Podcast appearances and mentions of James Fowler

James Fowler, with the mysterious Skywatcher group, gives an update on the Manta Ray UAP on American Alchemy with Jesse Michels.All Things Unexplained Manta Ray videos:Flock of UAPs: Manta Ray Update (COMING SOON).What is the Manta Ray UAP? Manta Ray UFO: Case Closed?Previous Manta Ray audio episodes:Manta Ray UFO: Case Closed?

Jake Barber and James Fowler (Co-Founders, Skywatcher Technologies) join Chris Cuomo to share their firsthand experiences tracking unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) and sounding the alarm on what they say is a major failure of U.S. transparency. The pair describe how their privately run “Skywatcher” system can detect UAPs that evade conventional detection—and why they believe the government has failed to acknowledge red (adversarial) and “other” (unknown) incursions into U.S. airspace. Chris pushes them on whether this is a national security crisis, a government cover-up, or a new era of misunderstood physics—and asks what it'll take to get the public and policymakers to finally care. Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Join Chris Ad-Free On Substack: http://thechriscuomoproject.substack.com Support our sponsors: Call today 866 - eight eight nine - forty two forty four, that's 866 - eight eight nine - forty two forty four, or American Financing dot NET slash Cuomo. NMLS 182334, www dot nmls consumer access dot org OneSkin is the world's first skin longevity company. By focusing on the cellular aspects of aging, OneSkin keeps your skin looking and acting younger for longer. Get started today with 15% off using code CUOMO at oneskin.co. That's 15% off oneskin.co with code CUOMO. After you purchase, they'll ask you where you heard about them. PLEASE support your show and tell them we sent you. Invest in the health and longevity of your skin with OneSkin—your future self will thank you. Turn your big business idea into with Shopify on your side. Sign up for your one-dollar-per-month trial and start selling today at SHOPIFY DOT COM SLASH “chrisc” Go to SHOPIFY DOT COM SLASH “chrisc” SHOPIFY DOT COM SLASH “chrisc” #cuomo #news #ufo #uap #government #transparency #drones #tech Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Episode 93.   Did you grow up in a highly observant home and religious community where surety of belief was the norm? Aubrey Chaves did, and much as she felt embraced by the family's deep engagement within their Mormon congregation, or ward, when she encountered differing lifestyles that were loving and not harmful to anyone, the rightness she had always believed about the church fathers and doctrine shifted from a solid foundation to something brittle. In short, it prompted a crisis of faith. Over the many years since then, she's spent a lot time learning and struggling with her faith, emerging with a stronger and more forgiving approach to living her beliefs. These days, her spiritual views are more complex and open, for which she is grateful. Highlights: Pioneer stock of Mormons on both sides of the family. Church provided an anchor and cadence for life.Crisis of faith and realizing the church had flaws and ugly history.The role of LGBTQ issues in faith reassessment.James Fowler's Stages of Faith.Missionary service as a transformative journey.Orthodoxy v. Orthodoxy.Faith redefined as love and trust.Bio: As a lifelong member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Aubrey Chaves finds deep meaning in faith, community, and the continual pursuit of spiritual growth. She serves on the executive board of the Faith Matters Foundation and co-hosts its weekly podcast with her husband, Tim. Together, they explore big questions and hope to foster expansive, thoughtful conversations that inspire curiosity, connection, and deeper engagement with faith. They live in Midway, Utah, where they are raising their four children under the beautiful snowy peaks of the Wasatch Mountains.References:James Fowler, Stages of FaithBrian McLaren – Faith After DoubtPew Research  Social Media links for Aubrey: Website – https://faithmatters.org/Instagram – @faithmattersfoundationTranscript on BuzzsproutSocial Media links for Méli:Website – the Talking with God ProjectMeli's emailLinkedIn – Meli SolomonFacebook – Meli SolomonFollow the podcast!The Living Our Beliefs podcast is part of the Talking with God Project.

Transforme seus resultados: https://empreendendonoreino.com/negocios-frutiferos/Você está sendo influenciado o tempo todo! Descubra como proteger sua mente e alinhar suas conexões com os valores do Reino. Baseado no estudo de influências de Nicholas Christakis e James Fowler, Dedé Melo compartilha insights poderosos do livro 'O Poder das Conexões' e da Bíblia, revelando como as pessoas e os ambientes ao nosso redor moldam nossos pensamentos, sentimentos e resultados. Aprenda a identificar boas influências, afastar más companhias e imitar comportamentos que apontam para Cristo. Não perca esta reflexão transformadora!00:00 - Introdução: Você está sendo influenciado00:21 - O poder das conexões e o livro "O Poder das Conexões"01:34 - A importância de boas influências02:48 - Selecionando influências positivas04:17 - Imitando influências que seguem Cristo06:40 - Evitando influências negativas07:50 - O poder transformador das conexões09:39 - Resultados e estilo de vida alinhados às influências10:46 - Convite para a Tribo de Empreendedores do Reino

In this episode of Author to Author, Dr. Cynthia Toolin-Wilson interviews Sr. Adaku Helen Ogbuji, CCVI, Ph.D., on her book Influence of Childhood Experiences on Faith Development: A Journey toward Wholeness.This book examines how childhood experiences impact faith development in religious individuals. Drawing from semi-structured interviews with 80 consecrated persons, the book reveals that early experiences, whether positive or adverse, can deeply influence adult behavior, especially in religious life. Guided by theories like Erik Erikson's psychosocial development and James Fowler's faith development, Ogbuji explores how formative experiences shape adult attitudes toward faith, relationships, and authority. The book highlights challenges faced by consecrated persons, including lingering effects of childhood trauma, which can manifest as emotional instability, attachment issues, or even aggressive behavior in community settings. Ogbuji advocates for a holistic formation process, suggesting that therapeutic interventions and ongoing psychological and spiritual support can help religious individuals achieve wholeness. She also calls for well-trained formators who understand the complex emotional needs of candidates. Ultimately, the book emphasizes the importance of addressing personal histories to foster emotional and spiritual maturity, creating healthier, more joyful communities. The work serves as a valuable resource for religious formators, superiors, and all those interested in understanding how early life influences vocational development and overall well-being in religious life.https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/influenceofchildhoodexperiences/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/author-to-author--4129285/support.

My guest is comedian Peter James Fowler. He joins me to discuss his political meme account that he ran at age 11. I've spent the last few years interviewing young people who make radical posts online. Peter shares his journey from growing up in evangelical Christianity, to new atheism, and from Trump to Bernie.

