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Articles by Dave Smart

• The Source of Our Fears - and Overcoming Them
  We acquire fears for many reasons. Some seem to be inherent in our genes, and are related to events in natural history. Others are acquired by voluntary acts of distancing; these can develop into phobias. Fears, generally seen as signs of weakness, are actually based on psychic strengths. But there are specific processes to get rid of unnecessary fears, and entire organizations dedicated to remove certain specific fears.
  Published 23Sep2010, viewed 170 times

• Vulnerable but Still Resilient: Awesome Opposites
  Paleontologists tell us that life on earth has narrowly survived total extinction several times. So it is not surprising that there are strong survival instincts in our genes. Yet daily we must defend our apparently delicate bodies from danger. These are two very opposite voices in ourselves. It is no surprise that this conflict is reflected in mythology. Also, the effort to find the center place between them can be truly challenging.
  Published 18Aug2010, viewed 190 times

• Living With Waking Dreams
  When patterns of events occur in our personal lives frequently, they are referred to as waking dreams. Patterns of events can occur to society at the cultural level too. They are related to events in stories of mythology of the world's cultures. If we are aware of the parts of ourselves, we have some choice in what patterns of events will happen to us. But if we do not choose, patterns - mythological stories - will tend to choose us.
  Published 27May2010, viewed 230 times

• Living Authentically in the Unauthentic World of Corporations
  We buy from corporations and many of us work for corporations, yet corporations themselves are imaginary beings. They consider themselves citizens in the various countries they exist in, and are arguing for more citizen's rights. How do we maintain our sense of authentic self in such unauthentic environment? By recognizing that even as our perception of other individuals are (authentic) parts of ourselves, so are corporations.
  Published 19Feb2010, viewed 302 times

• When We Open Our Eyes
  We are always putting up and then taking down our emotional and spiritual defenses. Leaving them up when we would gain by taking them down can lead to victimhood. Taking them down can be an act of naive innocence, or it can be the place from which true learning and growth of selfhood happen. Many factors govern when is the right time to do this but in any case, some risk is always involved.
  Published 25Dec2009, viewed 229 times

• Well-Grounded Faith is Alive and Well Today
  In India, middle-class citizens flock to the Char Dham Yatra, a pilgrimage to four Hindu temples in the Himalayas. The spiritual appeal of this demanding journey seems to relate to the spirits of place that these temples are situated at. The closeness of Hinduism to spirits of place is common to Native American and other tribal religions, and all these respond to a human need to grounding to specific places in the world.
  Published 20Nov2009, viewed 211 times

• The Dark Side of Pharmaceutical Company Executives
  All of us develop opposites in ourselves that tend to negate our efforts in our chosen jobs. However in the current health care reform debate, the pharmaceutical and health care insurance executives are finding out that their opposites are aiding efforts they are making to disrupt the debate process with misinformation, heckling and dirty tricks. But, the rest of us must identify our opposites and find other places in our lives to honor them.
  Published 17Sep2009, viewed 374 times

• Connecting With Those We Like - and Our Politics
  We prefer others to the degree that we connect with parts of ourselves we accept - and dislike others to the degree that we are disconnected with parts of ourselves. The way this relates to our politics depends on what political theory we believe in. Some theories emphasize an "us versus them" stance that encourages enmity, while others demand accountability and so connecting with all parts of ourselves.
  Published 22Aug2009, viewed 281 times

• Spengler's View of World Culture Revisited
  Oswald Spengler's views on world culture, written in 1918-23, have relevance today. From his model of changes in our culture and others in world history, come predictions - many of which are being fulfilled today. These include tendencies for a superpower to become an empire. But ordinary people, emboldened by the communications opportunities today, can maintain and practice the values of tribal societies which empires and states conquered.
  Published 12Jul2009, viewed 323 times

• Competing to Win or Taking an Opportunity?
  When we find ourselves in competition in some way, our Warrior archetype takes over, and he is concerned with winning - with honor. When an opportunity presents itself and we seek it, our Opportunist takes over. These two very different archetypes are present in situations that are a combination of these two circumstances, and we need to understand how their differences, especially in matters of honor and fairness, shape our decisions in life.
  Published 29May2009, viewed 245 times

