Bobbing Around

   Michelle didn't say, but Tai Chi is actually a martial art. By moving very slowly and gracefully, you train yourself to be able to execute certain movements with great force and speed. Like many eastern martial arts, it is also training in inner strength. I recommend it for that reason to many of my clients.

Deeper Issues

A Tough Lesson in Humility by Delia Quigley
Creativity and madness by Alfredo Zotti

A Tough Lesson in Humility
by Delia Quigley

"Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18

   There is a man I know, who is a good man, and well liked by family and friends. He is a carpenter by trade and likes to tell how he once could throw 80 pounds over his shoulder and then climb a ladder to the roof. When I first met him, about six years ago, he was strong and healthy, helping me out by maneuvering the rototiller around my garden with impressive ease.

   About three years ago he began an introspection of his own character and decided that he was lacking in humility. Stubborn and prideful he would accept help from no one. Living alone in the woods with his tools, his red hen pecking around the garden and his carpenter shop overlooking the river below, life was good and no one could tell him otherwise.

   Then one day he prayed that he might learn humility. He asked for a lesson that would allow him to release his arrogance and independence and that this might make him a better person. When nothing immediately materialized in response to his prayer, he forgot about it and went on with his life. Except something began to happen to his body and over the course of days, weeks and months he slowly lost feeling in his legs and feet, so that walking and balance became more and more difficult. Finally, and after much persuading, he went to the doctor and was diagnosed with diabetes complicated by Lyme disease. -- a brutal and crippling assault on his immune system that has left him dependent on family and friends to survive.

   "I've had a lot of time now to think," he recently told me, "and that I asked for this lesson. 'Course I didn't expect it would come in the form that it did, but otherwise I never would have known the absolute unconditional love that has come into my life. And that I would accept people's help! I have been humbled, not so much by the disease itself, but by the outpouring of love from those around me."

   Some may think that this was a harsh lesson to call upon yourself, so I called to ask if he thought the lesson was worth what he is now going through. And he told me, "Yes! Because, what is really showing up is this incredible trust and generosity. Some people have put out large sums of money to save my home, without even asking for anything in return. It is a throw back to the old days when your handshake or your word was good enough, that you would do anything on the up and up. I am humbled by how people are not asking for payback, they just want to help."

   I suggest that his lesson in humility is providing others with the opportunity to become better people. "And that is the other side of the coin. You can look at either side and see it as an opportunity or a loss. When I look at my pride, honor and dignity, I see that the key to breaking those apart is you need humility. That is your "Get out of jail card." I am inspired by great men such as, Mandela and Gandhi who had the power to motivate people and chose a humble role of sacrifice in order to change people. I'm not saying that is what I have done, only that people have responded to my situation with so much trust and honesty. It's a beautiful thing, Delia, a beautiful thing."

Delia Quigley is the Director of StillPoint Schoolhouse, where she teaches a holistic lifestyle based on her 28 years of study, experience and practice. She is the creator of the Body Rejuvenation Cleanse, Cooking the Basics, and Broken Bodies Yoga. Delia's credentials include author, holistic health counselor, natural foods chef, yoga instructor, energy therapist and public speaker. Follow Delia's blogs: brcleanse.blogspot.com and brokenbodiesyoga.wordpress.com. To view her website go to www.deliaquigley.com.

Published on Care2.com.

Creativity and madness
by Alfredo Zotti

   Creativity, according to 'The Oxford Companion to the Mind' (1987), is the use of the imagination or original ideas, especially in the production of an artistic work. That is, it's not the production of certain results such as music, art or scientific theories, but the mental processes that lead to such products. Creativity is a way of life.

   By definition, creative people are imaginative and original. This makes them act differently from others and the pressure from peer groups is to conform, to copy, to act like everyone else in the group.

   The creative process often involves joy. All the same, it is also full of anguish.

