Journal Gym

Identify Your Blind  Spot I have just returned from a week's stint with my aging mother. Yes, I know - I deserve to be nominated for an All Saints award.    I made a special effort as she was having her 82nd  birthday and she isn't getting any younger.  In fact, she is going blind from an eye condition called glaucoma. My mother has always been an active outdoor type and has continued to play tennis several days per week to this very day.  Accepting the gradual  deterioration of her sight has meant she has had to come to terms with the gradual deterioration of her performance and the longevity of her tennis playing days. I must say I am proud of the way she is adjusting to this change, and making plans with friends to join a crochet team - a game she has never played.  I think this is a brave move as my mother loves to be in control and the expert - being the newby in the group and a beginner will definitely be a big adjustment for her.  While my mother has acknowled

If you say you hear voices in your  head the general population think you are going mad.  But hey - that just is not the case. I think we all have  different thoughts and voices swirling around in our heads at different times or what you might call " the committee”.  I know I certainly do.  And just like any committee or board of directors they occasionally call a meeting. All with different roles and profiles.  My board's regular members include - the critic, the coach, the child, the mother and the teacher.  there are also the fly in like adventurer, know- it -all and whiner. The voice that speaks the loudest and clearest is the chairperson of the board.   Do you have a committee in your head and who are it's members? Who are you allowing to be the Chairperson? According to Melanie Greenberg Ph.D in her article  "When the voices Inside your Head Turns Bad..."  , we  all have voices inside our heads passing a running commentary on our moment-to-mo

Have you ever said " yes " to something, when you really wanted to say " no ", just to please the other person? I have heaps of times. Most recently I agreed to go with a friend to see a doco/movie.  One of the last genres I'd choose to spend an evening at home watching let alone pay to see.  I much prefer to watch fantasy or sci-fi or thrillers. Anyway, I said "Yes" and decided to grin and bare it for friendships sake.  The movie was called " Embrace " - a documentary by   Taryn Brumfitt exploring women's perception of their bodies as "not good enough" and how the portrayal of  women’s bodies by the media is unrealistic and unattainable. Weh I got there and saw what it was about I realized fate had stepped in and taken me where I needed to be at the moment. Especially since this was the topic I was exploring in my journal and the blog posts I was currently working on. Anyway about the film.... In 2013, Brumfitt posted ph

Positive You Journal - Part 1 I originally posted this article on a blog I started called A Journal Junky (which I have swapped for the current blog - Journal Gym).  I got side traced and did not finish Parts 2 and 3.  I promise to do so now).  Hope you enjoy this refresher.  "Mirror, mirror on the wall  who is the Fairest of them all"                                                                                           Queen Grimhilde Queen Grimhilde, better known as Snow Whites Wicked Stepmother or Evil Queen, obviously had some self-esteem issues.  The Evil Queen could not see her own beauty in the mirror, only the face of the Mage (genie). She constantly required confirmation from an external source (the magic mirror) to confirm her beauty. In addition, asking the mirror also required a comparison with every other person in the Kingdom.  Just imagine how the story might have been if Queen Grimhilde was a self confident, self assured individual.  She w

It has long been known that the brain is divided into two hemispheres, with each half specializing in certain functions.  Research suggests that the left hemisphere of the brain is the rational centre where all the heavy duty learning and thinking takes place – you know, mathematical processing and organizational skills etc.  This side of the brain is given a full workout once we hit the school system. As a matter of fact, the education system and society in general, actively rewards and promotes left brain thinkers. Career advancement and monetary exchange for labour favours professions that rely heavily on verbal and mathematical processing skills. Careers, for example, in business, banking, engineering, law and medicine. The right hemisphere of the brain contains the centre that governs intuitive knowing, visual perception, emotional expressions and non- verbal functions such as holistic thinking, visual imagery, emotional expressiveness and poetic thought. In other words, i