Is it only me or does it <br />look as if like a few of the remarks come across as if they are left by <br />brain dead visitors? :-P And, if you are writing at other online sites, I'd like to follow everything new you have to post.<br />Could you make a list of the complete urls of your shared pages like <br />your twitter feed, Facebook page or linkedin profile?<br /><br /><br />Here is my page; <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/VapePens/mflb-magic-flight-launch-box-deals-2014/" rel="nofollow">mflb</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-38887815663180981702014-04-20T14:08:05.487-04:002014-04-20T14:08:05.487-04:00terrific lyrics, great sound, wanted to share on f...terrific lyrics, great sound, wanted to share on facebook but wasnt allowed to. you have come so very far in your song writing. these new songs are very powerful!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-65855406538431235282014-04-17T01:37:27.017-04:002014-04-17T01:37:27.017-04:00You know I felt the same for 50 days not far ago. ...You know I felt the same for 50 days not far ago. I've also been in similar situation. It was the last Judgement itself, but I haven't been itself. The last judgement which has been leaded by devil. I had it too. It was so real!Valerienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-54158022546300648422014-01-03T12:57:45.441-05:002014-01-03T12:57:45.441-05:00Thank you Chris. You are a good, sweet woman and ...Thank you Chris. You are a good, sweet woman and I appreciate your support. Wandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16550316119497369344noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-31201740542632598712014-01-03T10:58:17.839-05:002014-01-03T10:58:17.839-05:00Dear Kate,
Your mother is at rest. She had a goo...Dear Kate,<br /><br />Your mother is at rest. She had a good life. She raised you and your brother the right way.<br /><br />I stand by you in your moment of loss of your mother.<br /><br />You're one of the greats and I'm sure your mother was one of the greats too.<br /><br />You are not alone.<br /><br />I will be thinking of you and your family now and in the days ahead.<br /><br />With sympathy,<br />Chris B.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15705538654048829908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-28519136558413238002013-10-03T07:18:53.626-04:002013-10-03T07:18:53.626-04:00Wow, amazing post, and what amazes me the most is ...Wow, amazing post, and what amazes me the most is that you summed up so well what I wrote and talked about for years, it's hard to find such a coincidence but I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this way and I hope more and more men (and women!!!) will realize the truth. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and please keep on writing! ;)Gaborhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06854385526450169463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-85225702668787593582013-08-14T14:15:45.228-04:002013-08-14T14:15:45.228-04:00Great artwork! You are a wonderful artist.Great artwork! You are a wonderful artist.Ashley Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03227478646550668474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-34978563061925871272013-07-30T18:40:41.546-04:002013-07-30T18:40:41.546-04:00Are those self-portraits? Very nice!
All the best...Are those self-portraits? Very nice!<br /><br />All the best, Stella.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-7230886325976702572013-01-25T05:54:32.743-05:002013-01-25T05:54:32.743-05:00Hi Kate!
