Journal writing is a favored practice of writers, a centuries-old occupation around the world. Why do writers keep journals? What do they write in their journal? Should you keep a journal? I think that anyone who enjoys writing should keep a journal. Take a look and see how you might benefit from this activity.
Journal writing can serve many purposes.
A journal is akin to a diary, in that it is generally a “private” book, where you put down thoughts and ideas, ponder on life, write down a joke you heard today, mull over a problematic situation, or maybe just plain vent. Journal writing can give you an opportunity to express yourself on topics you may not have the chance or inclination to talk about with someone else. This type of journal writing may, over time, give you a fresh perspective on yourself and others.
Which brings us to another benefit of journal writing. Ultimately, journal writing is therapeutic. A journal can be stream of consciousness. After all, your audience is you. You can express yourself exactly as you feel. You tend not to mince words, as you might with your boss who's just unfairly chastised you. Journal writing is an uncensored activity, giving you an uncensored look at yourself.
You can also approach journal writing as a developmental exercise. If you'd like to improve your writing skills, keeping a journal helps you hone your skills.
Whether you're a student or experienced writer, give yourself a daily writing challenge. For example, a student might benefit by writing a short composition each day, to improve skill and speed for English assignments. A more experienced writer may find persuasive pieces an asset in copy writing. A writer fascinated with character development as an element of the novel can use journal writing to explore different techniques.
You can use journal writing as pure relaxation and therapy. Everyone's got issues that particularly pique their curiosity or get their goat! A journal is the perfect medium to explore your own mind.
Perhaps you're a great cook and read every food magazine you can find. Maybe you'd like to write a cook book. Get a journal and your recipes, and write magazine-style articles about each. This could be a gift for a child going off to college, your personal family cookbook, or the next Junior League cookbook. You may even end up enjoying the project so much, you'll submit one of your articles to a magazine for publication.
Poets are usually introspective and philosophically oriented. Journal writing helps you focus and refine your thoughts such that a new poem results from the musings.
Whatever your interests, journal writing can be educational, therapeutic, and a lot of fun. A journal can be as simple as a spiral notebook or as elegant as a leather-bound formal journal. If you enjoy writing, give it a shot. You may find you have a lot to say!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Child Support Law
We live in a society that no longer holds long term relationships in esteem. Many years ago it was almost impossible to get a divorce so people lived out years in unhappy unhealthy relationships. Today people are encouraged to move on and out of a marriage or relationship at the first sign of unhappiness. Hopefully in the future there will be some type of happy medium. I say this because being in the social services field I see how break ups of marriage and relationships affect the children.
Most people say that they do not want the government or courts involved in their lives, yet because people refuse to take responsibility for the lives that they bring into this world we have had to develop child support laws. Because a great number of non-custodial parents want to turn their backs on their children the child support laws have had to become more complicated and punitive. The result is that many responsible people have had to pay more than their fair share because of those that refuse to pay anything. This results in hard feelings and again, the children are left to suffer.
Through my years of working in the social services field I have seen parents use their children as pawns during divorce proceedings and custody battles. I have seen parents that have little or no interest in raising their children fight for custody to avoid paying the child support to their former partner. Some children are able to tell me how much child support their parent pays and or how much they owe. This is information that should never be shared with a child. It stands in their way of being able to have a nurturing child parent relationship with both parents. The child support laws and the amount of support that is determined by the courts should be between the parents.
I have also seen parents question their children about what articles of clothing they have or what they eat when they are with the other parent. This is a way for them to determine if the child support is going to the child’s needs. I have also heard parents tell their children that they will not give them money for a special need, because that is suppose to come out of the child support payments. People that have brought children into this world need to step up to the plate and take the responsibility to follow the child support laws. Children deserve to have their care needs met, without fearing that they will lose the love or time of one of their parents. Children are not pawns for people to use to extract revenge on a former partner.
Most people say that they do not want the government or courts involved in their lives, yet because people refuse to take responsibility for the lives that they bring into this world we have had to develop child support laws. Because a great number of non-custodial parents want to turn their backs on their children the child support laws have had to become more complicated and punitive. The result is that many responsible people have had to pay more than their fair share because of those that refuse to pay anything. This results in hard feelings and again, the children are left to suffer.