   Research shows that creativity and psychological disorders share a common set of traits. Simonton (2004), Post (1996), and Peterson, Smith, and Carsons (2002) argue that creators will commonly exhibit symptoms often associated with psychological disorders. A new study suggests that bipolar disorder (but also other types of Mental Anguish) and creativity actually share a common root (New Scientist, 29 October, p.40).

   Creativity can be used as therapy. Many sufferers with bipolar or depression use their creativity to their advantage.

   People experience the creative process in two distinct ways. To give an example, here is what Dr Bob Rich writes:

   My creativity is in top gear when I forget that I as a person even exist, and am fully involved in the task. It then flows of its own accord. When I am writing like this, I don't feel I own the words. I am merely a conduit for them. They come through me, not from me.

   And this, in contrast is what I wrote:

   ...for me the real creative genius derives from my creative anguish, which is neither depression nor mania.

   My creative anguish has elements of both mania and depression, which alternate rapidly yet is neither. This is because if I was experiencing mania proper, I would not be able to achieve much since my mind would be all over the place and I would not be able to focus enough to produce anything of substance. Similarly, if depressed, I would not have the inspiration or the energy to do anything constructive or creative.

   From my personal research, I find that both these views are correct. The first is much like mindfulness or being totally involved in the moment and the task at hand; or they feel creative anguish, which is a kind of twilight zone feeling where the person is somehow trapped in two different worlds; alternatively, the creative person may experience both creative processes at alternative times. That is my case.

   More interestingly, the creative anguish seems to have a life of its own and I am sure that it is something which has been experienced by all great artists and scientists. So, what exactly is the nature of this creative anguish?

   I feel that the creative anguish is a state of mind that can either lead to the achievement of self-fulfillment, inner peace and contentment, or it can lead to self-destruction.

   For it to lead to enlightenment it has to be combined with developed wisdom, critical consciousness and the desire to be as close as possible to the truth.

   In this attempt the artist, who in my opinion is both someone who suffers with a psychological disorder and a very creative person, is somehow able to understand that the creative life is a paradox and that it embraces at once elements of madness and of sanity. Indeed humans can only arrive at some enlightenment if they are able to find a balance between madness and sanity, because both are part of life.

   Like electricity can only exist when there is a positive and negative charge, so too the artist needs to experience both madness and sanity and somehow learn to live in both frames of mind without hurting anyone and using these forces to propel humanity toward greater achievements.

   In addition, the artist must come to understand that what we call madness is a kind of inner suffering which seeks resolution of some kind. It is not at all an illness.

   Matisse and Picasso had well understood this, for their art always had a hold on reality but broadened the margins of reality to include the dream and the human spirit. Their art is testament that we need to seek a balance between madness and sanity.

   According to my idea, which one day I hope to transform into a theory of creative anguish, creativity plus anguish, wisdom, knowledge and inner exploration leads to enlightenment. A person who suffers with a psychological disorder and is able to reach this enlightened position is no longer at the mercy of symptoms for he or she has found peace and harmony.

   Below there is a painting titled "Dreams" which I have made recently and which is included to demonstrate how the art of Picasso and Matisse can be combined because essentially both artists were trying to do the same thing: show that reality can be seen from a novel perspective. Have they been able to achieve enlightenment? Probably not but they were well on the way to do so. It takes a lifetime and courage to accept the complexity of life for this acceptance is the key to inner peace.

Psychology

Uncontrollable anger
She wrecked my life by leaving me
Trying not to kill myself
Mindfulness-based therapy helps prevent depression relapse

Uncontrollable anger

Hi my name is Jim and I am looking for help I had a very bad childhood watching my parents fight physically with one another, they never abused me but now I have this uncontrollable anger and I have taken it out on animals in the past. My girlfriend just got a puppy and I have recently started again and I know mass murderers have come from backgrounds like mine but I haven't ever harmed another person and have no desire. I'm hoping that you can help because it's hard to find any kind of help for a person like me hurting an animal is looked down upon very harshly.

