Tag Archives: conflict

Into The Wild

Posted on September 2, 2010

Into the Wild (DVD)

Director: Sean Penn
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Vince Vaughn, Catherine Keener, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt
Rating: R (Restricted)

Spoiler Warning: This review gives away the ending. If you don't want to know what happens, stop reading now! Listen to Eddie Vedder's cover of Hard Sun written by Gordon Peterson from the Into The Wild Soundtrack as you read along: I was profoundly moved by this film telling the true story of Christopher McCandless's journey of self-discovery into the Alaskan wilderness. Directed by Sean Penn and starring Emile Hirsch as Christopher McCandless, this film hit me hard and I found it hugely cathartic. Despite a packed cinema, it was as though there was just me and this film connected to each other; I cried almost the whole way through. Part of the reason I connected with it so strongly was that I first saw it while

Posted in Emotions | Tagged book, Christopher McCandless, conflict, Eddie Vedder, Emile Hirsch, family, film, Gordon Peterson, happiness, Jon Krakauer, Philosophy, relationship, Sean Penn., wilderness | 2 Comments

Radical Honesty by Brad Blanton

Posted on July 25, 2010

… Continue reading…

31VGVcR9oNL. SL160 Radical Honesty by Brad Blanton

See larger image

Radical Honesty: How to Transform Your Life by Telling the Truth (Paperback)

By (author) Dr. Brad Blanton

I was blown away by this brilliant book; it totally had me hooked. The author puts the boot straight into the curse of moralism as the cause of our obsessive self-critical thinking and resulting inability to be free to be ourselves, and act instinctively instead of regimentally. He cites two modern-day institutions as prime examples that perpetuate moralism: lawyers and the legal system, and the Catholic church; both of which are rich sources of clients in his psychotherapy practice. By pushing doctrines and sets of rules about what’s right and wrong, and how people should behave, these institutions and others like them enslave people to black-and-white thinking that goes against the inherent contradictions of life as a human being. The result is that we end up stuck in our head,

Posted in Communication | Tagged anger, conflict, family, freedom, radical honesty, self-consciousness | 5 Comments

Not Everyone is Going To Like You

Posted on November 14, 2008

Ever since I was a kid, I've felt a burning desire to have other people like me; to be accepted. It's not unusual to want to fit in with other people, and perhaps you can relate. Often when I didn't feel accepted by other people, I thought the problem lay with me. But a recent interaction with a rather extreme neighbour was an opportunity in disguise to learn otherwise.

A few years back I moved into a block of flats in a neighbourhood not far from where I'd previously been living for several years. I knew the area well, but the immediate neighbours were all new. It wasn't long before I met a neighbour who I'll call Edward, who lived upstairs in the same building quite close to me. At first he was friendly and appeared very charming. A little too charming perhaps, to the point of being a bit … Continue reading…