In this episode, I share with you the top 3 lessons I've learned during eclipse season to help starseeds and earth angels raise the vibration of humanity and planet earth. As background, I share important information that our star family from the Pleiades would like us to know, along with the 3 stages of spiritual development. Whether you want to "geek out" on spirituality or receive practical tips for making the world a better place, this episode is for you! Important Dates Eclipse season began on Sept. 2, 2024 with the new moon in Virgo and ends on Nov. 1, 2024 with the new moon in Scorpio The intense activation points of eclipse season occurred with the lunar eclipse in Pisces on Sept. 17 or 18, 2024 and the solar eclipse in Libra on October 2 or 3, 2024 Full Moon in Aries will be on October 17, 2024 Jupiter in Gemini retrograde began on October 8/9, 2024 and ends on February 4, 2025 Pluto in Capricorn retrograde ended (i.e., Pluto went direct) on October 11, 2024 Journal Prompts For Eclipse Season: What have you been releasing? What have you been discovering, seeing, or understanding? How have you been integrating these discoveries, new belief systems, and even losses into your day-to-day reality? For Jupiter in Gemini Retrograde: What frequencies of information and energy are you willing to take in every day? What frequencies of information and energy are you desirous of broadcasting to your community and the world? Additional Resources Podcast Episodes: Podcast Episode 85. Lunar Eclipse in Pisces: Create Sacred Time to Heal & Feel Podcast Episode 87. Solar Eclipse in Libra: Getting Centered Before 2025 Intensity Books: Bringers of the Dawn: Teachings from the Pleiadians by Barbara Marciniak Activate Your Cosmic DNA: Discover Your Starseed Family from the Pleiades, Sirius, Andromeda, Centaurus, Epsilon Eridani, and Lyra by Eva Marquez Documentary: Requiem for the American Dream: Noam Chomsky and the Principles of Concentration of Wealth and Power Documentary PDF: Overview of the Stages of Faith according to James Fowler and M. Scott Peck PDF Connect with Suzanne Access our free astrology calendar here Buy the Soul Mission Planner here Get a free copy of the Soul Mission Starter Kit here Download our free Circle of Love guided meditation here Join our email community here Follow us on Instagram Email us here

Peter James Fowler joins Kerryn on the couch to discuss the best hospital food, addiction struggles, and fitness. FOLLOW PETER: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peterjamesfowler/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@peterfowler22?_t=8nIJ8QV9RaU&_r=1 *** FOLLOW THE SHOW: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onlyfeehans/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OnlyFeehans Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/onlyfeehans/id1538154933 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5ojWPy3lzm1P18ePxAjGFB?si=a9ca6d6a493e474f YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@onlyfeehans FOLLOW KERRYN: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kerrynfeehan/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/FeehanKerryn YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@onlyfeehans Produced by Nicole Lyons Instagram: @nicoleclyons Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week I am joined by comedian Peter James Fowler. We talk about him growing up in Arizona, dropping out of High School to pursue comedy, getting a huge endorsement when he first got to New York, and so much more.So many EX Drinking Stories this week; Peter talks about trying weed and drinking at 16, getting heavy into drugs and not so much drinking, moving to New York and his drinking really picking up, and what the catalyst was that got him to check into rehab.Follow Peter on InstagramFind everything I have going on through the LINKTREE

In order to find your path forward in your most authentic expression, we must consider it as self-discovery. Asking questions about how and why we operated in certain ways, to better understand ourselves. For it is in that authenticity, that we are most free! Cultivate your sense of belonging with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠7-Days of Belonging⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Connect with your guest James Fowler Instagram gainz4dayz Connect with your host Ross Leppala! Instagram: ross.leppala Facebook: Ross Leppala Email: theakleprechaun@gmail.com Intro and Outro music credits: "Lost in the Woods" by Gaelynn Lea from the album "Learning How to Stay" Gaelynn Lea: Violin, Vocals Dave Mehling: Guitars, Keyboards, Organ & Auxiliary Percussion Al Church: Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Piano & Auxiliary Percussion Martin Dosh: Drums Andrew Foreman: Electric Bass Haley McCallum: Vocal Harmony

Read the Longform Article on the Blog: https://gettherapybirmingham.com/4777-2/   Navigating Uncertainty, and Finding Meaning in a Fractured World Our era is characterized by the dominance of hyper-rationality and the relentless pursuit of objective truth, production, accomplishment and consumption.  The human psyche finds itself adrift in a sea of fragmented images and disconnected meanings as the previous myths that used to give us purpose are exposed as hollow or erroneous. I see patients everyday that describe this phenomenon but not in these words. It is as if they are saying that they do not know who they are anymore. Not because they have changed but because all of the nodes and references points that used to contextualize their identity are stripped away or have been made foreign and incomprehensible. However the world still looks the same to them, despite its alienating effect. It is not the aesthetics of the world that are different, but the effect that it has on us. Because the world looks the same we feel crazy. Really it is our feelings telling us that the world is crazy even though it looks the same. Effective therapy in the modern world needs to get over its insecurities of feeling or looking crazy. If we don't let ourselves as therapists admit to patients that we also feel in pain, that we also feel crazy from these same forces, then how can therapy do anything but gaslight our patients more. When I see the news I feel like I am on drugs, even though I am stone cold sober. I know that the people on tv do not believe the things they say and are not acting for the reasons that they tell me as a spectator that they are. I am not a politician or a god, I am a therapist. I am as paralyzed against these forces as my patients are and yet I must help them recon with them. I must help them reckon with them even though I do not know how to reckon with them myself. I didn't understand it at first but have come around to the line of W.H. Auden that the Jungian analyst James Hillman liked to quote at the end of his life. “We are lived by forces that we pretend to understand.” -W. H. Auden Auden's line highlights how the frameworks and philosophies we resort to for certainty and order are often little more than self-delusion. The grand meaning-making systems of religion, science, politics, etc. that have risen to such cultural dominance are but feeble attempts to exert control over the ineffable complexities of being. Yet we cling tenaciously to these conceptual constructs, these hyper-real simulations, because the alternative – admitting the primacy of ambiguity, contradiction, and the unfathomable depths propelling our thoughts and actions – is simply too destabilizing. The simulacrum proliferates these hyper-rational facades and simulated realities precisely because they defend against having to confront the “forces we pretend to understand.” The philosopher Jean Baudrillard's concept of the simulacra, or a copy without an original – a realm where simulations and representations have become more “real” than reality itself – aptly captures the sense of alienation and dislocation that pervades contemporary culture. In this world of surfaces and appearances, the depth of human experience is often lost, and the quest for authentic meaning becomes increasingly elusive. Appearance of the Unreal The simulacrum is a conceptual framework proposed by the philosopher and cultural theorist Jean Baudrillard in his book “The Intelligence of Evil or the Lucidity Pact” (2005). It refers to the realm of images and representations that