Hi Jim,

   There is research showing that kids watching violence between parents can become significantly traumatized. However, this is not invariable. Some do, some don't.

   Also, you can use the adults in your childhood in two ways: as models to follow, and as negative models so you do the opposite to them.

   In fact, I am sure both your mom and dad had some wonderful qualities. You can examine what they did, and choose those aspects you admire, and those you hate. Then of course copy the bits you approve of, and do the opposite regarding the bits you don't like.

   And Jim, you do not have uncontrollable anger. You have a habit of feeling anger, and have not learned how to respond to these feelings in a way that you approve of. Both these habits can be changed, if you have the motivation and perseverance to change them.

   I read behind your message that actually hate violence and cruelty, and are horrified by your impulses to want to hurt animals. So, you are clear on how you want to live your life. All you need to do to get there is to break some long-standing habits. And you are fortunate: you have a girlfriend who can be your helper in this.

   First, read http://anxietyanddepression-help.com/habit.html.

   The best way of getting rid of an unwanted habit is to put a new competing habit in its place. When you are in the presence of this puppy or any other vulnerable animal, deliberately and consciously do something that makes this little being feel good. Then congratulate yourself and feel good about having caused pleasure.

   As a matter of safety, at first ensure that you are not alone with the pup. Tell your girlfriend you are making this change and ask her to do two things. When you manage to do the new Jim and are kind to the pup, she should show her acknowledgement. If you look like you might be slipping back to the old habit, then she is to say something like "Jim, remember, you're not doing that any more." Then both of you need to forgive you, and you need to do something to make the puppy feel good.

   What gets in the way? Being harsh with yourself, telling yourself nasty things about Jim. Also, fighting any impulses you disapprove of. If the thought comes "That bloody pooch would make a good football" or something, you didn't ask for the thought. It just came. You are not guilty of anything, UNLESS you put it into practice. You are what you do, not what you think.

   So acknowledge the thought or urge. It's OK to have thought that, but you don't need to believe it. Don't fight it -- just treat it like noise.

   One trick is to extend it with an "AND." "That bloody pooch would make a good football AND my job now is to be kind to the little person."

   You have control over what you DO. So, live up to your principles and do good, and do well.

   You can.

:)
Bob

Thank you Very much Bob. I actually am seeing a therapist now which is helping a lot I thank you for taking the time to help a stranger. I will use the tools you have given to me and any other helpful tips you have to offer.

She wrecked my life by leaving me

   When I was in grade school, I had a difficult time socializing with people. I had friends, but most of them went to other schools. At some point during high school, I managed to change things around, and became very social. Life was good.

   I got married this last April, and 6 months later my wife left me and moved to Colorado. I spent about a month sulking in my room afterwards. Since then, I have had myself prescribed anti-depressants. I find most social situations slightly unnerving, and the last time I went to the bar I had a mild anxiety attack, which has never happened to me before.

   Question: What can I do to get myself back on the right track? I don't like being an anti-socialite, but putting myself in intense social situations like the bar and large parties kind of scares me a little. I can't strike up conversations with people, I can't small talk, and even if someone else is leading the conversation I find it hard sometimes to go beyond one word answers.

Dear Sam,

   You are in a state of grief. You have suffered a major loss, and it is entirely normal and reasonable that you should grieve for it.

   What's more, your way of seeing the world has changed, for the worse. You committed yourself, and made yourself vulnerable to hurt from another person -- and she hurt you. So now, understandably, you expect to be hurt from any future commitments.

   I suspect also, partly or wholly, you look on the end of your marriage as having happened because you feel as if something was wrong with you. It may feel that she left you because of something(s) you did wrong, and because you are faulty and not deserving of love.

   So, of course you're depressed and keep your own company and suffer anxiety where you're in a potentially hurtful situation.

   Grief is like a broken bone. It hurts. Given a chance, it heals, but that takes time. And things can interfere with the normal course of healing.