It never occurred to me to question the ...Hi Kate!<br /><br />It never occurred to me to question the existence of the second amendment. I only thought there should be stricter gun control laws. On a gut level I have always seen the amendment of free speech (so outrageous to many other countries - so dangerous to their government and religions) as cojoined with the right to bear arms. They both are putting so much responsibility and freedom into the good sensibilities of the American individual. Naturally our sensibilities frequently fail. Fool things and cruel things come out of our mouths and are published and people shoot at other people over stupid things. But the freedom to believe whatever you want in some countries is just as dangerous as the right to defend yourself and kill..........our laws seem to encourage us to be a lawless country. And yet we are a superpower.<br /><br /><br />My husband can't have his gun inside the house because I might kill myself during a suicidal impulse. Because he is used to being armed (how he lived before he met me) he feels rather helpless and unsafe without a gun in the house. It helps that we have a german shepherd dog in the house who is fiercely protective. But I know that for a lot of men (and some women, like my husband's daughter) having a gun in the house means peace of mind. <br /><br />I'm afraid that the second amendment is also like freedom of religion. You don't have to like the other person's religious beliefs but you have to let them exist. The ownership of a gun, in men I have known, is usually fundamental to the core of who they are, very much like a spiritual practice is or the knowing that you are protected by free speech. Gun nuts are zelots - their religion is protecting themselves. I think at at very deep level inside the mind there is some satisfaction that you are taking action to protect your own life or the lives of the ones you love. That's at the essence of gun ownership. Defense, not offense.<br /><br />As a second view, my husband has a lot of co-workers who hunt for sport and food. They like going into the woods and brings back a deer. They eat the deer meat during the winter. Some hunt with special arrows, some guns. But all use lethality.<br /><br />My good friend Rocki has several black belts. Its funny but she thinks she is far more lethal than a gun. In her mind there are many ways to disarm a person with a gun. For her, being able to protect herself with her hands is most important, not that she can kill with her hands but that she can defend herself. Ingrained into her training as a black belt is the obligation and morality never to use her skills unless necessary. She would only use her skills as a last resort. <br /><br />I think most gun owners would only use a gun if they felt their life or a life of a loved one was being threatened. <br /><br />The people who use guns to kill offensively in a violent act are evil. And I'm afraid that in a free country, that beautiful freedom allows for evil to exist.<br /><br />All my love,<br />Karen<br /><br /> Karen May Sorensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14436905322393073250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-89745949517509420632013-01-24T22:10:01.958-05:002013-01-24T22:10:01.958-05:00Yes! Right on, Kate! I say, get rid of the worthle...Yes! Right on, Kate! I say, get rid of the worthless Second Amendment and all the evil guns! We don't need any more killing machines.Feminist Voice with Disabilitieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04971702402040080054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-20741986946442782142013-01-22T20:48:14.965-05:002013-01-22T20:48:14.965-05:00I am not a Buddhist, either, but practice yoga and...I am not a Buddhist, either, but practice yoga and meditation. I've found them to be very helpful. In general, these practices seem to emphasize a "don't take my word for it, try it for yourself" mentality that I really like.<br /><a href="http://www.anxietyland.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Adventures in Anxiety Land</a>The Blue Morphohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16387317327488568515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-24967941053808996342013-01-15T05:37:35.519-05:002013-01-15T05:37:35.519-05:00Dear Kate,
Just during the past week I have said ...Dear Kate,<br /><br />Just during the past week I have said to myself, "I have a lunatic therapist". He is reading religious material constantly and doesn't care much whether it is eastern or western religion. He picks and chooses from these sages who are long masters of their religion what he thinks will work for his patients and himself. Practices, attitudes, bits of advice, and the gestalt view of ourselves in relationship to the universe. I think he is on a quest for sanity and peace of mind (for himself first for his patients second) - and instead of looking for it in traditional psychology he has decided to look for it in religious thinking. Some of the concepts, like mindfulness, which he describes but never names by that term make me look at him like he's lost his marbles, I mean he describes a way of thinking that is so alien to the mess of emotions that usually dominates my head that I wounder "can I ever get to the place that you describe. Your asking me to do the impossible". And so I get angry and call him a lunatic. <br /><br />But while I was thinking after our last session that he was NUTS (he says my vocabulary sometimes makes him cringe), the thought occurred to me that out of all the therapists I've had, he's the only one that really helped me. I've been seeing therapists for way more than twenty years. All different kinds, but I'm feeling at my best right now. I've no choice but to give him due credit.<br /><br />Last week my therapist told me he is writing a paper titled "My Therapist Doesn't Listen To Me" which is an interesting title, but I hate the practice. Because it is true, he has in the past stopped me from talking. Weird. But when he does it it is I think because my perspective is so destructive and unhealthy that it causes him pain to listen to it. When I'm thinking wrong he just shuts me up. <br /><br />So my therapists number one concern is not for me to air my feelings, but to get me to see things differently, to handle reality differently. I swear its like trying to airlift an oceanliner. I'm so difficult to budge. I know that what he is doing is in no way traditional therapy and has moved into the realm of spirituality, but it works. I don't even know what religion if any he personally follows, (I know he loves the yin yang symbol) but as ever he reads books to find wisdom that works and he himself is a work in progress. And he has suggested that if you are lucky you will be a work in progress until the day you die.