Through my years of working in the social services field I have seen parents use their children as pawns during divorce proceedings and custody battles. I have seen parents that have little or no interest in raising their children fight for custody to avoid paying the child support to their former partner. Some children are able to tell me how much child support their parent pays and or how much they owe. This is information that should never be shared with a child. It stands in their way of being able to have a nurturing child parent relationship with both parents. The child support laws and the amount of support that is determined by the courts should be between the parents.
I have also seen parents question their children about what articles of clothing they have or what they eat when they are with the other parent. This is a way for them to determine if the child support is going to the child’s needs. I have also heard parents tell their children that they will not give them money for a special need, because that is suppose to come out of the child support payments. People that have brought children into this world need to step up to the plate and take the responsibility to follow the child support laws. Children deserve to have their care needs met, without fearing that they will lose the love or time of one of their parents. Children are not pawns for people to use to extract revenge on a former partner.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Article On Phenomenon And Concept In Psychology
The human mind; it's truly a phenomenon. Half the time I wonder if we truly know how it works. It's clear that we only use a small portion of it. Wouldn't it be great if there was a way to stimulate the rest? Imagine how intelligent and advanced we'd be. Our world would be completely different. Then again, it could be a bad thing. Just maybe total chaos would ensue if we used our entire brain. It's hard to say if it would do more harm than good. Well, although we fail to use the majority of our brain, we still study it nonetheless. This study is known as psychology. Maybe you've had a class in it at one time or another. I had two college courses in psychology. After reading a few books and countless psychology articles, I can conclude that we're all confused.
Do you believe in the concept known as psychology? From what I've gathered, Tom Cruise does not. Or, more specifically, Scientology dismisses the practice as hoopla. The name threw me on initially. Scientology sounds like a creed that would embrace a 'mind science" like psychology. However, things are not as they seem. From what Tom spewed out on the Today show, he doesn't agree with psychology or prescription drugs. Now, before you call him nuts and hate him for all eternity, I'd like to admit that he has a point. I've read a number of psychology articles. Some I agree with and some I have deemed bogus. Often it seems that psychologists are doing what any fool could do. They're getting you to give them the answers. "Well, what do you think?" Now, that's brilliant. On the contrary, I do believe that contemporary psychology has helped many people. Much depends on the affliction at-hand and the person receiving the treatment. Oh, and of course the psychologist him/herself.
Read more! We should all read more. It not only expands your mind, but it offers you more solutions to things. Now, I'm not just referring to psychology articles. I am talking about all sorts of topics. One thing I do advise is reading about famous psychologists. They are often addressed in psychology articles and books. Consider their point of view. You may or may not agree, but you will acquire new knowledge either way.
Do you believe in the concept known as psychology? From what I've gathered, Tom Cruise does not. Or, more specifically, Scientology dismisses the practice as hoopla. The name threw me on initially. Scientology sounds like a creed that would embrace a 'mind science" like psychology. However, things are not as they seem. From what Tom spewed out on the Today show, he doesn't agree with psychology or prescription drugs. Now, before you call him nuts and hate him for all eternity, I'd like to admit that he has a point. I've read a number of psychology articles. Some I agree with and some I have deemed bogus. Often it seems that psychologists are doing what any fool could do. They're getting you to give them the answers. "Well, what do you think?" Now, that's brilliant. On the contrary, I do believe that contemporary psychology has helped many people. Much depends on the affliction at-hand and the person receiving the treatment. Oh, and of course the psychologist him/herself.
Read more! We should all read more. It not only expands your mind, but it offers you more solutions to things. Now, I'm not just referring to psychology articles. I am talking about all sorts of topics. One thing I do advise is reading about famous psychologists. They are often addressed in psychology articles and books. Consider their point of view. You may or may not agree, but you will acquire new knowledge either way.
Articles On Stress And Curing Information
Finding articles on stress can really give you the information that you most need on how to cure stress and make yourself a calmer, and more successful person. Stress has no single cause. On the contrary, almost anything that is out there can be a contributing factor to stress. I have read articles on stress that have talked about work related stress, family related stress, the stress of moving out, growing older, and anything else that you can imagine. The good thing is that all of these articles on stress seem to point to the same essential cures and treatments. You are not likely to find an article on stress that tells you one magical answer that will cure all of your stress problems, but you can quite easily find a few things that you can do to treat your chronic anxiety.