   One of these potential troublemakers is if you look on yourself as faulty because she left you. Best is not to blame yourself, not to blame her, but to look on the marriage and its breakup as a mismatch. Things went wrong. What can you learn from it, so that next time you can do it better?

   You see, there is a view of people that is very empowering. I think of myself, you, every person on this planet like this:

You are perfect.
Some of the things you do are excellent.
Some of the things you do are OK.
And some of the things you do are the growing opportunities.

   There are no such things as faults, defects or mistakes, just opportunities for improvement. So, when you feel up to it, think about what you could have done differently. This will come under several headings:

SELECTION

   If I'd known A, B, C and D about this girl, would I have married her?

   Why didn't I notice these differences from me, these issues, at the very start?

   What will I look for in a lady the next time, when I am ready to try again?

   How will I ensure that I don't repeat the same mistakes and be blinded by attraction to future problem issues?

EARLY PROBLEMS

   When the first tensions arose, how should I have handled them? (There are ALWAYS differences and tensions between any two people.) In that regard, you can learn a lot about how to handle relationships from http://anxietyanddepression-help.com/relationships.html

   You might consider seeking couples counseling very early in the relationship, to ensure a smooth start. Most people don't even realize that help is available and effective, and if they do, they seek it too late.

MAJOR PROBLEMS

   She may have been unhappy and hurting. Was there anything I could have done differently to help her? Could we have sought counseling?

   What was my contribution to the breakup? This is not blame, but looking for how you can learn from the experience. Next time, you want to do it better.

How to move forward?

   Forget the bars and parties. Instead, get involved in activities where you'll meet people who share some things with you already.

   What were the activities (other than bars and parties) you enjoyed before you got married? Do you have any passions, things you've felt strongly about? How about sports, or playing music, or volunteering, or political activism? If you believe in God, did you go to church?

   Rejoin life by returning to an improved version of what you used to do a couple of years ago. Also, do the things you wished to do then but never got to.

   If you didn't have passions then, develop them now. Learn new skills, enrol in courses of study. The best thing is if you can find activities that are of benefit to other people.

   When you do this, you will start feeling better about yourself. Your grief will still be there for a while, but when you are busy with other things, it will recede to the background.

   And when you are doing such things you'll meet new people. Some of them will be attractive girls, or have friends/relations who are. Don't aim for a romance with them, but friendship.

   When you are ready, one of them will flower. And this time, because you have learned from your breakup, you will do it better.

   Sam, this is the chance to build a GOOD life for yourself.

Bob

Trying not to kill myself

   I have been on medications for 5 years now. So far i have kept my self out of the hospital. Today I feel like I need to go back but cant bring my self to do it.

   I need some help trying not to kill myself. I feel my world is crashing. I give and give and give till i cant anymore Its time for CRASH City. do you have any suggestions that i can do Right now to stop these feelings? I beg of you to HELP me PLEase.

Dear Cathy,

   Depression is the pits, isn't it? I've been there, suffered it for many years, and have got permanently out of it. If I could do it, so can you. I don't know the specifics of your situation, but your few words trigger some of my cliches:

YOU CAN'T CARE FOR OTHERS UNTIL YOU CARE FOR THE CARER FIRST.

   You are not doing anyone any favors by giving and giving until you destroy yourself. You, like everyone else, deserve joy, fun, contentment. The way to make it easier to give to all those other people is to add one more person to the list of those who receive. That's you. And you need to be on top of the list.

   How? Go to http://anxietyanddepression-help.com/firstaid.html and read the seven measures for maximizing your resilience. Implement these seven measures, and you will be able to stand up to anything.

IF SOMETHING WORKS, DO MORE OF IT. IF IT DOESN'T WORK, DO SOMETHING ELSE.

   For five years, you've been trying to use prescription drugs to fight the problem. They haven't worked. So, why continue? In fact, some of these drugs have a paradoxical side-effect for some people of increasing suicidal ideation.

