Older Entries »

A Story About Stories

By Jeffrey Noethe, Ph.D., on May 18th, 2011

Stories are powerful. At their most basic, stories are simply ideas or collections of ideas, and they can be as big as an epic novel or as small as a single thought, like “life is hard” or “I am fat.” There are stories we take in through books, movies, TV, advertising, other people, and our [...]

May 18th, 2011 | Category: Expectations, Human Development, Perception and Reality | Comments are closed

Lessons from Water

By Jeffrey Noethe, Ph.D., on October 24th, 2010

Water knows no fear, anticipation, or surprise.
Remaining calm, clear, and true,
It suffers not the future
And reflects beauty in tranquility.

Water neither seeks nor resists conflict.
Flowing with simplicity and efficiency,
It suffers not the present
And reflects beauty in turbulence.

Water dwells not on drama or regret.
Resuming the original condition,
It suffers not the past
And [...]

October 24th, 2010 | Category: Expectations, Metaphor, Mindfulness, Perception and Reality, Trust and Control | Comments are closed

Guilt and Worry as Alarms

By Jeffrey Noethe, Ph.D., on May 26th, 2010

It was a client who first shared with me the idea that guilt is not meant to be carried around as a burden. Rather, it is more like an alarm. I liked this idea, and I have used it ever since. Recently, it occurred to me that worry is much the same. Both are like [...]

May 26th, 2010 | Category: Emotions, Expectations, Metaphor, Mindfulness | Comments are closed

Defining Li

By Jeffrey Noethe, Ph.D., on April 21st, 2010

I like the idea that there is a natural order or beauty within the apparent chaos of life and the world. We simply have to learn to see it. The Chinese word for this organic order is “li”, and it can be seen easily in the patterns of snowflakes, frost, waves, and sand dunes. Li, [...]

April 21st, 2010 | Category: Expectations, Mindfulness, Perception and Reality, Trust and Control | Comments are closed
 
  Older Entries »