I read a few articles recently on bottled water and the gist of the articles was that the soft drink companies fooled us (they actually have more sales in bottled water than in soft drinks). They made us believe drinking bottled water was a healthy option and that those who drank bottled water were being individualistic, in the best sense of the word.
It doesn't appear bottled water is that much different than tap water. I will keep reading.
***
Does crime pay? Well, the January 6 committee seems to have more information on that infamous day. One interesting thing found out was that Mark Meadows, Trump's Chief of Staff, wrote in an email to someone that the National Guard would protect the pro Trump people on January 6. It seems like crime will not pay in this instance. That is, what happened on January 6th will not be the end of the story.
I hope there's lots more to the story.
***
I was just reading a book that talks about how America is saturated in individualism. This is something I've always believed, but have not given much thought to. But the book pointed out that you never hear messages in our society (on a large scale) talking about communal obligations--working for social justice, handing down a healthy planet to future generations, being a global citizen by working for betterment of all, not just people residing in America.
It made me think.
***
I have been reading the novel Don Quixote for about two months. The version I am reading has about 1,040 pages with about 1,100 footnotes. I am on around page 120. I feel like I will still be reading the book on my deathbed, no matter how many years away that is.
I do like the book and the translation. I thought Herman Melville's Moby Dick was long at about 850 pages. I'm afraid to ever pick up War and Peace.
***
I knew Socrates was quite wise but I didn't realize he had so many thought-provoking quotes attributed to him. Here are a few I came across recently:
--The only true wisdom is to know that you know nothing.
--Those who are hardest to love need it the most.
--True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.
--The unexamined life is not worth living.
--Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
--Wonder is the beginning of wisdom.
--To find yourself, think for yourself.
--Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
--Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.
***
I decided to write down a few of the many good sentences in the book, Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style, by Virginia Tufte. It goes into the details and mechanics of good writing. What I have read of it, a good bit has been challenging to read. The reason is, at least for me, is that it gets into much grammar, of which I have never really had a taste for.
But I'm trying to learn to change my tastes. Here is a few lines:
The lamp had been standing cobwebbed in a corner, unplugged. John Updike
Outside, the darkness was total. Brian Moore
Slowly, the sky blew up. Philip Wylie
All that life soon faded. John Hersey
The noise had become so loud, so sharp. William Golding
The relationship is disgraceful, disgusting. Janet Frame
The town was occupied, the defender defeated, and the war finished. John Steinbeck
***
I have to admit to myself that selling cartoons (gag cartoons) is not as easy as I thought. It has been humbling. I have been trying on and off for the last three years and have only sold, well, none.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. But, as is said, it might be an oncoming train.
***
I must say I am surprised to see how many people have still not gotten the vaccine. I believe there are rare cases where it may not be best to get the vaccine, but, generally speaking, I am shocked at how the propaganda put forth by the former president has seeped into the psyche of the conservative movement.
I see it as a form of mass hypnosis. That something so fundamentally against science and reason is eschewed. It will be interesting to see how history views the matter. I think I am at least close to the truth here.
***
Here are some interesting quotes from the book, In God's Care: Daily Meditations on Spirituality in Recovery:
--Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. --Chinese proverb
--The first duty of love is to listen. --Paul Tillich
--In God's economy, nothing is wasted. Through failure, we learn a lesson in humility which is probably needed, painful though it is. --Bill W.
--The best things in life are appreciated most after they have been lost. --Roy L. Smith
--He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own. --Confucius
--Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times.
--The deepest need of man is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness. --Erich Fromm
***
Here are some interesting words that I had written down and defined:
1. hamartia n. (ha-mar-TEE-uh) A tragic flaw.
2. toothsome adj. (TOOTH-suhm) 1. delicious. 2. agreeable; pleasant. 3. sexually attractive.
3. nudnik n. (NOOD-nik) A boring pest.
4. merry-andrew n. (MER-ee AN-droo) A clown.
5. mendacious adj. (men-DAY-shuhs) Telling lies, especially habitually.
6. klatsch n. (klach) A casual gathering of people for chatting.
7. incult adj. (in-KULT) Rude; uncultured.
8. tub-thumper n. (TUB-thum-puhr) A noisy promoter or speaker.