   There is a great deal of research evidence that the effectiveness of antidepressants has been overstated through research sponsored by the pharmaceutical companies, and by the suppression of studies with negative results. They do have their place, but it is limited. They are powerful, damaging chemicals and should only be used short term (if at all).

   However, do not get off your drug in an uncontrolled way. Go to your physician and demand to be weaned off the drug gradually, under medical supervision.

   Find yourself a good psychologist, and engage in psychotherapy. It is effective, and what's more, when it's over the tools you have learned are for life.

DEPRESSION IS A PRISON, BUT THE DOOR IS UNLOCKED.

   When the sad thoughts and feelings come, they are just unimportant inner events, until you believe them. If you argue with them, fight them, that gives them power. If you believe them, that gives them power. However, if you simply laugh at them, allow them to be there but pay no attention, then they stop running your life. Most people can share a room with a TV set with images doing their thing on the screen, and voices coming from it, and yet be involved in something else and not even aware of what program is on. Treat your negative inner thoughts, images, emotions in the same way. They are there, so what.

   Another way of presenting the same point is: when you were a little girl, a monster moved into your life. Her aim is to kill you, as slowly and painfully as possible. So, within your mind, you have Cathy thoughts and monster thoughts. Once you are able to distinguish them, the monster thoughts will lose their power.

   Cathy, you can do this. Some of what I have said is against the dictates of the culture. But the culture is crazy. Gain power by thinking for yourself.

You can do it.
Bob

http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Depression/23798

Writing

How to do a book review
Omniscient POV

How to do a book review

   A book review is a very specific art form. It has certain clear objectives that are sometimes not met, and should be free of some content you often find.

   The aim of a book review is to enable its reader to make a judgment about a book: "do I want to read this?" It should be accurate, and while it is the reviewer's opinion, it should be as free as possible of the reviewer's prejudices and biases.

   One of my rules is, if I don't think a book is a good buy, I won't offer a public review, although, if the author wants it, I am willing to give private reasons for the refusal. This is because even the worst book is somebody's beloved baby I don't want to trample on.

   Everything has good and bad points. It is a matter of honesty that any faults you find should be pointed out so that the reader can decide whether they matter sufficiently not to bother with this title. However, a hatchet job says more bad things about the reviewer than about the book or its author. And there are ways to put negatives.

   The best way is to follow the Toastmaster formula for feedback: describe all the good things in the performance (in this case, the book), make any necessary suggestions for improvement, and then finish with a compliment.

   A book review is not a synopsis. It is a bad mistake to give a blow by blow of what the book is about, particularly to reveal any surprise twists in it. Enough of the content should be mentioned to show the reader that you have in fact read the book, and to give a flavour of genre, setting, plot, characters -- and that's all.

   Reading a book in order to review it is not the same as reading it for pleasure. It pays to take notes as you are reading, and to keep in mind the criteria for good writing, for example as set out in the criteria for the latest EPIC contest for e-books.

Omniscient POV

   "Omniscient point of view" is a highfaluting name for head hopping. Don't do it.

   The idea is that the author reports the inner events -- perceptions, thoughts, emotions, images, memories, urges -- of any and all characters.

   I think of creative writing as having a scene, and a witness for the scene. In journalistic writing, the witness is always the author. That's why a synonym for "journalist" is "reporter." However, in the nature of things, the journalist cannot report inner events for the people in the story, only what they say and do. After all, few journalists are mind-readers.

   In contrast to journalism, in fiction the writer should be invisible. As reader, I should not be constantly (or even occasionally) reminded that this is only a story after all. For the writing to work, I should get drawn into an illusion that it is happening, and I am there, being a part of it, or at the minimum observing it directly.

   So, in fiction, the witness to the scene should be one of the characters, NOT the author. This creates the illusion we want, of having the reader submerged in the created reality of the story.