have become detached from reality and taken on a life of their own in contemporary culture. According to Baudrillard, in the postmodern era, images and simulations have become more real than reality itself. Images circulate and multiply, creating a hyper reality that replaces the real world. In this realm, images no longer represent or refer to an external reality but instead become self-referential and self-generating. Some key characteristics of the simulacra as described by Baudrillard: It is a realm of simulacra, where copies and simulations have replaced the original and the authentic. It is a world of appearances and surfaces, where depth and meaning have been lost. It is a realm of fascination and seduction, where images captivate and manipulate the viewer. It is a world of illusion and virtuality, where the boundaries between the real and the imaginary have collapsed. The simulacra describes a semiotic vertigo, a self-referential hall of mirrors in which signifiers endlessly circulate and proliferate, unmoored from any ultimate signified or referent in material reality. It is a world that has become untethered from the symbolic order, that transcendent horizon of meaning and metaphysical grounding which allows a culture to orient human experience within a coherent frame. For Baudrillard, the implications of this unraveling of the symbolic order are profoundly disorienting and alienating. The perpetual bombardment of images and spectacle produces a crisis of meaning and a loss of critical distance. Signs and representations become unhinged from the tangible contexts and embodied human narratives that could imbue them with authenticity and significance. Gilbert Durand's Imaginary Gilbert Durand's concept of the imaginary, as described in his book “The Anthropological Structures of the Imaginary” (1960), can provide valuable insights into the crisis of meaning in the postmodern world. Durand argues that the human imagination is structured by fundamental archetypal patterns that shape our understanding of the world. For Durand, the realm of images, symbols, and myths constitutes the collective imaginary of a culture, providing a symbolic framework through which individuals can navigate the complexities of existence. However, in the postmodern era, the traditional symbols and myths that once anchored the imaginary have been eroded by the forces of secularization, rationalization, and technological change. The result is a fragmentation of the imaginary, a loss of symbolic coherence that leaves individuals adrift in a sea of disconnected images and meanings. Durand suggests that the crisis of meaning in contemporary culture is not merely a matter of intellectual or philosophical confusion, but a profound disruption of the archetypal structures that underpin human experience. The challenge, then, is to reconnect with new symbols and myths that can restore a sense of coherence and purpose. Michel Serres and the Proliferation of Images Michel Serres, in his work, explores the growing influence of images and visual media in contemporary society. He argues that the proliferation of images has created a new kind of environment that shapes our perception, knowledge, and behavior. Serres's perspective highlights the way in which images and simulations have come to dominate contemporary culture. The endless circulation of images creates a sense of information overload and semiotic confusion, making it difficult for individuals to discern what is real and what is illusory. In this context, the task of therapy becomes one of helping patients navigate the world of images, to find ways of grounding their experience in authentic human relationships and chosen, not preprogrammed, narratives. This may involve a critical interrogation of the images and representations that shape our understanding of the world, as well as a renewed emphasis on the importance of symbolic meaning and archetypal structures. The simulacrum is not merely a philosophical or semiotic problem, but a profound existential challenge. It undermines the very foundations of human subjectivity, calling into question the assumptions and beliefs that have traditionally provided a sense of order and purpose to human experience. In this context, the role of therapy becomes one of helping patients to confront the radical uncertainty and ambiguity of the postmodern condition. This may involve a willingness to embrace the inherent contradictions and paradoxes of existence, to find meaning in the midst of chaos and confusion. A Heap of Broken Images in the Waste Land of the Modern The crisis of meaning that haunts the modern age is poignantly evoked in T.S. Eliot's  “The Waste Land.” The poem's fragmented structure and kaleidoscopic imagery reflect the shattered psyche of a post-war generation, struggling to find coherence and purpose in a world that has lost its moral and spiritual bearings. The “heap of broken images” that Eliot describes is a powerful metaphor for the breakdown of the shared cultural narratives and value systems that once provided a sense of unity and direction to human life. This theme is echoed in the work of the Jungian analyst Edward Edinger, who argues that the loss of these collective “containers” of meaning has left individuals increasingly vulnerable to the direct impact of archetypal forces. Cut off from the mediating influence of cultural traditions and communal myths, the modern psyche is exposed to the raw power of the unconscious, leading to a range of psychological disturbances, from neurosis and obsession to psychosis and despair. At the core of the human experience lie archetypal energies, biological drives, unconscious impulses that defy rationalization. The Jungian analyst Edward Edinger highlighted how the breakdown of cultural narratives and societal containers in modernity has left the individual psyche exposed to these primordial currents without adequate symbolic mediation. We are “lived” more by these depths than by the ideological scripts we rehearse on the surface. The totalizing ideological systems and regimes of image-commodification so pervasive in late capitalism can be viewed as anxious attempts to reinstall order and stuff the denied “forces” back into an old and broken symbolic container. But as Auden intuited, and as the desolation of “The Waste Land” gives voice to, such efforts are doomed to fail in reinstating an authentic sense of meaning and rootedness. What is required is a re-enchantment of the world, a resacrilization of existence that can hold the tensions of the rational and irrational, the structured and the chaotic, in productive paradox. Rather than defensive pretense, the goal becomes to live into the mysteries with humility and openness. Only by greeting “the forces we pretend to understand” with vulnerability and courage can we hope to restore the symbolic depths modernity has paved over with hyper-rational simulations and spectacles. The Jungian idea of the tension of the opposites can help us make sense of the dichotomy between the real we we are seeing and the unreal that we are feeling. By trying to pick between these forces we have to pick between either feeling crazy and acting sane or feeling sane and acting crazy. If we are able to feel the truth of both the real an unreal, subjective and objective tension that the cognitive dissonance of the modern era is causing it will become a powerful intuition. This powerful intuition was something harnessed by the theorists and writers mentioned in this essay. It is why their work feels so true even where it might seem on the surface like madness. Such an approach does not abandon logic, analysis and differentiated understanding. Rather, it balances these with an embrace of ambiguity, a readiness to engage the symbolic potencies of the unconscious, myth and the mysteries that exceed rational categorization. The Buddhist notion of the “still point” that so haunts “The Waste Land” evokes this posture of dwelling in the creative spaciousness between conceptual fixities. For Jung, it is only through metabolizing psychic opposition that true depth and wholeness can arise. The reconciliation of conflicts within honors psyche's inexhaustible fertility, rather than defensively walling meaning off within cardboard ideological constructs. Real and Unreal Time Henri Bergson wrote that lived time (durée) is fundamentally different from the