One of the biggest ones that is recommended by experts in the articles on stress is to reduce your stress level. This may seem obvious, but few of the people who suffer from stress today even think of taking this step. If you are suffering from work stress, the articles on stress would tell you to, if at all possible, work less. If this is not possible, you could make a list of what stresses you out at work. Is it certain people, or certain work relationships that seem to really tweak your anxiety? If this is the case, then you can find ways to avoid them, or even better, to deal with the problem before it gets any worse.
The importance of dealing with the problem is one of the best things that the articles on stress will tell you. Chronic stress can not only make your life difficult, it can lead to serious health problems as well. Many articles on stress will tell you that this common condition will shorten your life, as it can lead to heart problems, as well as strokes and aneurysms. If you can manage to reduce your stress levels, both at work and at home, you can add years and years onto your life. Not only that, but you can regain the most important thing that stress robs you from: your happiness and your peace of mind. This is why articles on stress are so common, and so important to read. Everyone knows that they need peace of mind above all.
One of the biggest ones that is recommended by experts in the articles on stress is to reduce your stress level. This may seem obvious, but few of the people who suffer from stress today even think of taking this step. If you are suffering from work stress, the articles on stress would tell you to, if at all possible, work less. If this is not possible, you could make a list of what stresses you out at work. Is it certain people, or certain work relationships that seem to really tweak your anxiety? If this is the case, then you can find ways to avoid them, or even better, to deal with the problem before it gets any worse.
The importance of dealing with the problem is one of the best things that the articles on stress will tell you. Chronic stress can not only make your life difficult, it can lead to serious health problems as well. Many articles on stress will tell you that this common condition will shorten your life, as it can lead to heart problems, as well as strokes and aneurysms. If you can manage to reduce your stress levels, both at work and at home, you can add years and years onto your life. Not only that, but you can regain the most important thing that stress robs you from: your happiness and your peace of mind. This is why articles on stress are so common, and so important to read. Everyone knows that they need peace of mind above all.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
All About Life Through Astrological Forecast
I get a lot of emails that offer me a paid astrology forecast for whatever it is that I may be interested in knowing. I get a daily horoscope in my email, but this is something that I get for free. They send me emails all the time asking if I want to know if I am with my soul mate, what my perfect career might be, or what my personality traits are doing to my life. Though these are all interesting questions, I am not so certain that I can get the answers from a paid astrology forecast. You can call me a pessimist, but I am not pessimistic all the time.
I do believe there is something to be said for what most of us cannot understand. I am just saying that I am sure the secrets of my life and my destiny are not going to be revealed to in an astrology forecast for the small fee of $19.95. I don’t know much about any of these things, but I do know that if I want to know if my personality is ruining my career than I have to look no further than myself. These are all things that we can figure out on our own. We don’t need an astrology forecast to tell us such things about ourselves.
If you want to get an astrology forecast on any subject, there is no reason why you should not do so. I would just caution you about what you are going to hear. You have to remember that there are many tricks to the trade, and there are many who know how to use them. There are many statements that someone can make that sound like they are directed at you, and you can apply them rather easily to your life, but they can also be seen as personal by half of the population on earth. This is because humans have very similar experiences, even if they come about for different reasons. If someone knows how to do this, your astrology forecast is going to be something that seems personal, but will seem that way to everyone.
With that in mind, make sure you take what you read in an astrology forecast with a grain of salt. I would never go out and do exactly what is said you should do. There may be some truth in it, so what you should do is to think about what it is saying to you, and you should think about it long and hard. Perhaps the best use for an astrology forecast is to give you room to think about your life and where you are going. Therein might lie the popularity of something that is so unconventional.
I do believe there is something to be said for what most of us cannot understand. I am just saying that I am sure the secrets of my life and my destiny are not going to be revealed to in an astrology forecast for the small fee of $19.95. I don’t know much about any of these things, but I do know that if I want to know if my personality is ruining my career than I have to look no further than myself. These are all things that we can figure out on our own. We don’t need an astrology forecast to tell us such things about ourselves.
If you want to get an astrology forecast on any subject, there is no reason why you should not do so. I would just caution you about what you are going to hear. You have to remember that there are many tricks to the trade, and there are many who know how to use them. There are many statements that someone can make that sound like they are directed at you, and you can apply them rather easily to your life, but they can also be seen as personal by half of the population on earth. This is because humans have very similar experiences, even if they come about for different reasons. If someone knows how to do this, your astrology forecast is going to be something that seems personal, but will seem that way to everyone.