   If the character who is the current witness is a mind-reader, then fair enough, the thoughts read by this person can be reported. But even then, they will be reported from the point of view of the witness: "Looking at Susie's eyes, Peter heard her unspoken thought that..."

   This is very different from head hopping, aka omniscient POV. There, we have Peter's inner events revealed, and then the next paragraph (or sometimes in the same one), we are given Susie's. The reader is the mind-reader, not the character.

   This doesn't work in writing because it doesn't work in real life. If the writing is to create the illusion that the story is real life, then it needs to mimic real life in all relevant ways.

   So, pick a witness for the scene. This is typically the character with the most at stake. Present that person's world from the inside. This includes what other characters say and do, don't say and don't do: observables available to the witness. If you do this well enough, some readers at least will identify so much with the character's experiences that they temporarily BECOME the character. Even for others, there will be the illusion of reality. That's the aim of fiction writing.

What my friends want you to know

The premier contest for e-books
International humanitarian conference
Over the Top & Back Again is an Award finalist
Another award for Carolyn
April Bainstorming
New book from Kim Robinson

The premier contest for e-books

   EPIC eBook Award Competition is looking for industry professional judges: published authors, publishers, and/or editors. If you are interested, please go to: http://bitly.com/eBookJudging and complete the form. If you are an author and enter the competition, you will not be assigned to judge in any categories you enter. You will be contacted during the last two weeks of May to confirm your continued judging availability. EPIC thanks you in advance for your willingness to participate.

   EPIC's eBook Award Competition opens June 1 and closes July 15. The time frames for judging are:

Preliminary Round judging, June 5 through July 22
First Round judging, July 27 through September 7.
Final Round of judging, September 17 through October 12.

   Thank you for your interest.

FOR ENTRIES:

   EPIC's eBook Award Competition invites you to submit entries to our premiere eBook competition, one that recognizes excellence in ePublished works. We will open for entries June 1 through July 15. Entries must be published in English, include a publication date, be submitted "as the product sells," and be released for sale between June 1, 2010, through May 31, 2011. This includes self- and subsidy-published books.

   If you are interested in our competition, please go to: www.epicorg.com and review our eBook Guide and FAQs.

Thank you for your interest,
Debi Sullivan
EPIC's Competitions Chair
competitions@epicorg.com.

International humanitarian conference

   It gives me a great pleasure to invite you to this forthcoming international seminar event which the World Social Humanitarian Foundation (WSHF) is excited to be hosting in May 16th to 20th 2011 at Executive Conference Center, 137 Iffley Road, Oxford, OX4 1EJ London England, and from May 23rd to 27th 2011 at Le Meridien President Pointe des Almadies, BP 8181, Senegal West Africa.

   The theme of the forth coming seminar is; Human Right and Pretension. Delegates who are interested are to make a paper presentation and also advice to make a summary presentation on the above subject.

   On behalf of the Organizing Committee, I request you to kindly extend your cooperation by giving wide publicity to this workshop by sharing this invitation among your staff, members or relatives for their active participation in the workshop.

   Note: the W.S.H.F. will be providing all delegates with to and fro air ticket and also visa guidance for the seminar purpose for both countries. Looking forward for your cooperation and support for the success of the workshop.

   Registration is open for the seminar! Contact the organizing secretary Prof. Benjamin Kenwood for more information regarding registration. Email: (wshfsecretary@aim.com).

   You can also contact me with my personal email adders bellow if you need further assistant to participate in this seminar.

   Hope to see you at the Seminar venue.

Best Regards
Ms. Ruthie Epstei
ruthieepstei_1@globomail.com

Over the Top & Back Again

Hi Bob,

   I just wanted to let you know that Over the Top & Back Again has been named a finalist in the Book of the Year Award competition by ForeWord Reviews. (Yes, I'm also surprised.) There were 1400 entries from 350 publishers. They'll decide the medal award winners in June at the American Library Association Conference.

   Thanks for your help in making this possible!