spatialized, quantified conception of time in science. He saw duration as a heterogeneous, interpenetrating flow irreducible to discrete instants. Intuition, rather than intellect, is the faculty by which we can grasp this dynamic continuity of consciousness. In Creative Evolution, Bergson proposed that evolution is driven by an élan vital – an immanent, indivisible current of life that flows through all living beings, giving rise to novelty and creative emergence rather than just gradual, continuous adaptation. Totalizing ideologies and the “regimes of image-commodification” in late capitalism are anxious attempts to reinstate a sense of order, but are doomed to fail at providing authentic meaning. What is needed is a re-enchantment and resacralization of the world that can hold the paradoxical tensions between rational and irrational, structured and chaotic. The Jungian notion of the tension of opposites illuminates the dichotomy between the “real” we see and the “unreal” we feel in the modern world. By feeling the truth of both and inhabiting that cognitive dissonance, it can become a powerful intuition – something you argue animates the work of the thinkers and writers you mention. The goal is to dwell in the “creative spaciousness” between conceptual fixities, balancing differentiated understanding with an openness to ambiguity, unconscious symbolism, and mystery. Metabolizing psychic opposition in this way allows for true wholeness to emerge, honoring the psyche's deep generativity. Bergson sits with the same Phenomenon as Eddinger. The modern mind, unmoored from traditional cultural and spiritual structures that once provided symbolic mediation and containment of archetypal energies, is more vulnerable to being overwhelmed by unconscious forces in the wake of traumatic rupture. Rebuilding an authentic relationship to meaning after trauma thus requires recovering a sense of anchoring in the living weave of the world's mystery and hidden coherence beneath the fragmenting onslaught of a hyper-rationalized, dispirited culture. Magic as Real and Unreal Intuition Bergson distinguishes between two forms of religious belief and practice: the “static religion” of closed societies, characterized by conformity to established norms and rituals, and the “dynamic religion” of open societies, driven by the creative impetus of mystical intuition. Within this framework, Bergson sees magic as a primitive form of static religion. He argues that magic arises from an extension of the “logic of solids” – our practical intelligence attuned to manipulating the material world – into the realm of human affairs. Just as we can cause changes in physical objects through our actions, magical thinking assumes that we can influence others and control events through symbolic gestures and incantations. Fabulation, on the other hand, is the human faculty of myth-making and storytelling. For Bergson, fabulation serves a vital social function by creating shared narratives and beliefs that bind communities together. It is a defensive reaction of nature against the dissolving power of intelligence, which, left unchecked, could undermine social cohesion by questioning established norms and practices. While Bergson sees both magic and fabulation as grounded in a kind of “fiction,” he does not dismiss them as mere illusions. Rather, he acknowledges their pragmatic value in structuring human life and experience. However, he also recognizes their limitations and potential dangers, especially when they harden into closed, dogmatic systems that stifle individual creativity and moral progress. In contrast to static religion, Bergson celebrates the dynamic, mystical élan of open religion, which he sees as the highest expression of the creative impulse of life. Mystics, through their intuitive coincidence with the generative source of reality, are able to break through the closed shells of tradition and breathe new vitality into ossified institutions and beliefs.Bergson's perspective on the creative, evolutionary impulse of life (élan vital) and the role of intuition in connecting with this generative force can provide a compelling lens for understanding the impact of trauma on the human psyche. In Bergson's view, intuition is the key to tapping into the dynamic, flowing nature of reality and aligning ourselves with the creative unfolding of life. It allows us to break through the rigid, spatialized categories of the intellect and coincide with the inner durational flux of consciousness and the world. Trauma, however, can be seen as a profound disruption of this intuitive attunement. The overwhelming, often unspeakable nature of traumatic experience can shatter our sense of coherence and continuity, leaving us feeling disconnected from ourselves, others, and the vital currents of life. In this state of fragmentation and dissociation, we may turn to various coping mechanisms and defenses that, while serving a protective function, can also further distract us from the healing power of intuition. For example, we may become rigidly fixated on controlling our environment, engaging in compulsive behaviors, or retreating into numbing addictions – all attempts to manage the chaos and terror of unintegrated traumatic memories. These trauma responses can be seen as a kind of “static religion” writ small – closed, repetitive patterns that provide a sense of familiarity and safety, but at the cost of flexibility, growth, and open engagement with the dynamism of life. They fulfill some of the same functions as the collective myths and rituals Bergson associated with fabulation, but in a constricted, individual way that ultimately keeps us stuck rather than propelling us forward. Moreover, the energy consumed by these trauma adaptations can leave us depleted and less able to access the vitalizing power of intuition. Instead of flowing with the creative impulse of the élan vital, we become caught in stagnant eddies of reactivity and defense. However, just as Bergson saw the potential for dynamic, open religion to renew and transform static, closed systems, healing from trauma involves a return to intuitive attunement and a reintegration with the generative flux of life. This may involve working through and releasing the residual charge of traumatic activation, re-establishing a sense of safety and embodied presence, and cultivating practices that reconnect us with the creative wellsprings of our being. In Jungian psychology, intuition is seen as a function that mediates between the conscious and unconscious realms of the psyche. Conscious intuition involves a deliberate, reflective engagement with the insights and promptings that emerge from our deeper layers of being. It requires an attitude of openness, curiosity, and discernment, as we seek to integrate the wisdom of the unconscious into our conscious understanding and decision-making. Unconscious intuition, on the other hand, operates below the threshold of awareness, influencing our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in ways that we may not fully comprehend. When we are cut off from a conscious relationship with our intuitive function – as is often the case in the wake of trauma – our unconscious intuitions can become distorted, projected, and misused. This might manifest as projections, where we unconsciously attribute our own disowned qualities or experiences onto others, leading to interpersonal conflicts and misunderstandings. It could also take the form of acting out, where unintegrated traumatic experiences drive us to engage in compulsive, self-destructive behaviors. Or it might express itself through somatization, where the body carries the unresolved trauma that the conscious mind cannot bear. As we develop this more conscious relationship with our unconscious intuition, we can begin to discern the difference between reactive, trauma-based projections and genuine intuitive insights. We can learn to trust and follow the deeper wisdom of our psyche, while also maintaining the boundaries and discernment necessary for healthy functioning. Nietzsche saw logic as a form of insecurity In his writing Friedrich Nietzsche saw clearly that the philosophical  and scientific works  of ultra logical men were not dispassionate, rational examinations of truth, but rather deeply personal confessions that reveal the innermost fears, anxieties, and desires of their authors. He saw the