Happy New Year! This you tube video was sent to me by a friend. It's from last year, but it is still good and makes you smile.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Nathaniel Branden, Ayn Rand and Me
In the days before Depak Chopra and Tony Robbins, there was EST, and other "self-actualization" movements. I was single, between husbands, and determined to improve myself and meet attractive, single men. What better way then to go where they might be? (This was before on-line dating). Not bars necessarily, not quilting classes, but wine seminars, financial workshops, and. . . a weekend with my then guru, Nathaniel Branden, one of the fathers of the self-esteem movement, and a protege of Ayn Rand.
After reading several of Branden's books, including The Psychology of Self-Esteem, I learned that he would be in town conducting a weekend seminar in Denver. Perfect, I thought, and I signed up.
I can still visualize some of the scenes of that weekend. More men than women, (yes!); everyone trying very hard to look confident, wondering what was in store for them. What the weekend consisted of was a series of what anyone would recognize as psychological exercises. One scene I remember was this poor guy, up on the stage, with Nathaniel skillfully leading him through some emotional memories which ended up with the "patient" sobbing into a huge teddy bear that was a prop.
The culmination of the weekend was an exercise where we all gathered in the gym, lights very dim, told to lie down on the floor, lift up our pelvises and make whatever sounds or words that came to mind. What am I doing here I thought, as the man next to me was calling his mother every horrible thing, swearing, swearing, swearing. There was a tap on my shoulder. "Natalie,"said one of Branden's assistants, (we were on first-name terms by then). "You don't seem to be getting into this."
The weekend ended, $300 later, although there were many smart, tall, men (my template), I really did not make any connections, but felt sorry for so many people that seemed deeply troubled.
I came home and called my boyfriend in California and told him about the weekend. "Honey," he said. "Anytime you want to feel 'actualized,' come to California and visit me."
I am adding a You Tube interview with Nathaniel Branden. I was flippant about my experience, but I did read his books. And he is still with us. I think seeing this You Tube will explain his philosophy, Ayn Rand and her books.
After reading several of Branden's books, including The Psychology of Self-Esteem, I learned that he would be in town conducting a weekend seminar in Denver. Perfect, I thought, and I signed up.
I can still visualize some of the scenes of that weekend. More men than women, (yes!); everyone trying very hard to look confident, wondering what was in store for them. What the weekend consisted of was a series of what anyone would recognize as psychological exercises. One scene I remember was this poor guy, up on the stage, with Nathaniel skillfully leading him through some emotional memories which ended up with the "patient" sobbing into a huge teddy bear that was a prop.
The culmination of the weekend was an exercise where we all gathered in the gym, lights very dim, told to lie down on the floor, lift up our pelvises and make whatever sounds or words that came to mind. What am I doing here I thought, as the man next to me was calling his mother every horrible thing, swearing, swearing, swearing. There was a tap on my shoulder. "Natalie,"said one of Branden's assistants, (we were on first-name terms by then). "You don't seem to be getting into this."
The weekend ended, $300 later, although there were many smart, tall, men (my template), I really did not make any connections, but felt sorry for so many people that seemed deeply troubled.
I came home and called my boyfriend in California and told him about the weekend. "Honey," he said. "Anytime you want to feel 'actualized,' come to California and visit me."
I am adding a You Tube interview with Nathaniel Branden. I was flippant about my experience, but I did read his books. And he is still with us. I think seeing this You Tube will explain his philosophy, Ayn Rand and her books.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas from Haiti, Peru, Mexico, and Indonesia
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"For to you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be sign unto you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."
"And suddenly there was with the Angel, a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth Peace Among Men."
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