Cheers,
Brandon

OVER THE TOP & BACK AGAIN: Hiking X the Alps -- 2010 Book of the Year Award Finalist, ForeWord Reviews.

   "Marvelous account...told with a fine eye for detail and a keen sense of humor." ~ Royal Robbins, climbing pioneer | "Brilliantly accessible and wonderfully subversive." ~ Richard Bangs, legendary adventurer | available at Amazon.com | Preview it at Pilgrim's Tales. | Join us on Facebook.

Another award for Carolyn

   Carolyn Howard-Johnson's short story "Truth, Fiction, Denial: A Big Bass Story" is a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Prose Award where it will also be considered for inclusion in Best New Writing, edited by Christopher Klim.

   Klim says, "Finalists are a very small group of stories from among thousands of submissions." Winners are announced in early fall of 2011.

   Howard-Johnson is an award-winning novelist and poet; her fiction and poetry have appeared in literary journals nationwide and she is listed as a poet with Poets & Writers magazine. She was named Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment by the 43rd and 44th Districts of the California Legislature. She speaks on Utah's culture, tolerance and subjects relating to writing and publishing and has appeared on TV and hundreds of radio stations nationwide. She is also is an instructor for UCLA Extension's Writers' Program. Her Web site is www.howtodoitfrugally.com and she blogs at Writer's Digest 101 Best Websites pick, www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.

   Learn more about the Eric Hoffer award at www.hofferaward.com.

   Learn more about Best New Writing at www.BestNewWriting.com.

April Bainstorming

The April 2011 issue of the Bainstorming blog is now live at http://www.darrellbain.com/

   Subjects this month: Arranging a wish, Doggie Biscuit! revised and discounted in ebook form until mid-April, Very aggravating radio interview, Our crazy disease, Why men are attracted to breasts (comments welcomed and will be printed in the May Bainstorming if desired), Awful root canal and extraction for me and Betty, Progress report, Book reviews, Excerpt from Medics Wild, Complete long report on very aggravating interview.

Darrell Bain
Fictionwise Author of the Year
Multiple Dream Realm and Eppie awards
See all my books at http://www.darrellbain.com

New book from Kim Robinson

   The generational sequel to The Roux in the Gumbo.

   It stands on its own. 90 percent truth of my life story but I ain't saying what is or what ain't truth. Also available on Kindle.

www.kim-robinson.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sewingsouls

Reviews

The Great Disruption by Paul Gilding reviewed by Dr Bob Douglas
Hope for Tomorrow's World by Bob Douglas

The Great Disruption
by Paul Gilding
reviewed by Dr Bob Douglas

   "Can we afford to save civilization or would we rather keep the energy costs down while we hurtle off the cliff into collapse?"

   "The great disruption" is a stimulating, indeed an uplifting book by a writer who presents his arguments with blunt passion and careful attention to detail. Paul Gilding was the CEO of Greenpeace International before working as a sustainability consultant to the CEOs of a number of the largest and most successful businesses in the world.

   Gilding argues that economic growth has no future in a world that is already overstretched beyond its capacity to replenish resources. He believes we are approaching a period of massive instability, precipitated by climate change, but resulting from the combination of human population and economic growth. We are now facing limits imposed by physics, chemistry and biology, because the Earth is now full. Despite human brilliance at technological innovation, our current naive faith in economic growth as a solution to our difficulties will inevitably fail us and we will hit the wall probably quite soon.

   The problem is not only climate change but also the massive destruction of the ecosystems on which our lives and livelihoods depend. Gilding has no doubt that we can get through the serious crises and disruption that now lie in wait for humanity. Indeed he finds the challenge positively exhilarating. He argues that the great disruption will bring out the very best of human innovation, compassion and community spirit, although we cannot now avoid chaos and misery for millions and perhaps billions during the transition period.

