In the reality show, Hoarders, the accumulation of material possessions, especially with items deemed worthless (such as yogurt containers) may evoke our wonder as to possible underlying psychologically reasons for such behaviour. When we accumulate or have difficulty in giving, we are working from a scarcity mindset. This worldview believes that there is not enough success, […]
The Role of Imagination
According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, imagination is the mental faculty to form images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses; as well as, the creative faculty of the mind. However, what is the purpose of imagination in our lives? For Aristotle, the imagination – or phantasia – was a bridge between […]
Generosity
We may have generously placed money into kettles and envelopes, given food and toys to local agencies, and sent donations to charities over this holiday season. However, it is easy to let this practice of giving to others slip away during other times of the year. As Winston Churchill stated, “We make a living by […]
Why We Lie
Carl Jung stated, “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.” Among the things people will do is lie. A University of Massachusetts study found that sixty percent of subjects lied at least once (and an average of 2.92 times) during ten-minute recorded conversations between strangers. Why do we feel the […]
The Perils of Mind Reading
Mind reading occurs when we place onto others what we think they are thinking or feeling. Without their telling us, we believe we know what people are feeling and why they are acting the way they do. Mind reading relies upon a process called projection. Mind readers jump to conclusions that are true for themselves […]
Working with Our Projections
We are born with all the human traits; greed and generosity, productivity and idleness, and, organization and spontaneity. However, in order to be accepted into our childhood family we learned very early which qualities were valued more than others and which were perhaps, not even allowed. We may have been told, ‘Don’t cry’ or ‘You’re […]
