Adam Blatner
Words and Images from the Mind of Adam Blatner
Rich Inner Life
I’m tempted to think that everyone has a rich inner life, but my wife says that’s not so. She asked me to think about it, so I did. First, I am reminded that what’s true for me is most definitely not so for others. There are many differences in temperament and other variables. My autobiography […]
Posted in Autobiographical, My Favorite Things | No Comments
Mind Dimensions
I’ve been reading Prof. Alan Lightman’s book of essays title, “The Accidental Universe,” (2013, Pantheon Books) and what occurred to me is that in talking about the mind-boggling complexities of the sizes of stuff, it’s mysterious energy and all, the author nevertheless omitted (it seems) the most obvious factor: mind. Or perhaps he did acknowledge […]
Posted in Foolin Around, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments
Junior Prophet?
Well, what should I call this status role? It’s significantly less than a full-blown prophet, but it points out or explains what a real prophet might have been alluding to. Prophet-ette? Maybe. There is the phenomenon of people tending to say they’re true followers while in fact deviating in certain ways from the prophet’s intended […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Play and Spontaneity, Spirituality and Philosophy | No Comments
Understanding Understanding
Reading in the March 2014 Smithsonian an article about Carl Sagan, on p.71, he says, “I think I’m able to explain things because understanding wasn’t entirely easy for me. Some things the most brilliant students were able to see instantly I had to work to understand. I can remember what I had to do to […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Psychology | No Comments
Final Letter
I thought I’d post this now because in the future I may be too forgetful, preoccupied, or disabled to do this. So (possibly way in advance): It was great, and now I’m finished. Thanks for all you’ve all done. Most of you have been friends who’ve helped me. Admittedly, some few of you haven’t liked […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | 1 Comment
The “Real” Easter Bunny
The real Easter Bunny is a Christianized image of embodied Grace. In itself, it is neither a small furry rabbit, nor does it lay or give eggs. What it is, I imagine (and you must realize that I am only imagining and have no factual knowledge of which I speak), is a visualized archetype, an […]
Posted in Art (Mandalas, Doodles, Scripts), Foolin Around, Play and Spontaneity, Spirituality and Philosophy | No Comments
Scientism Criticized
Scientism is a term for applying the methods or criteria of science to assess whether something is true. It over-reaches, assuming that it is the only way to assess the usefulness of an idea. I think that scientism is wrong; while there are many things that merit being tested by science, there are other things […]
Posted in Current Events, Psychodrama, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments
Moreno’s “Idee Fixe”
I wrote about what Moreno called his Idee Fixe in 1996 and was reminded of it in a correspondence by a colleague, Ed Schreiber. The article that J. L. Moreno (1889-1974) wrote was published in a booklet last year, titled The Future of Man’s World. Moreno wrote: “Why I chose the course of the theater […]
Posted in Psychodrama, Psychology, Spirituality and Philosophy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments
Pioneering?
A friend, Dr. John Christie-Casson in England wrote, in response to my saying that I considered him a pioneer in his researches into the actual authorship of Shakespeare’s plays, “…the fact is I have only travelled on from where others had previously gone.” I appreciated his modesty, but it occurred to me that most pioneering […]
Posted in Essays and Papers, Spirituality and Philosophy, Whassup? | No Comments
Gemeinschaftsgefuehl
This mouthful translates from the German, a feel for the togetherness-group, a social club. Alfred Adler, the individual psychologist and physician, used this term as the pro-social alternative to egotistic competition, trying to be one up. He saw it as the primary alternative to neurosis—and I agree. “I get to help” is one of my […]
Posted in Autobiographical, Psychological Literacy, Wisdom-ing | No Comments