9. hayseed n. (HAY-seed) An unsophisticated person who comes from the country.
10. Kilkenny cats n. (kil-KEN-ee kats) People who fight to their death.
***
Brian Laundrie is still on the run. Am I surprised? Yes. But I guess here is where patience is needed. I must say that it's turned into quite a story, but it is quite early. I think it will be interesting to see if his parents were telling the truth when they said he told them he was going into the swampy area by their home.
I am staying tuned.
***
They still have not caught the partner of the late Gabby Petito. I must say that I am greatly surprised that he has not been caught. Yet, I realize in our society we expect things to happen in minutes and hours rather than happen in an appropriate fashion.
It obviously appears he was involved in his partner's death, but I think he will claim insanity when caught. To me, the whole situation brings home the notion that the world is more Freudian than we believe. That is, what you see may be very different to the reality underneath.
***
I have been following the story of the late Gabby Petito in the news. It is an amazing story. It seems almost movie-like in that the situation and how it unfolded appears to have been made in Hollywood.
The fiance is still at large and they have not been able to find him in the week they have been searching for him. It is bizarre story and I guess that is why I am just writing about it in a stream-of-consciousness manner.
I will continue to follow it closely. One key takeaway from this sad story is that what we see on social media is not always reality.
***
I've been looking through a book I got years back, The Wounded Male, by Steven Farmer. It's an easy-to-read book about how most men have a lot of emotional pain that they are carrying and how being a part of a men's group can aid in the healing.
The book came out about 20 years ago and I think it was ahead of its time, even though that was the time men's groups were beginning to take off in society.
Though the book does not have references to back up its statements, it seems nonetheless to have a lot of common-sense behind it that I think would be backed by many scientific studies.
***
Hurricane Ida is bearing down on the coast of La. right now. My sense is this hurricane will be worse, overall, than Hurricane Katrina. Just an intuitive take on it all, but it seems like one of those situations where no one pays attention until it is almost too late.
And, paradoxically, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
***
A book that I've picked up again is CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap!: Strategies for Handling Your Fast-Paced Life, by Edward M. Hallowell, MD.
The author has written a good bit on ADHD and this book essentially fits under that category. It is easy to read and fun to read. There are lots of techniques to help slow down in our fast-paced society.
The hard part for me--and probably for most people--is trying out many of the techniques long enough to find the ones that work for you and then continuing to implement them.
***
I don't think I've mentioned this book in one of my posts, but it is an excellent book: Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection by John T. Cacioppo and William Patrick. Here is a good quote from the book:
As career patterns, housing patterns, mortality patterns, and social policies follow the lead of global capitalism, much of the world seems determined to adopt a lifestyle that will compound and reinforce the chronic sense of isolation that millions of individuals already feel, even when they are surrounded by well-meaning friends and family. The contradiction is that we have radically changed our environment, and yet our physiology has remained the same. However wealthy and technologically adept our societies have become, beneath the surface we are the same vulnerable creatures who huddled together against the terrors of thunderstorms sixty thousand years ago.
***
It's an interesting thing. Almost everyone is concerned about how they appear to others in the sense not only of appearance, but of personality. And a big part of one's personality is how you interact with people in conversation. Yet few people are aware of how they may appear to others in conversation. That is, do we come across as shy, arrogant, bombastic, overly talkative, rude, etc.?
A good book to help with this situation is First Impressions: What You Don't Know About How Others See You, by Ann Demarais, PhD, and Valerie White, PhD. I found the book to be an excellent mixture of good social psychology and practical information.
***
I find myself going to vocabulary.com frequently. It appears there are many features to the website but the main thing I like about it is you can find interesting words in various books and short stories. I've noticed that many of the words are words you don't see commonly in most writings. I find looking at the words and their definitions have helped tone up my vocabulary. Most of the words I know, but I believe repetition, as a instructor in graduate school used to say, "is our friend."
***
To me it is amazing how easy misinformation can be taken as gospel by those who want that misinformation to be true. I knew partisanship could be strong, but I didn't realize how quickly and efficiently it can work. With lots of repetition and a willing audience, you have the makings of a powerful elixir for the craving masses.