<br /><br />I think what I'm trying to say in a long winded way is that you are proof that Buddhism works - if you say it brought you peace of mind then it did, and readers who are suffering I'm certain sit up and take note - because they are probably suffering too and looking for relief. There is no shame in taking on a religion late in life, kinda out of nowhere, and there is no shame in picking and choosing what works for you from that religion. If you think you are unique with testing Buddhism, you have real competition from my lunatic spiritual therapist who is wandering through any and all religions.<br /><br />I thank you and I thank my therapist for the work you both have done testing and editing what you have learned from your religious study. Both of you are taking it and putting it out there in the world with the suggestion "it worked for me, it might work for you". <br /><br />Keep on doing the good work you have been doing. Go on, heal yourself, and in doing so, and spreading the word about your experiences, I think you will influence others to heal as well.<br /><br />All my love,<br />Karen Karen May Sorensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14436905322393073250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-426337464702107372013-01-13T13:52:49.280-05:002013-01-13T13:52:49.280-05:00Hi Kate, just wanted to say that I've
been re...Hi Kate, just wanted to say that I've <br />been reading your blog regularly for the last year or so, and that I enjoy it very much. I'm 36 years old and from the Netherlands and I live with schizo-affective disorder. Just wanted to say hi. Keep on doing what you're doing! Stellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15975151519390468305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-71451796763659794202013-01-13T13:04:24.730-05:002013-01-13T13:04:24.730-05:00Thank you, Kate for your kind words- they make me ...Thank you, Kate for your kind words- they make me feel very good about myself, and the peers I am associated with online.<br /><br />In response to what you said: "...I have to say that while I am strongly influenced by Buddhist principles and have applied many to my life, I do not consider myself a Buddhist." I am learning more and more about Buddhism from individuals living with a diagnosis, and who practice it in some form, and also accept other faiths.<br /><br />The values and exercises of Buddhism is what attracts me to desire more information- "The basic principles and practices encourage open mindedness, acceptance, tolerance, patience, generosity and love towards oneself and all others." However, I am selective about who I share my open-minded spirit on Buddhism with because many of my friends are Christian and are not open-minded to other principles of different faiths because it is shunned in the Bible and encouraged 'to put away all other doctrines.' However, I know I should not be like that- secretive about my willingness to engage in different faiths because I want to behnest with myself and peers, and to also learn more about oneness and to be at peace by means of studying Buddhism.<br /><br />Lastly, I am in agreement with your statement: "The point is to do what works for you and that could mean that you adhere to only one religion and follow it in an orthodox manner." Ashley Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03227478646550668474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-66735038467168782642013-01-12T10:53:14.672-05:002013-01-12T10:53:14.672-05:00Hello Kate, just discovered you. I realize, I am a...Hello Kate, just discovered you. I realize, I am almost a year away from what you wrote about Falling Into Grace! I just downloaded the book onto Kindle. Wonder where you are now in your Spiritual discovery...babayagahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10471004014578057158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-33345107384030491012013-01-12T10:50:29.666-05:002013-01-12T10:50:29.666-05:00Hi Kate,
I am delighted to have met you! I also ju...Hi Kate,<br />I am delighted to have met you! I also just downloaded Falling into Grace on my Kindle yesterday and I am about one third through! So far, i am greatly puzzled by it, however some truths already start to hit me. Background: an old survivor of child abuse... Not able yet to integrate this part of my life, trying, sometimes desperately to find some solutions, which, of course, is the recipe for NOT finding them... Looking forward to further reading this book and also your comments, which i find invaluable.babayagahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10471004014578057158noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-72007341950543866752013-01-06T10:45:12.290-05:002013-01-06T10:45:12.290-05:00Dear Kate,
What a wonderful, wonderful post and p...Dear Kate,<br /><br />What a wonderful, wonderful post and portrait! Do you know that I was just thinking about Pema Chodron and wondering whether it was time for me to take the plunge and look at her "stuff" now...I so agree with all that you wrote already. Though as you also know I have yet to reach any place of lovingkindness for myself...In fact, it is precisely the LK stuff directed towards me that keeps me back. I won't write about it now, because I just wanted to say hello and tell you how much, how very much this post meant to me. It made me happy on a bad day. It just was so lovely to read and know that you were able finally to write it and mean it. I am so glad to hear how you have journeyed on your path. It brought tears to my eyes to know that you are NOT quite so isolated, and that you are more balanced and indeed that Pema Chodron's teaching were at least partially responsible. I can believe that.<br /><br />Take care, my friend. My email box is always open for communication from you if you have the time or desire for a longer "letter" someday. In the meantime, be well, stay well, and be at peace.<br />Yours,<br /><br />Pam W<br /><br />PS I see double all the time, so I hope I can make out the two words to prove I am not a robot! 8DPamela Spiro Wagnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15099575785070895367noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-76204450091717589202013-01-06T09:04:52.637-05:002013-01-06T09:04:52.637-05:00Hi Kate!