With that in mind, make sure you take what you read in an astrology forecast with a grain of salt. I would never go out and do exactly what is said you should do. There may be some truth in it, so what you should do is to think about what it is saying to you, and you should think about it long and hard. Perhaps the best use for an astrology forecast is to give you room to think about your life and where you are going. Therein might lie the popularity of something that is so unconventional.
Model Article For Improved Relations With People
Steven Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” made a big splash with this self help book, perhaps due to his savvy analysis of shared principles and characteristics of people who were truly effective in their lives. His analysis of these 7 habits of highly effective people boiled down to just seven characteristics, which gives hope to us all! Let's take a brief look at what he found.
The first on his list of 7 habits of highly effective people is to 'be proactive'. This habit was given first place because he found that all people were essentially proactive or reactive. Proactive people accepted the consequences of their own actions and realized that we always have choices. Reactive people tended to believe things just “happened” and their choices made no difference. Before progress can be made on the other six habits, the reactive person must make the switch to a proactive frame of reference.
The second of the 7 habits of highly effective people is to 'begin with the end in mind'. This means identifying your dreams, the end goal. You must define what will be fulfilling to you,whether in career choices or family life. Many successful careers ultimately prove unfulfilling, offer no true personal satisfaction, simply because the person failed to identify the end goal.
The third habit of the 7 habits of highly effective people builds on the second habit. Until you've identified your goals, Covey maintains you will not be able to distinguish what is important or unimportant to your end goal. The third habit is 'first things first'. This habit deals with effective prioritizing and time management.
Fourth is 'think win-win or no deal'. This is a revolutionary concept when you realize that in any dispute, there are solutions that will truly benefit both parties, without compromise and with both satisfied with the resolution.
Fifth in the 7 habits of highly effective people is 'seek first to understand' which is a profound observation. When two people talk, their goal is usually to be understood by the other person. A more fruitful strategy is to try first to understand the other person. When the other person sees you do want to understand his position, doors magically open to real understanding.
Sixth, we have 'Synergize'. This is a creative brainstorming technique to find 'win-win' solutions. Using the technique results in creative solutions better than any individual participant might have thought.
'Sharpening the Saw', the last of the 7 habits of highly effective people, addresses four dimensions of humanity which must be exercised: body, mind and spirit, and – added by Covey – the interpersonal. Regular physical exercise, enrichment of your knowledge and spiritual contemplation or meditative practice are also necessary habits to be a highly effective person.
These 7 habits are a model for improved relations with other people, successful outcomes and personal satisfaction. We might all benefit from the lessons in this book.
The first on his list of 7 habits of highly effective people is to 'be proactive'. This habit was given first place because he found that all people were essentially proactive or reactive. Proactive people accepted the consequences of their own actions and realized that we always have choices. Reactive people tended to believe things just “happened” and their choices made no difference. Before progress can be made on the other six habits, the reactive person must make the switch to a proactive frame of reference.
The second of the 7 habits of highly effective people is to 'begin with the end in mind'. This means identifying your dreams, the end goal. You must define what will be fulfilling to you,whether in career choices or family life. Many successful careers ultimately prove unfulfilling, offer no true personal satisfaction, simply because the person failed to identify the end goal.
The third habit of the 7 habits of highly effective people builds on the second habit. Until you've identified your goals, Covey maintains you will not be able to distinguish what is important or unimportant to your end goal. The third habit is 'first things first'. This habit deals with effective prioritizing and time management.
Fourth is 'think win-win or no deal'. This is a revolutionary concept when you realize that in any dispute, there are solutions that will truly benefit both parties, without compromise and with both satisfied with the resolution.
Fifth in the 7 habits of highly effective people is 'seek first to understand' which is a profound observation. When two people talk, their goal is usually to be understood by the other person. A more fruitful strategy is to try first to understand the other person. When the other person sees you do want to understand his position, doors magically open to real understanding.
Sixth, we have 'Synergize'. This is a creative brainstorming technique to find 'win-win' solutions. Using the technique results in creative solutions better than any individual participant might have thought.
'Sharpening the Saw', the last of the 7 habits of highly effective people, addresses four dimensions of humanity which must be exercised: body, mind and spirit, and – added by Covey – the interpersonal. Regular physical exercise, enrichment of your knowledge and spiritual contemplation or meditative practice are also necessary habits to be a highly effective person.
These 7 habits are a model for improved relations with other people, successful outcomes and personal satisfaction. We might all benefit from the lessons in this book.
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