***
The date above is an interesting date. It was on that day a number of hoodlums attacked the Capitol. Now there is an attempt to have a commission to investigate what happened on that day. Yet the Republicans are not for it. Unlike the 9/11 Commission, this one may not accomplish its intended goal--to delve into what happened on that day and what transpired before that day in planning.
Some of what is happening and has happened reminds me of the actions of a cult. But their cult leader seems to be on hiatus, playing golf.
***
I'm reading an interesting article in The Gambit. It's on the topic of climate change and affordable housing, a mix of topics that is rarely brought up. I find it a great article that is written in a laid-back fashion, which makes it easier, I believe, to delve into an area that could be overladen with numbers, theories, and charts.
Also, the article makes a provocative comment. At a meeting of stakeholders and business leaders a moderator asked the question, "How many of you think New Orleans will be around in 50 years?" and about half the room raised their hands. "Then he asked, 'What about 75?' and not a single person raised their hand."
That is amazing.
***
I just felt like reading some great writing, so I read some nonfiction of John Updike. Here is a random paragraph from his Higher Gossip: Essays and Criticism:
When against my better judgment, I glance back at my prose from twenty or thirty years ago, the quality I admire and fear to have lost is its carefree bounce, its snap, its exuberant air of slight excess. The author, in his boyish innocence, is calling, like the sorcerer's apprentice, upon unseen powers--the prodigious potential of this flexible language's vast vocabulary. Prose should have a flow, the forward momentum of a certain energized weight; it should feel like a voice tumbling into your ear.
***
I have started reading the excellent book by John M. Gottman, The Marriage Clinic: A Scientifically Based Marriage Therapy.
I had been wanting the book for a while and I'm glad I finally ordered it. I am only in the first chapter but I am surprised how well Dr. Gottman writes. Usually a book that delves into theory and studies doesn't make an easy read. But this book is a delight to read.
I hope to share some of what I've learned in later posts.
***
The more I think about why some people are choosing to not get the COVID vaccine, the more I surmise it boils down to simply following a certain conservative political current.
I think I would never have believed this could happen in the U.S. unless I saw it in action. As it's been said, the human is not so much the rational animal and the rationalizing animal.
***
ProPublica recently published, "The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen-Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax." Amazing stuff, yet, as the article says, most people knew the extremely wealthy pay little in income tax, but it's still good to see the nuts and bolts.
I'm quoting from the article here: "In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world's richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes."
As I said, amazing stuff. So next time I hear a conservative lament the horror of extending unemployment benefits, I think I know how to reply.
***
Recently there was a march in New Orleans by mothers who had lost sons to violence. And, unfortunately, about one hour later, near where the march was, nine people were shot. It does seem like there is no answer forthcoming about this problem of violence in the city of N.O.
My belief is that this problem is where specialists and scholars in various fields can be of help. Mental health professionals, sociologists, criminologists, and social workers should be among the specialists who offer their knowledge to solve this complicated problem.
Having marches, praying, and highlighting the problem on local news are all good. But they surely aren't enough.
***
I have started to do some research on why Americans seem enthralled with guns. Hell, there's more guns in the U.S. than there are adults and children combined. And sales aren't stopping.
I have my own ideas why this is so but I'm sure there's other reasons that we may not hear mentioned on CNN and the other major news outlets.
It will be interesting to see what I find and I'm sure I'll find a lot that's interesting.
***
It's seems that I am seeing more and more clients who are heavily stressed. And I realize that being stressed has always been part of the human condition. But going by the increasing numbers of people having depression and anxiety a good case could be made that people are more stressed now than in the recent past (the last 50 years).
My theory is that some part of that relates to us being in a society that is always on the go and rarely, if ever, rests. Couple that with jobs that seem to seep insidiously more into our lives over time and you have a recipe for stress, depression, and anxiety.
But America, as a whole, doesn't want to forego that recipe.
***
An excellent book I've been reviewing is The Mindful Way through Depression: Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness, by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, and Jon Kabat-Zinn.
It is a well-written book that has a lot of common and psychological sense in it. I think a good summary might be, Overcoming depression is a slow process that involves tuning more into your body and what it is saying and working on ways to be more present to more of life.
