Personal Update
Jun. 2nd, 2004 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arisbeI was updating my biodata for 
, and thought it might save some time to post the update here as well, as a supplement to my usual droll links and Bush-bashing.
I should probably also mention that I attended the Landmark Forum a month or so back, and begin my advanced course tomorrow, as I continue to attend the weekly seminar, for which I volunteered to serve as a group leader. As you can see, I am fairly serious about reinventing myself. I have little choice as unenployment doesn't last forever and doesn't pay all that much anyway. In a week or soI may post something about Landmark, which did grow out of EST, but doesn't much resemble what I heard about EST in the early '70s. Meanwhile, I finished Reality by Peter Kingsley, and all I can say is, Read it!
A couple of months ago I volunteered to serve as list manager and web master for an upcoming conference chaired by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seraphimsigrist on Archpriest Alexander Men, a hero of the Russian resistance murdered in 1990, presumably by the KGB. This is now up and running, as you can see. In other news, I recently completed an essay on "Pragmatic Idealism: The Power of Purposeful Thinking", in response to a call for papers on The Power of Purpose. It was interesting to develop some spiritual directions for the new century from the writings of the man to whom I devoted my doctoral dissertation some thirty years ago, and those of the Quaker visionary who had inspired me a decade before that. As I look at the practical points at the end I seem to be looking at the outline of a book. First, though, I must finish up my thoughts on the disaster of 9/11/2001 and the evil course our history has taken since -- and perhaps even before.
, and thought it might save some time to post the update here as well, as a supplement to my usual droll links and Bush-bashing.I should probably also mention that I attended the Landmark Forum a month or so back, and begin my advanced course tomorrow, as I continue to attend the weekly seminar, for which I volunteered to serve as a group leader. As you can see, I am fairly serious about reinventing myself. I have little choice as unenployment doesn't last forever and doesn't pay all that much anyway. In a week or soI may post something about Landmark, which did grow out of EST, but doesn't much resemble what I heard about EST in the early '70s. Meanwhile, I finished Reality by Peter Kingsley, and all I can say is, Read it!
A couple of months ago I volunteered to serve as list manager and web master for an upcoming conference chaired by
seraphimsigrist on Archpriest Alexander Men, a hero of the Russian resistance murdered in 1990, presumably by the KGB. This is now up and running, as you can see. In other news, I recently completed an essay on "Pragmatic Idealism: The Power of Purposeful Thinking", in response to a call for papers on The Power of Purpose. It was interesting to develop some spiritual directions for the new century from the writings of the man to whom I devoted my doctoral dissertation some thirty years ago, and those of the Quaker visionary who had inspired me a decade before that. As I look at the practical points at the end I seem to be looking at the outline of a book. First, though, I must finish up my thoughts on the disaster of 9/11/2001 and the evil course our history has taken since -- and perhaps even before.![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Alternatives
Date: 2004-06-02 12:54 pm (UTC)Re: Alternatives
Date: 2004-06-02 02:30 pm (UTC)Obviously, it can't be as good as the boosters think or as bad as the knockers think. My take is that it can be pretty damn useful for some if not for others.
I did a pretty thorough investigation before my daughter took it. I came to the conclusion that it was probably harmless, and if not she could handle it. For her it turned out much better than harmless. I got involved in part to be able to steer her away from the kind of in-group mentality that might cut her off from the rest of the world, to be able to translate things into mainstream terms. And I find a great deal I can use. Mostly stuff I knew but forgot or accepted intellectually but never applied. And of course there's a lot of stuff I have no use for at all.
Well
Date: 2004-06-02 02:55 pm (UTC)I have a close friend who went through est/Landmark/Tony Robbins/NLP/etc., and I have some co-workers that praise landmark to the skies, but everything they tell me seems shallow and sort of cheesy in that "American salesperson" Amway kind of way.
Any light you could shed on it would be appreciated.
Re: Well
Date: 2004-06-02 03:11 pm (UTC)Yeah, there's a whole lot that reminds me of Amway and pisses me off.
But the meat and potatos is that people are encouraged and supported in taking actions that they have known for years they ought to do and even want to do, like making the first move to reconcile with a family member you really love, but would feel foolish picking up the phone to talk to. Just to be able to do that is worth a great deal. And having done it, especially if the result is good, gives the courage to do all sorts of things you didn't think you could. (One woman got her father back after almost twenty years -- he flew crosscountry to meet his grandkids.)
It may not be rocket science, but it gets you there.