most logical minds greatest works as opportunities to psychoanalyze men who could not see the “forces” that lived through them or the ones they had repressed. Science and philosophy for Nietzsche were merely unconsciously projected psychological struggles onto the world, creating elaborate metaphysical systems and grand narratives that serve to assuage their deepest existential terrors. There is much truth in this. When I have a radically existential patient that tells that “hell is other people” I know that that person is really telling me that they, themselves, feel like they are in hell.Nietzsche viewed science and philosophy as unconscious projections of psychological struggles onto the world. Nietzsche argues that the more a philosophical work presents itself as a purely logical, objective analysis, the more it betrays the underlying psychological desperation and spiritual repression of its creator. The grandiose claims to absolute truth and certainty that characterize much of Western philosophy are, for Nietzsche, simply a manifestation of the philosopher's inability to confront the fundamental chaos, uncertainty, and meaninglessness of existence. By constructing abstract, rationalistic systems that promise to explain and control reality, philosophers seek to impose order and stability on a world that is ultimately beyond their comprehension. In this sense, Nietzsche sees the history of philosophy as a series of  opportunities to eavesdrop while thinkers inadvertently disclose their most intimate fears and longings while claiming to have discovered universal truths. The more a philosopher insists on the logical necessity and objective validity of their system, the more they reveal the intensity of their own psychological needs and the depths of their existential anguish. The quest for absolute knowable truth and certainty is fundamentally misguided. The fragmentation and uncertainty that characterize the modern world are not problems to be solved through the application of reason, but rather the inevitable consequence of the collapse of the illusions and defenses that have sustained human beings throughout history. Nietzsche the Therapist Rather than seeking to impose a pre-existing framework of meaning onto the patient's experience, the therapist must work to help the individual confront and embrace the fundamental groundlessness of knowable and quantifiable existence. By learning to let go of the need for certainty and control, and by cultivating a sense of openness and creativity in the face of the unknown, the patient can begin to discover a more authentic and empowering way of being in the world. Just as philosophers have often unconsciously projected their own fears and desires onto the world, so too may therapists be tempted to impose their own beliefs and values onto their patients. When a patient comes in and says, “hell is other people,” they are really telling the therapist that they, themselves, feel like they are in hell. Ultimately, the task of healing the modern soul requires a willingness to embrace the full complexity and ambiguity of the human condition, to grapple with the shadows and uncertainties that haunt the edges of our awareness. It requires a stance of openness, curiosity, and compassion towards the multiplicity of human experience, and a recognition that our deepest truths often lie beyond the reach of any single theory or perspective. “The aim of therapy is to help the patient come to a point where he can live with uncertainty, without props, without the feeling that he must conform in order to belong. He must learn to live by his own resources, to stand on his own two feet.” -Fritz Perls Walter Benjamin is Shocking Walter Benjamin wrote in his essay “On Some Motifs in Baudelaire,” “The shock experience which the passer-by has in the crowd corresponds to what the worker ‘experiences' at his machine.”  In a world where the constant barrage of stimuli, the ceaseless flow of images and information, and the relentless pace of change have become the norm, the human sensorium is subjected to a perpetual onslaught of “shocks” that threaten to overwhelm our capacity for conscious reflection and meaningful engagement with the world. This ubiquitous experience of shock, for Benjamin, is intimately connected to the phenomenon of trauma. In a world where the protective barriers of tradition, ritual, and collective meaning have been eroded, the psyche is left increasingly vulnerable to the impact of events that exceed its capacity for understanding and assimilation. The result is a profound sense of alienation, disorientation, and fragmentation – a kind of pervasive traumatization of the modern soul. Benjamin's insights into the relationship between shock, trauma, and the technologization of experience have  potential implications for the practice of psychotherapy. They suggest that the task of healing in the modern world must involve more than simply addressing the symptoms of individual psychopathology, but must also grapple with the broader cultural and societal forces that shape the context of psychological suffering. In a world where the protective barriers of tradition, ritual, and collective meaning have been eroded, the psyche is left increasingly vulnerable to the impact of events that exceed its capacity for understanding and assimilation. This results in a profound sense of alienation, disorientation, and fragmentation – a kind of pervasive traumatization of the modern soul. It is all too easy for the psychotherapeutic encounter to reproduce the very conditions that contribute to the traumatization of the self. By creating a space of safety, containment, and reflection, the therapist can help the patient to develop the capacity for what Benjamin calls “contemplative immersion” – a mode of engagement with the world that resists the fragmenting and alienating effects of shock that highly logical psychoeducational or cognitive therapy might cause. For Benjamin, this loss of aura is symptomatic of a broader crisis of experience in modernity. In a world where everything is mediated through the filter of technology and mass media, our capacity for direct, unmediated experience is increasingly eroded. We become passive consumers of a never-ending stream of images and sensations, unable to anchor ourselves in the concrete realities of embodied existence. From this perspective everyone becomes a potential producer and distributor of images. We can become mindful of the images and sensations of our inner world and understand what we have internalized. This allows us to reject the empty images and symbols we still have allegiance to and to choose what we absorb from culture and what images we can create internally for ourselves. For Benjamin, the suffering and trauma of individuals cannot be understood in isolation from the broader social, economic, and political forces that we internalize as inner images that effect our experience of an outer world. Therapists who are informed by Benjamin's ideas may seek to help individuals not only heal from their own traumatic experiences but also to develop a critical consciousness and a sense of agency in the face of collective struggles. This agency in the patient can start with simply acknowledging these realities in therapy as forces that still do effect us. All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace In an era where the dominant paradigm asserts that everything can and should be understood through the lens of rigid science and radical logic, we find ourselves grappling with a profound sense of meaninglessness. The emergence of conspiracy theories like Q Anon can be seen as a manifestation of our unconscious collective yearning for a coherent narrative that explains the invisible forces that shape our lives. In a world where the true levers of power often remain hidden from view, these folk mythologies provide a sense of order and purpose, even if they are ultimately illusory. One way to avoid not only destructive conspiracy theories, but also being manipulated by cults and advertisements, is to bring these hidden needs and pains to the surface of the psyche in therapy. If we make them know to ourselves they will not be able to hijack our emotional systems and manipulate our behavior. Viewing ourselves as purely rational and intellectual beings is what leaves these drives for comprehension, stability, inclusion, importance