Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
August, 2010
Confabulations 3
Welcome Hallo Dere, Mind-Expanding Friends, Phenomenal Phenomenologists, and the rest! Today, for your enjoyment, some more mind trips, mind-ticklers, mind-blowers, and mind-stretchers. My mission is twofold: One part of Adam Blatner is serious and wants to promote critical thinking, disseminate factual information, and develop the skillfulness of self-management. Another part wants to promote the opposite—not […]
Tags: Confabulations
Posted in Foolin Around | No Comments »
Just Do It–A Misleading Cliche
The saying, “just do it,” is an oversimplification and deserves to be critiqued, semantically unpacked, examined more closely, which is what this blog piece aims to do. (Please forgive my pedantry. One of my goals is to promote imagination, spontaneity, play. Another goal is to promote critical thinking, reflection. It might seem that these two […]
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The Lowdown (?) on the Higher-Ups
I was told an anecdote by a friend, who said: “A friend of mine who started out in apocalyptic fundamentalist group, whose leader said there were the only ones who would be in heaven, and the only ones with certain privileges in heaven etc. also had a clairvoyant relationship with his wife. His wife preceded […]
Posted in Foolin Around, Spirituality and Philosophy | No Comments »
Fully Enlightened or “Excessive ‘Spiritual’ Excess?
This is a gentle rant against the use of such words as “fully,” “completely,” “absolutely,” or “pure” in talks and articles that have to do with spiritual practice. Such words represent that category in grammar called the “superlative”—as in not better, but “best.” The trouble with this group of words is that they often represent […]
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Happily Ever Aftering
What a sweet idea, part of the lyrics to the title song in the 1960s Broadway Musical, “Camelot.” How appreciative I am that I seem to have settled into this condition with my soulmate-wife, Allee, and our wonderful home and community. Yet happiness is by no means complacency or stasis: There is work to be […]
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The Psychology of Spirituality: Some Notes
Of course this is a vast field, but here are some observations. I was chatting with a friend who’s in the mental health field and he noted his difficulty with religion; but at the same time, seemed to be a little interested in spirituality. He mentioned John Bowlby, a psychoanalyst interested in the dynamics of […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, Psychological Literacy, Wisdom-ing | 1 Comment »
Sociometry: An often-overlooked dimension of social psychology.
One of the more important dimensions of psychology operates not so much in the mind of the individual but rather in the interpersonal field. (This is perhaps why it was missed by the psychoanalysts.) One pioneer, Dr. Jacob L. Moreno, in the 1930s, noticed this dynamic and tried to find ways of measuring it. It’s […]
Posted in Current Events, Psychodrama, Psychological Literacy, Psychotherapy and Psychiatry | No Comments »
Ego—a Term with Many Meanings
In a number of contexts—“new age,” psychology, consciousness studies, spirituality—the term “ego” has been used as if it’s a problem. There are several meanings of “ego” and it may be worthwhile considering these. First, the word is Latin for “I” and is attributed by the English translators of Freud’s writings to that part of the […]
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That’s What It’s All About! (General Philosophy)
This conclusion in the song, “The Hokey Pokey,” addresses the existential and widespread question: What is it all about? What is the purpose of the Cosmos? What is God’s purpose for Humanity? What is the Meaning of my life? Happily, I have an answer. I’m not saying it’s the right answer, or the final answer, […]
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Futurological Perspectives: “Framming the Zhork.”
The more I study history the more I’m convinced that humanity is less than a quarter of the way on its journey to wisdom. I imagine a compliant child, an earnest child, and the parent says, “Now, be responsible.” The child nods, sincerely desires to achieve that state, yet we know that young children cannot […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, Wisdom-ing | 2 Comments »