   He says that a successful outcome requires that we will reinvent the human economy. When the world finally accepts the seriousness and inevitability of our predicament, we will respond by unleashing massive ingenuity and capacity to adapt. "Our species is slow but not stupid," he says. We will be forced to change from shopping and overwork to sharing and enjoying our leisure time, our communities and our relationships. Because we must, we will share the world's resources with those who are in poverty. And we will all enjoy life more. Continuation of the current consumerist culture now does little for human wellbeing in developed countries like Australia and has huge crippling costs.

   Gilding uses the rapid transformation that occurred as the Allied Powers responded to Hitler's invasion of Poland and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, as evidence of the capacity of human societies to transform and lift themselves to new heights of capacity, communal understanding and support at stunningly short notice. In that situation, as with the one that now faces us, human societies were very slow to act, but once committed, the results were extraordinary.

   The climate crisis is only one of a series of interconnected challenges, which now face humanity as we contemplate a population of 9 billion people by 2050. Food insecurity, water availability, heating of the planet and the destruction of ecosystems are all associated with our pathological addiction to economic growth. Furthermore, he says, it is economic growth that has contributed to growing inequity in the distribution of resources even though it has also lifted millions out of poverty.

   Gilding has great respect for the market and also for the role which economic growth has played in the past. But economic growth is over and the market will only serve society if it is regulated to do so. The problem is, we have now passed the planet's limits to growth. We must rethink the human strategy. Inevitably, he says, the dam of denial that it is holding up global action on anthropogenic global warming will collapse and we will act rapidly and with great ingenuity and effect. The sooner the tipping point arrives that will unite the world around the seriousness and mitigation of the gathering storm, the better.

   But while we wait for that to happen, millions of people and groups around the world are preparing the building blocks for a new stable state economy that will replace our growth addiction. For a while, the growth addicts will continue to use the growth model to tackle climate change and fight what the author describes as "the 1 degree war". This is the requirement that we reduce the world's carbon emissions budget to one that is compatible with no more than a 1 degree rise in planetary temperature above preindustrial levels. Currently, we are heading for at least 2 degrees and possibly much more, which would be catastrophic.

   This is an optimistic book written by a clear thinker. Gilding shares with the reader his personal journey to these conclusions and the anxieties and uncertainties he has experienced along the way. He also anticipates and deals with many counterarguments to his optimism. He says that the challenge is not only for big business and government, but especially for ordinary people everywhere. Together we must take charge of the restructuring of society and the economy in ways that serve both humanity and our precious environment.

   I found little to disagree with in this important work. Perhaps that is because I have been wrestling for some years with many of the same ideas as have tantalized Gilding for much of his life. This is a book that deserves to be read by people of all ages from many walks of life and especially those in business and government. Young people concerned about tomorrow's world will find meaning and hope here.

Professor Bob Douglas is a distinguished retired epidemiologist who currently Chairs SEE-Change ACT and has spent the past ten years as Chair of Australia21. We are both members of Transform Australia.

Hope for Tomorrow's World:
A manual developed by Professor Bob Douglas

   Emeritus Professor Bob Douglas AO is a retired epidemiologist who was from 1989 to 2001 the first Director of the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University. From 2001 to 2011 he was the Founding Chair of Australia 21 www.australia21.org.au and since 2006 has been Chair of SEE-Change ACT www.seechange. org.au. He can be contacted by email.

   Bob and I became friends at the first workshop of Transform Australia.

   He is the author of a very impressive 77 page manual for a pilot study in 20 Canberra schools: "2020 Vision: How will we change?" The aim of the project is to examine how Canberra can be transformed into a sustainable city.

   I found the manual to be accurate, easy to understand and powerful. The first parts are scary, because they set out the problem: climate change, ecological destruction, resource depletion, population growth. However, once we get past the problem and the evidence for it, we arrive at the justification of the title. There is hope.

   Don't wait for the pilot study to be completed, and evaluated, and argued over. Grab the manual, and do your best to act on its contents NOW.

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