and purpose ripe for exploitation. Overly cognitive or intellectual therapy can leave these forces dormant as well or worse repress them further beneath the surface of the psyche. As Adam Curtis critiqued in the documentary  “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace,” the notion that humans are merely computers that can be programmed and optimized is a seductive but ultimately flawed worldview. If we think that we are computers then will be driven mad by the dreams within us that cannot find expression through a binary choice. In the face of this existential uncertainty, psychotherapy must evolve to help patients cultivate a different kind of knowledge—one that is rooted in intuition and inner wisdom rather than intellectual mastery. This is not to say that we should abandon empiricism altogether, but rather that we must recognize its limitations and embrace a more humble, open-ended approach to understanding ourselves and the world around us. The poem “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” by Richard Brautigan, which inspired Curtis's documentary, envisions a future where humans and nature are harmoniously integrated with technology. While the poem's utopian vision may seem naive in retrospect, it speaks to a deep longing for a world in which we are not alienated from ourselves, each other, and the natural world. In the context of psychotherapy, this means helping patients to cultivate a sense of connection and meaning that transcends the narrow confines of intellectual understanding. All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace I like to think (and the sooner the better!) of a cybernetic meadow where mammals and computers live together in mutually programming harmony like pure water touching clear sky. I like to think (right now, please!) of a cybernetic forest filled with pines and electronics where deer stroll peacefully past computers as if they were flowers with spinning blossoms. I like to think (it has to be!) of a cybernetic ecology where we are free of our labors and joined back to nature, returned to our mammal brothers and sisters, and all watched over by machines of loving grace. -Richard Brautigan Re-visioning Psychology James Hillman, a prominent post-Jungian thinker, presented a radical re-envisioning of psychology in his seminal work, “Re-Visioning Psychology” (1975). His main arguments challenged the prevailing assumptions of modern psychology and proposed a new approach rooted in the imagination, mythology, and the archetypal dimensions of the psyche. The “Soul” as Central: Hillman argues for a psychology centered on the “soul,” which he understands not as a religious or metaphysical entity, but as a perspective that deepens and “pathologizes” our engagement with life. He critiques modern psychology for reducing the psyche to the ego and neglecting the imaginative, poetic, and mythic dimensions of experience. Archetypal Psychology: Drawing on Jung's concept of archetypes, Hillman proposes an “archetypal psychology” that sees the psyche as inherently plural and polytheistic. He argues that psychological experiences and symptoms are best understood as expressions of archetypal patterns and images, rather than as personal pathologies to be cured. The Primacy of Image: For Hillman, the image is the primary mode of psychic reality. He emphasizes the need to attend to the autonomous, living images of the psyche – as expressed in dreams, fantasies, and symptoms – rather than reducing them to concepts or interpreting them in literal, personalistic terms. Pathologizing: Hillman challenges the medical model of psychology, which sees psychological distress as a disorder to be eliminated. Instead, he advocates for a “pathologizing” approach that honors the soul's need for depth, complexity, and engagement with the full range of human experience, including suffering and shadow aspects. Psyche as Story: Hillman sees the psyche as inherently narrative and mythic. He argues that we need to engage with the archetypal stories and patterns that shape our lives, rather than trying to “cure” or “solve” them. This involves cultivating a poetic, imaginative sensibility that can embrace paradox, ambiguity, and the unknown. Ecological Sensibility: Hillman's psychology is deeply ecological, recognizing the interdependence of psyche and world. He argues that psychological healing must involve a reconnection with the anima mundi, the soul of the world, and a re-ensouling of our relationship with nature, culture, and the cosmos. Critique of Individualism: Hillman challenges the modern ideal of the autonomous, self-contained individual. He sees the psyche as inherently relational and context-dependent, shaped by the archetypes, myths, and collective patterns of the culture and the wider world. Throughout “Re-Visioning Psychology,” Hillman argues for a psychology that is poetic, imaginative, and soulful, one that can embrace the full complexity and mystery of the human experience. His work has been influential in the fields of depth psychology, ecopsychology, and the humanities, offering a rich and provocative alternative to the dominant paradigms of modern psychology. The days of psychoanalysis, which sought to dissect every aspect of the psyche in an attempt to achieve total comprehension, are indeed over. Instead, mental health professionals must focus on helping patients to be at peace with uncertainty and to develop the resilience and adaptability needed to navigate an ever-changing world. This requires a shift away from the pursuit of mastery and control and towards a more fluid, dynamic understanding of the self and the world. The Post Secular Sacred: In his book “The Spirituality Revolution: The Emergence of Contemporary Spirituality” (2004), David Tacey, an Australian scholar in the fields of spirituality, religion, and depth psychology, presents a compelling argument about the emergence of a “post-secular sacred” in contemporary culture. Tacey observes that while traditional religious institutions and beliefs have declined in the modern West, there has been a simultaneous resurgence of interest in spirituality, particularly among younger generations. He argues that this “spirituality revolution” represents a shift towards a new, post-secular understanding of the sacred that transcends the dichotomy between religious and secular worldviews. Critique of Secular Materialism: Tacey argues that the dominant paradigm of secular materialism, which reduces reality to the objectively measurable and dismisses the spiritual dimension of life, is inadequate for meeting the deep human need for meaning, purpose, and connection. He sees the rise of contemporary spirituality as a response to the existential emptiness and ecological crisis engendered by a purely materialistic worldview. Re-enchantment of the World: Drawing on the work of thinkers such as Carl Jung, Mircea Eliade, and Thomas Berry, Tacey argues for a re-enchantment of our understanding of the world, one that recognizes the presence of the sacred in nature, the cosmos, and the depths of the psyche. He sees this as a necessary corrective to the modern disenchantment of the world, which has led to a sense of alienation, meaninglessness, and ecological destruction. The Sacredness of the Ordinary: Tacey emphasizes the importance of discovering the sacred in the midst of everyday life, rather than solely in the context of religious institutions or transcendent experiences. He argues for a democratization of the sacred, where individuals can cultivate a sense of the numinous in their relationships, work, creativity, and engagement with the natural world. Spirituality as a Developmental Process: Drawing on the work of psychologists such as Jean Piaget and James Fowler, Tacey presents spirituality as a developmental process, one that unfolds in stages from childhood to adulthood. He argues that the emergence of post-secular spirituality represents a new stage in this process, characterized by a more integrative, pluralistic, and ecologically conscious understanding of the sacred. Engaging with the Shadow: Tacey emphasizes the importance of engaging with the shadow aspects of spirituality, such as the potential for spiritual narcissism, escapism, or the abuse of power. He argues for a grounded, embodied spirituality that integrates the light and dark aspects of the psyche and is committed