• Transformation - what is it?
  Public speakers, including politicians, find that there is virtually zero tolerance for mistakes at the lectern. The discipline that is required of them results in the energies of opposite archetypes, and they deal with them successfully, or unsuccessfully. Their experience in so doing highlights the challenge all of us face in dealing with our opposite archetypes, which we can own and honor in our lives; or disown - but at our peril.
  Published 04May2009, viewed 378 times

• Perfection in an Imperfect World
  Public speakers, including politicians, find that there is virtually zero tolerance for mistakes at the lectern. The discipline that is required of them, results in the energies of opposite archetypes, and they deal with them successfully, or unsuccessfully. Their experience in so doing highlights the challenge all of us face in dealing with our opposite archetypes, which we can own and find a place in our lives; or disown - but at our peril.
  Published 16Apr2009, viewed 281 times

• Coaches Serve People, Not Fix Them
  Among the differences between coaches and therapists are: coaches serve people, therapists 'fix' them. Frequently a part of a client to coaching is yearning to be fixed, yet another part considers himself whole, and ready to take on issues. The coach is all too often tempted to take on an issue as a problem to fix, but ways can usually be found to treat it as an issue; oftentimes the coach's own experience will suggest a way.
  Published 12Mar2009, viewed 244 times

• Living With the Hero Within
  There are heroes all around us: in the news, in movies, sports, science fiction stories. They are important because there is an archetypal hero in all of us. Most of us honor that hero only vicariously. But whatever the hero, there is an opposite - something that for each of us is an opposite. We can choose to discover and honor that opposite by finding some place for it in our lives - or we can be in denial of it, but at our peril.
  Published 20Feb2009, viewed 569 times

• When You Think It Is Time to Give Up Your Goals
  Setting goals tends to be effective only when done from the centered position within oneself. The centered position is where one hold all parts of themselves present, considering them nonjudgmentally. When, as so often happens a few weeks into the new year, one is about to give up the goals and new year's resolutions that he has made, he needs to replace those goals with others made from that centered position.
  Published 30Jan2009, viewed 275 times

• Dream Symbols - Universal Signposts
  Psychological terms that we describe human interactions and relationships are generally absent from ancient languages that tribal legends were written in. The ancients turned to metaphor and symbolism to describe these things. This symbolism occurs in our dreams and, as it helped them, it can help us understand ourselves, our relationships, and our interactions with others as a modern expression of timeless legends and of Bible stories.
  Published 16Jan2009, viewed 257 times

• Empathising With Those Who Travel South for the Winter
  What enables us to empathize with a description of an activity is whether we can relate the words used to parts of ourselves. If we can, we FEEL that description; otherwise it's just words like defined in a dictionary. This tactic is used by advertisers and propagandists alike. We can use it too, by deciding which activities to really LIVE and which to merely define.
  Published 25Dec2008, viewed 295 times

• Embracing the Counterintuitive - and CSE's
  Counterintuitive ideas, which are contrary to what our senses tell us, range from that the earth is round, to quantum mechanics. A Comprehensive Satisfying Explaination (CSE) supports many theories, including evolution and psychological theories. Often we find credibility gaps in things arising from these theories, but it is one part of ourselves that draws the line on the counterintuitive while another part makes life-planning decisions.
  Published 08Dec2008, viewed 354 times

• When You Ask 'Is That All There Is?'
  When we are depressed and can see no positive to accentuate, it makes sense to listen - and to get into that place in ourselves best for listening. These voices are archetypal - they are present to some degree in all of us. Perhaps you will be called upon to be someones "guardian angel".
  Published 29Nov2008, viewed 287 times

• Trick Questions and Power Questions
  Trick questions are asked more to manipulate and entrap than to obtain information. Trick questions narrow the perception of self for the recipient of the question; while power questions tend to broaden the perception. Coaching can work well when the client is asked power questions, and can enable the client to ask better power questions..
  Published 19Nov2008, viewed 401 times

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