Power
Perhaps the word alone sparks a reaction.
Here are some musings on the topic which may awaken your curiosity
or a different level of awareness. If you'd like to share
comments with me, please reply to this email.
What is the nature of power? Why do some people
fear it, while others lust for it? Perhaps this has more
to do with our beliefs about power than with the nature of power
itself. Power is too often understood to mean the ability
to dominate and destroy. Another view is that power is the
ability to create, to nurture, and to heal. The first view
is based in fear, while the second comes from love. The
dictionary definition is: "the ability to act effectively";
"to be able." Power is neutral. Our confusion
seems to be around how we choose to use it.
Power is strength, and the ethical use of strength
requires clarity and compassion. The first step is to recognize
our power. We all have power in varying degrees, whether
we realize it or not. Our power varies in different situations
and in different relationships. We may not recognize our
power because it is not overt, or because it doesn't match our
beliefs about power. We may not feel powerful. For example,
someone may be crying, feeling intense, painful emotions. She
doesn't feel powerful, but it affects people.
We must make peace with power, our personal power
and whatever greater power we may have access to. We must
learn to recognize it and become conscious of how we use it. Can
we have the courage to be harmless?
Namaste,
(Honor the Light within),
Sue Redding
The Right Use
of Power (Heart Centered Ethics)
"This is a course that turns Ethics on its
head and approaches it from a service orientation, rather than
a fear-based orientation. You know the "thou shalt not"
orientation.
(The workshop is) filled with lots of exercises
to raise consciousness about power. The model
is relational, recognizing that ethical missteps are inevitable,
and the skill is in being able to be aware of ourselves and find
the resources to repair the error. There is, in fact, some
evidence that most effective therapy works not because the therapist
is perfect, but they are able to stay in relationship...
Right Use of Power is applicable to all of our lives,
not just therapy."
For more
information on The Right Use of Power workshops, email:
Richard
Ireland, MA, LMT
rireland88@yahoo.com
Oregon School of Massage
www.oregonschoolofmassage.com/port05b.html
"What looks like weakness is actually where
your strength lies, and what looks like strength is often weakness,
an attempt to cover up fear."
John Kabat-Zinn, "Wherever You Go, There You
Are"
"The need to control and dominate others is
psychologically a function not of a feeling of power but rather
of a feeling of powerlessness….The power of another person
or group of people was generally seen as dangerous. You
had to control them or they would control you. But in the
realm of human development, this is not a valid formulation. Quite
the reverse. In a basic sense, the greater the development
of each individual, the more able, more effective, and less needy
of limiting or restricting others she or he will be."
Jean Baker Miller
" 'You shall have joy, or you shall have power,'
said God.
'You shall not have both.' "
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Rather perish than hate and fear, and twice
rather perish than make oneself hated and feared."
Nietcasche
"There are two ways of spreading light –
to be the candle, or the mirror that reflects it."
Edith Warton
"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy
the scenery on a detour."
Unknown
"Faith is to know that you have a power within
you that is always available to you."
The Creative Spirit
by Daniel Goldman, et al.
"An altar is a fire on which we burn our hearts
in sacrifice to the gods."
Journey Wisdom
"I remember the dark wharves and the slips,
And the sea tides tossing free,
And the Spanish sailors with bearded lips,
And the beauty and mystery of the ships,
And the magic of the sea…"
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Is It a Stroke?
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to
identify. Unfortunately, this lack of awareness can spell disaster.
The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail
to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke
by asking three simple questions:
1. Ask the individual to smile.
2. Ask him or her to raise both arms.
3. Ask the person to speak a simple sentence.
If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks,
call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers
could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems,
researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions.
They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's
annual meeting.
Widespread use of this test could result in prompt
diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.
(Excerpted from an email.)
"Does 'Blind
Justice' Do Justice to the Blind?"
Review of ABC TV Series About a Blind Cop
National Federation of the Blind
Voice of the Nation's Blind:
www.voiceofthenationsblind.org/articles/114%20
Blind Right-of-Way
The Oregonian
Monday, April 18, 2005
"Despite signal, cars yield for canes"
We were driving in downtown Portland last week when
we stopped behind a car that was waiting for two blind pedestrians
to cross the street. The signal indicated the pedestrians didn't
have the right of way.
It got us thinking: If you can't see the signal,
you obviously can't tell if you have the right of way. So, could
a police officer issue a ticket to a blind person for crossing
against the light?
We turned to Officer Jeff DeBolt of the Beaverton
police traffic safety team. He pointed us to ORS 811.035, which
says this:
"A driver approaching a blind or blind and
deaf pedestrian . . . who is crossing or about to cross a roadway,
shall stop and remain stopped until the pedestrian has crossed
the roadway."
It goes on to say that if there's a traffic control
device involved, the driver still has to wait for the blind pedestrian
to crosscompletely, "notwithstanding any other provisions
of the vehicle code relating to traffic control devices."
The statute applies only to pedestrians carrying
a white cane or accompanied by a guide dog. So, the pedestrians
we saw, who both had white canes, did have the right of way and
weren't subject to a ticket.
Once again, we are humbled by our own stupidity.
Spiral
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