to ethical action in the world. Ongoing Dialogue between Spirituality and Religion: While affirming the value of post-secular spirituality, Tacey also recognizes the ongoing importance of traditional religious traditions as sources of wisdom, community, and ethical guidance. He advocates for a dialogue between contemporary spirituality and religion, one that can lead to a mutual enrichment and transformation. Post-Jungian thinkers who  have advocated for a “post-secular sacred” have argued for a kind of scientific empiricism that is infused with a sense of humility, wonder, and openness to the unknown. This perspective recognizes that there are limits to what we can know and understand, but it also affirms the value of subjective experience and the power of intuition and imagination. In practice, this could lead to new forms of psychoeducation and therapy that emphasize the cultivation of inner wisdom, self-compassion, and a sense of connection to something larger than oneself. Rather than striving to achieve perfect understanding or control, patients would be encouraged to embrace the inherent uncertainty of life and to find meaning and purpose in the present moment. This is no easy task for therapists. To be truly helpful guides on this path, we must have the honesty to admit that we too are adrift in a sea of uncertainty and fragmented narratives. The solid ground of empirical certitudes and secular meaning systems has receded, leaving us to navigate by situational awareness and intuition. Instead, we must develop a new kind of post-secular faith – not in final truths, but in the intuitive process of sense-making itself. We, as therapists,  must be honest with patients, but in doing so we run the risk of seeming stupid, unqualified or crazy. We don't know how to do this as therapists either. We don't have to know how but we have to develop the, perhaps post secular, faith that we can and the intuition to know in which directions to go. We must do all of this in a culture that gives us nothing but uncertainty and heaps of broken images. New Goals for Therapy The goals of psychoanalysis are now waiting and new goals must be determined for psychotherapy. The cognitive revolution has done so much damage putting all emphasis on changing external behavior and putting no emphasis on internal inside or capacity for reflection and the ability to “hold the energy” of being human. One thing that I try and prepare patients for as a psychotherapist is that when they get what they want out of therapy, when their behavior changes are they accomplished some goal, they won't be happy. People don't believe me they tell me how if they could just do this or just do that everything would be better. I have patients that want to get a job, want to move out from living with their parents, want to learn how to be in a relationship, want to attain friendships, a higher salary, any number of things. When they actually do accomplish these goals they realize that the emotions and the hurt and frustration that made these things seem so unattainable are still there even after those things have been attained. My point is that psychotherapy is a process of growth and that when you get what you want you don't feel better because you've grown and you now have a new goal.  We need to deal with the way that we feel and the restlessness that not having the goal creates. These are the tensions that make us human and the real reason that wee are in therapy. Viewing psychotherapy as a means to accomplish something is not going to get us anywhere good. We do  accomplishing things in therapy, quite a few things, but we have forgotten that was not the point. For the postmodern self is indeed “lived by forces we pretend to understand.” The archaic currents of archetypal life perpetually destabilize our rational narratives and identities. Yet these are not obstacles to be mastered, but the very raw material and creative thermals we must learn to surf upon. Therapy becomes an art of presencing the interplay of potencies – metabolizing their inexorable unfoldings with radical lucidity and compassion. Ultimately, the goal of psychotherapy in a post-secular, post-empirical world is not to eliminate suffering or to achieve some kind of final, absolute truth. Rather, it is to help patients develop the capacity to face the unknown with courage, curiosity, and compassion. By embracing a more humble, intuitive approach to mental health, we can help individuals to find meaning and purpose in a world that is always in flux, and to cultivate the resilience and adaptability needed to thrive in an uncertain future. If you are scratching your head that is fine. I don't know how either but I still know that we can. I have a faith that I feel is more real than what my intellect allows. The future has always been a copy without an original. The past is built on copies of the inner images that others have externalized consciously or not. All we can learn is to recognize the images inside and outside ourselves to discard the unreal and find the more than real. Our lives are an interplay of forces and we cannot prevent or defeat that. We can only learn to build behavior and cultural machinery to handle the dynamics of their flow. We are lived by forces that we pretend to understand. At times these forces seem unbearable or impossible to live with, but we must remember also that these forces exist through us and bring that tension into awareness. When I spent time as a patient in psychotherapy I encountered a lot of drowning and swimming metaphors from my therapists. Perhaps the seas are too rough now to teach patients to swim. Perhaps we need to teach patients to sail a boat. Together we can build a culture than can sail ships again. Freud thought he was a mechanic fixing the boat engine in the patients head but it is time to forget all that reductive scientific positivism. We need to remember to breath and remember how to use the wind. The watchers' eyes now give out light. The light's receiver- flower coiled up behind their nosebones changes place. It crawls out through their pupils. The bundled nervy flowers make a circuit be- tween each other. Bolts the color of limes boil forking through the busy air. Their brains are still inside them. But the sundown's made to simmer with a brain that none of them quite have alone. Each one has something like it. Facets of the brain's shelled diamond. The cage-strumming man strings out his carousel of shapes while catgut thrums out slippery chords. And the people watching him are in the circuit of an ancient battery that sleeps behind their eyes. None of them will know how to tell what's happened. But every one will know that it can happen again. They'll variously say: I was a tree. I was a vine that sucked the brasswork. I was an ivy knot that lived on milk of stones. – Michael S Judge, Lyrics of the Crossing References and Further Reading: Baudrillard, J. (2005). The Intelligence of Evil or the Lucidity Pact. Berg Publishers. Benjamin, W. (1969). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. In H. Arendt (Ed.), Illuminations. Schocken Books. Brautigan, R. (1967). All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace. In All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace. The Communication Company. Curtis, A. (2011). All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace [Documentary series]. BBC. Edinger, E. F. (1984). The Creation of Consciousness: Jung's Myth for Modern Man. Inner City Books. Eliot, T. S. (1922). The Waste Land. Horace Liveright. #eikonosphere #eikon Frankl, V. E. (1959). Man's Search for Meaning. Beacon Press. Jung, C. G. (1968). The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (2nd ed.). Princeton University Press. Judge, M. S. (2014). Lyrics of the Crossing. Black Ocean. Nietzsche, F. (1974). The Gay Science (W. Kaufmann, Trans.). Vintage Books. Nietzsche, F. (1989). On the Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo (W. Kaufmann & R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Vintage Books. Romanyshyn, R. D. (2007). The Wounded Researcher: Research with Soul in Mind. Spring Journal Books. Tacey, D. (2004). The Spirituality Revolution: The Emergence of Contemporary Spirituality. Routledge. Taylor, C. (2007). A Secular Age. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Yalom, I. D. (1980). Existential Psychotherapy. Basic Books.  