Its nice to have a hero. I have many, b...Hi Kate!<br /><br />Its nice to have a hero. I have many, but they are artists. I love reading about their lives, thinking that if they can deal with obstacles, then I too can overcome adversity. Of course my hero's don't usually talk, they make pictures and that is what I think about and ponder and let influence me in the direction my work takes. But I think that with my heroes, some have had unhappy endings. I do what I can so I don't go the dark places they go. I try to learn from other's mistakes. Of course that's not anywhere as good as learning from another's course of wisdom............you are lucky that you felt such a bond with Pema. I think by nature you are kind and compassionate, and a religion that holds these things central is a very good one for you. I know a mentally ill man whose life was saved by Buddhism, literally he stopped trying to commit suicide after he started practicing Buddhism. <br /><br />My current hero is David Hockney, an artist who has had a long, prolific life. I love what he is doing in old age.............it gives me the hope that my best work is still to come. I suppose that Hockney is a man who never stopped changing and growing, and if you can have a life of constant growth, I think this is ideal. Wisdom is never just finally caught and pinned down. I think you have to search for it until the end.<br /><br />All my love,<br />KarenKaren May Sorensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14436905322393073250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-7360631440174570132013-01-05T18:55:12.583-05:002013-01-05T18:55:12.583-05:00Hi Kate,
I am glad to hear you are maintaining go...Hi Kate,<br /><br />I am glad to hear you are maintaining good health!- 11 years strong since your last psychotic break.<br /><br />I did not know of Pema Chodron, however, I have had a few mentors to understand the care she must have had for you and other mentees. Your mentor sounds non-judgmental, passionate, and wise. When I pass, I hope I've made my impact on the community and an array of individuals with or without mental illness.<br /><br />I am not familiar with the Buddhist practice but would not mind learning it, in order to learn more about myself and to have inner peace. I went to a couple of meetings last year and I liked the ongoing educational aspect of it. But I am not sure if that is the path for me because of my Christain upbringing.<br /><br />In fact, I know a couple of individuals who also have a mental illness and practice Buddhism. I think that is awesome- practicing Buddhism because I know it must take a lot patience commitment, and hard work.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Ashley SmithAshley Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03227478646550668474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-65228206267940841592013-01-04T10:03:07.508-05:002013-01-04T10:03:07.508-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-64681148093228148432013-01-04T07:47:50.030-05:002013-01-04T07:47:50.030-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-12160949710333303132013-01-04T00:16:36.931-05:002013-01-04T00:16:36.931-05:00Remarkable issues here. I am very glad to see your...Remarkable issues here. I am very glad to see your article.<br />Thanks so much and I'm having a look ahead to touch you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?<br /><i>Visit my web-site</i> ; <b><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-2ElxEZoQk" rel="nofollow">Lexington Law</a></b>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-82572402962938139522013-01-03T20:45:03.698-05:002013-01-03T20:45:03.698-05:00Hey Kate,
I bought two Pema Chodron books: Takin...Hey Kate,<br /><br />I bought two Pema Chodron books: Taking the Leap (short and tiny yet oh so good) and When Things Fall Apart (doubly good).<br /><br />Alas, I can't commit to becoming a total Buddhist or adopting Buddhist principles.<br /><br />I can see a lot of the focus on compassion is valid yet Buddhism seems itself like another organized religions whose beliefs you're supposed to adhere to without questioning.<br /><br />I wonder about this.<br /><br />What is your take on it? Can we take what we need and leave the rest when it comes to our spirituality?<br /><br />A noted priest who wrote a book lamented the "cafeteria style" method of picking and choosing what beliefs you adopt.<br /><br />Yet I'm not sure this is totally wrong. A person can take parts of Christianity that work and leave behind what doesn't like some of the women's health stance.