Also, there is much wisdom here.
***
I'm reading an excellent book on helping people who are highly ruminative, and consequently are depressed. The title of the book is Rumination-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Depression by Edward R. Watkins.
It is clearly written and has a wealth of information. It feels good to have someone who knows so much about this problem because I am dealing with it more frequently and feel like I am thrashing about and sinking.
I will keep you posted on my learning.
***
I was reading some quotes on writing by Annie Dillard. I kind of liked them and I kind of didn't. They were jolting but, to a great extent, I didn't know what she was saying, even though part of me wanted to assume I knew, but I didn't.
Reading about writing is something I've done a lot of. Yet, too much of it can cause a lot of confusion, and a tad bit of misery. That is, it can start piling up--I guess if you don't start using the advice--and soon you have a brain full of stuff, like a hoarder's house.
I'm trying to clear out some things.
***
I'm surprised more people are not up in arms (pardon the pun) about the number of guns in the U.S. I've read figures ranging from 300 million to 400 million guns in the U.S. One has to wonder why there aren't more shootings in our country.
It seems like you couldn't go 10 feet without bumping into a firearm. That's amazing.
***
It does seem like we are reaching a tipping with mass shootings. I agree with Adam Gopnik of The New Yorker that we will see the day when the gun problem will look quite different. I sense that will happen, even though I am not sure the exact path it will take to get to that point.
As I see it, the NRA, in due time, will be eviscerated. They will make a lot of noise but it will signify very little.
The American people as a whole are getting fed up. We have taken in too much death from guns.
***
I just felt in the mood to write some writing I deem euphonic:
--"a corrective emotional experience"
--"human, all too human"
--"Therapist disclosure begets patient disclosure."
--"displayed in living color in the here-and-now"
--"want to slough off their facades and become intimate"
--"there swirls considerable controversy"
--"whose courage has left me gaping in admiration"
--"The fear of death always percolates beneath the surface."
--"a last-second reprieve from a firing squad"
--Heidegger say death is "the impossibility of further possibility."
"Burridan's ass, which starved to death between two equally sweet-smelling bales of hay."
I took all these phrases from Irvin Yalom's excellent book, The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients.
It does seem like certain topics in society don't get people's attention. For example, climate change. Of course it's gotten the attention of a core group of people (e.g., scientists, activists, most liberals, etc.), but it seems to fly under their radar for the masses.
I presume one major reason is because of the mitigating forces against noticing the issue, particularly big corporations who think dealing with climate change would be bad for the bottom line.
It will be interesting when the bulk of society does catch on. It will probably be a mixture of reasons given for why they didn't respond earlier: "it was because the liberals didn't give us the real facts," "well, it's not too late, really," and "it's not because of big business, they didn't cause this."
I'm rambling, but I think I'm on the right track.
***
The case of George Floyd has recently started. Part of me wonders if somehow the police will wiggle out of this one. No doubt there is more complexity to any case than just a video but it makes me wonder why does the balance of the evidence almost always seem to confirm the status quo. Maybe it's simply because society has built into it things that bend the arc of injustice toward the status quo.
Indeed, when you think about who makes the laws and sets the mores of a society, isn't it usually the people in power?
***
I'm continuing to read the excellent book on ADHD by Dr. Russell Barkley. I like the way the book has moved from the primarily theoretical to mostly practical. I am diligently reading it and taking notes. When I took an inventory to see if I had ADHD--about three years ago--I was in "extreme" range. It felt good to confirm what I had suspected.
***
I'm reading a very good book on adult ADHD--Taking Charge of Adult ADHD, by Russell A. Barkley, PhD. I had started to read it years back and I found it maybe too theoretical and not practical enough. Yet, it was because I didn't really read it with the right intent.
The right intent would have been to take my time reading it and try to get as much good information out of it as I could. I didn't do that.
The main thing I like about the book is that the author is extremely well-read on ADHD and stresses the scientific rather than the purely anecdotal.
Good to see a book like that, especially these days.