<br /><br />I didn't read his book straight through. It was popular about seven years ago.<br /><br />Possibly I believe we all have a spirit that is the essence of who we are and this could be our original self apart from a doctrine. Even if the belief is one we treasure.<br /><br />Certainly:<br /><br />Faith and spirit have a reverent place in a person's recovery.<br /><br />Regards,<br />ChrisChrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15705538654048829908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-67213873418947597742013-01-03T17:54:50.552-05:002013-01-03T17:54:50.552-05:00Thank you so much for your wise words. I am a sing...Thank you so much for your wise words. I am a singer-comedienne-presenter and constantly hear how I must use social media, network and keep my name out there. However it is stressing me out and causing anxiety; can't I just be... without the extra stuff? Each day I say a pray/meditate to ease my thoughts and so far so good. I am famous for me, I have a CD, I've been on T.V. and I've sung with and for very famous people. With all my goodness, faults and imperfections I am still me. The grass is greener on the other-side and I'm on it. Again; many thanks! Clover JeanAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09193622063264030966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7239140084937897595.post-90803098218865328532012-12-23T07:26:44.091-05:002012-12-23T07:26:44.091-05:00Hi Kate,
In thinking about the people I know, my ...Hi Kate,<br /><br />In thinking about the people I know, my family and friends and acquaintances, they are just mostly ordinary folk with small troubles and no desire to change or grow. They do change, they do grow, but it is mostly life events that causes small shifts in personality, I'm thinking ten years makes a slightly new person, very little movement sadly towards a different kind of consciousness for most in a shorter time, unless work done with someone who has studied health, mental processes, and self awareness and is in a good sane place themselves. <br /><br />My brother who is hyper ecologically mindful, has an odd problem of being not being able to be honest and intimate about himself. So he's very good for the planet in all his behavior, but he gives hardly any feelings or personal details away to me, he's emotionally closed. Ironically he believes in meditation with the strength of a fanatic, he thinks its so beneficial, and he practices, but it hasn't helped him to soften his his heart much. (I get emails from him about the scientific benefits of meditation). I look at him and think your a spokesperson for meditation? And you think yourself so very happy but you act like a superior but nice bully (rather the iron fist in a velvet glove conversations) and can't trust to give any of your feelings away, other than to tell others how to live their lives in the name of being helpful - oh Lord save me from self professed happy people who are trying to help other people be happy too! I think my brother believes he has attained a higher consciousness...............so you see I am very very wary of people who claim to have a higher consciousness through things like meditation. Or think they are super sane because they are mindful of the planet's ecosphere.<br /><br />My therapist thinks the way to a higher awareness is through suffering. I'm not certain on that, because I know how suffering can destroy a person, so I'm going to ask him more next time I see him. <br /><br />I think the planet and the people on it are moving in many directions, some good, some bad, its mostly chaotic. But we are moving somewhere, I just lack the vision to predict where we are headed. But you are right in that we need to protect what is good and nurturing, the environment and I think human rights within governments. <br /><br />Did you know that China television recently aired the movie "V for Vendetta", which has the antihero trying to take down the government in the name of freedom? There's been a leadership change in the ruling political council, and people in the West are wondering if the airing of this movie, that has never been seen in China before, was a tiny gesture towards more human rights..........one interesting step in a good direction for a large population.<br /><br />All my love,<br />Karen Karen May Sorensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14436905322393073250noreply@blogger.com