***
I was reading some from the great book, Darkness Visible, by William Styron. It's the best writing I've ever seen on clinical depression. Here is some of it:
Depression is a disorder of mood, so mysteriously painful and elusive in the way it becomes known to the self--to the mediating intellect--as to verge close to being beyond description. It thus remains nearly incomprehensible to those who have not experienced it in its extreme mode, although the gloom, "the blues" which people go through occasionally and associate with the general hassle of everyday existence are of such prevalence that they do give many individuals a hint of the illness in its catastrophic form. (p. 7)
Every time I read some of it, it always seems fresh.
I've always known rumination, constantly going over and over the same material in one's mind, was part of depression and that it made depression worse. Yet, I am finding it plays a bigger part in depression than I once thought.
In fact, from the clients I've had who suffered with depression, most were incessant ruminators. And the ones who had the worst depression were usually the clients who were unemployed, retired, or on SSI, and had lots of time to ruminate.
It's an ironic thing. The people we might think who would be the happiest--those not working the day-to-day grind--are actually among the most depressed.
Life can be counterintuitive that way, sometimes.
***
I'm reading John Gottman's second edition of The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert. I had read most of the first edition, but since I have been recommending the second edition to clients, I've decided to get the edition they are reading.
I think the key thought of Gottman's philosophy of what makes marriage work is the following: "At the heart of the Seven Principles approach is the simple truth that happy marriages are based on a deep friendship. By this I mean a mutual respect for and enjoyment of each other's company" (p. 21).
And I think Dr. Gottman has a lot of research to back up his assertion.
***
I'm reading an excellent book--a classic in the field--by Judith Herman, M.D., Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence--From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror.
It's written in a delightfully user-friendly way. It covers the basics of trauma, with a new epilogue by the author. I find myself wanting to delve into the study of trauma because so many of my clients struggle with it.
It's hard to peg one major issue that plagues society, but trauma, in its various forms, is up there.
***
I saw some amazingly vivid video of the storming of the Capitol. It was presented at the second impeachment of former President Trump.
I think if no more Republicans switch over toward impeachment it will indeed show that they have one goal--not working for their constituents, but keeping their jobs.
Sad. Very sad.
***
Here is some writing advice/help from the writer, Ellen Gilchrist. It is from her excellent book, The Writing Life (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi; 2005):
--"The way you start writing is by writing. Over an over again I have proven this to myself but I always forget it the next time. I always believe I will never write again." (p. 65)
--"This is exactly what my students tell themselves that blocks them from writing. They tell themselves I DON'T KNOW IF IT WILL BE ANY GOOD OR NOT because it's true. They don't know and the only way they can find out is to do it." (pp. 66-67)
--"I believe young writers should be careful about what they read. I have read great poetry all my life." (p. 69)
--"Writing is rewriting. Write what you know. The reward has to be within yourself. Tell the truth about what you know and what you feel. Find out things. Read great literature. Then write." (p.79)
I had recently met with some friends and I was delightfully surprised at what some of them said. They said that having a new president has bettered their moods and they feel more optimistic. In a number of ways I can relate.
I do sense much better days ahead in the U.S.
***
It is cautiously hoped that better days are in view for America. I've read where the incoming president has made an ambitious attempt to better our national economy, and more importantly, to help needy families.
The president we have now, and only for a few more days, seemed less worried about suffering families than feathering his family's nest. Yet, that may be all for naught. The number of investigations into Trump has been growing and when he leaves office, I think, he will get his just deserts.
***
I think people will be suffering from PTSD--Post-Trump Stress Disorder--once President Trump leaves off. By that I mean that the daily frivolities and daily dents to Democracy will go by the wayside. As much as he hurt our country, a small part of us will still miss him (I have a feeling Freud, Jung, and Fromm would concur).
***
I wrote about Lisa Montgomery a while back. She is the first woman up for federal execution in almost 70 years. They have a new date set for her. The date is before Joe Biden takes office in 2021 (who is against the death penalty).
I still find it amazing that our government would execute a woman who is possibly developmentally disabled and had horrific abuse heaped upon her as she was growing up.
It seems like there has to be a better way. It makes me think of what the movie critic Roger Ebert once said. He was talking about a woman who was a serial killer who suffered many types of abuse when she was a child. His remark, in effect, was: what we do to children in secret, they will do openly to society.
***