Dan Soder and Peter James Fowler join Luis J. Gomez and Zac Amico and discuss Luis being in a bad mood because of his fasting, whether he's finally getting out of the crypto game, $300 girlfriend bets, which states have the hottest women, Jorge's mean present for Luis that everyone else gets to enjoy, gaming systems from childhood, drinking experiences while in college, eating challenges, Dan and Luis' shared love of drinking milk, the best movie theater snack combinations, wanting to get a Maine Coon cat and so much more!(Air Date: March 20th, 2024)Support our sponsors!Capsulyte.com - Use promo code: GAS to get 30% off!YoDelta.com - Use promo code: GaS to get 25% off!SmallBatchCigars.com - Use promo code: GAS10 for 10% off plus 5% bonus points!To advertise your product or service on GaS Digital podcasts please go to TheADSide.com and click on "Advertisers" for more information!Submit your artwork via postal mail to:GaS Digital Networkc/o Real Ass Podcast151 1st Ave, #311New York, NY 10003You can sign up at GaSDigital.com with promo code: RAP14 for a 14-day FREE trial with access to every Real Ass Podcast show ever recorded! On top of that you'll also have the same access to ALL the shows that GaS Digital Network has to offer!Follow the whole show on social media!Dan SoderTwitter: https://twitter.com/dansoderInstagram: https://instagram.com/dansoderPeter James FowlerInstagram: https://instagram.com/PeterJamesFowlerLuis J. GomezTwitter: https://twitter.com/luisjgomezInstagram: https://instagram.com/gomezcomedyYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LuisJGomezComedyTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/prrattlesnakeWebsite: https://www.luisofskanks.comZac AmicoTwitter: https://twitter.com/ZASpookShowInstagram: https://instagram.com/zacisnotfunnySee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Welcome back to Day 5 of our 21 Day Weight Loss Challenge. In today's episode, we delved into the profound influence that relationships have on our weight and overall health. We discussed how healthy relationships can be a source of emotional support, reduce stress, and encourage healthier behaviors, while strained relationships can lead to stress and unhealthy habits. I shared insights from research on social contagion in health, highlighting a study by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler which suggests that obesity can spread through social networks. This phenomenon also extends to behaviors like smoking, alcohol consumption, exercise, and even mental health states such as depression and happiness. We also talked about how eating habits are significantly shaped by the company we keep, and how we inherit more than just genetics from our family—we inherit lifestyles. This is crucial to remember when considering our risk for conditions like diabetes; it's not just about genetics but also about our lifestyle choices. Furthermore, we touched on the spread of health information and misinformation through social networks, and how stress and coping mechanisms can be socially contagious. It's important to balance being supportive with taking care of our own health needs. For today's challenge, I encouraged you to have a health-focused conversation with someone supportive in your life. I offered tips on how to approach this conversation, such as choosing the right person, setting a comfortable environment, being open and honest, exchanging ideas, and offering and seeking support. I also reminded you of the importance of journaling for self-reflection, providing prompts to help you think about the impact of your relationships on your health, supportive behaviors you've observed, areas for improvement, the value of your health-focused conversation, and plans for nurturing relationships. Remember, this challenge is about embracing a holistic approach to weight loss, focusing on healthy behaviors that can lead to a multitude of benefits beyond just shedding pounds. Thank you for joining me today, and don't forget to download the free PDF guide from drmarbas.com for the full 21-day program. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out via email. I'm looking forward to continuing this journey with you tomorrow on Day 6. Have a beautiful day! Visit: https://www.drmarbas.com/

We continue talking about the nature of assumptions we carry in our theology, with a slight nod to James Fowler's stages of faith. What would your present theological understanding say to your 20-yr old theological self? What makes it change? Fowler noted that there are some folks who don't get beyond their early faith, and then live on with assumptions that resist maturing. Here's a little cheat-sheet on Fowler's ideas: https://www.ngumc.org/files/fileslibrary/james+fowlers+stages+of+faith.pdfPopular SportsCraig quizzes Cody's sports knowledge on the popularity of global sports. And together, we realize we have no idea how cricket works! Let us know. We're willing to learn. https://aeonledlighting.com/2023/07/top-world-sports/Make-up or Break-up Church Edition?We took off on a tangent conversation about a segment on a local pop music radio station. One Boise's, 102.7, the hosts do a recurring segment on the Joey and Loren Show, called, “Make-Up or Break-Up.” After listening to a portion of a recent broadcast, we wonder if we should start a church version of make-up or break-up. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joey-and-lauren-in-the-morning/id1481402629 Let us know if you have been a part of some weird church visits, or have not gone back, or you have witnessed some bad church “first-dates.”Patreon SupportSupport Cody and Craig and their emerging podcast media empire at patreon.com/craigdmorton https://www.patreon.com/craigdmorton

It's the end of the line for one of London's iconic public transport fares - the day Travelcard.The special tickets offering unlimited journeys on Tubes and buses are being withdrawn after 40 years by Mayor Sadiq Khan from January in a bid to raise Transport for London an extra £40 million annually. Some 65,000 daily Travelcards are bought on most days, and these will be cut in a push for passengers to instead use contactless or Oyster.The Leader podcast is joined by the Evening Standard's transport editor, Ross Lydall, and Dr James Fowler, a University of Essex Business School lecturer and author of Strategy and Managed Decline: London Transport 1948-87.We discuss the Travelcard's history, the cut's wider financial impact on London's economy and the European cities offering best value public transport. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally ran in October 2018. Scott Braithwaite has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and specializes in marriage counseling. He is a professor of Psychology at Brigham Young University, has a busy private practice, and also enjoys working with the BYU men's basketball team. Scott is a popular presenter at BYU Education Week, where he has taught about supporting loved ones through a faith crisis. He previously served as bishop of his ward and is currently serving on his stake high council. Highlights 10:10 The difference between sadness and depression 13:40 Leaders should ask for recommendations for good qualified counselors 14:15 You choose who to marry. God gives you agency. 17:40 Scott shares his experience going through a faith crisis 22:40 James Fowler's Stages of Faith can be helpful in understanding what someone may be going through. Stage three faith identifies as a group, has rules, and is concrete. Most fall under this level of faith. Things also appear black and white. 29:00 During a faith crisis the bottom falls out, they can leave the faith and find community elsewhere. 30:35 Going through the stages of faith are not linear 33:00 Perfectionism shows up in our minds as rules, as all or nothing. 33:40 Doctrinal Latter-day Saints vs. Cultural Latter-day Saints 34:50 Sometimes struggling with faith comes from cultural issues 36:50 The idea of organic evolution showcases the different thought processes of doctrinal vs. cultural Latter-day Saints 38:10 You can't go back to stage 3 40:30 Stage 5 is accepting the complexity of faith 40:50 Faith allows room for doubt 42:00 All faith allows room for wrestling 43:00 Stage 6 examples, such as Mother Teresa. Most people fall between stages 3, 4, and 5. 46:40 We can act as a midwife and help while people are in a faith crisis 48:30 Help others going through a faith crisis by listening to them. Listen more than talk. 50:50 Elder Ballard: Leaders ought to know and be able to address the difficult questions 56:00 There is a progression from stage 3 to stage 4 57:00 We should be able to talk about doubt at church 59:45 Help create a culture of faith 1:02:00 Elder Hafen's stages of faith Links "Like a Broken Vessel", by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, by Linda King Newell Stages of Faith, by James Fowler Planted, by Patrick Mason "On Dealing with Uncertainty", by Bruce C. Hafen "Help Build 'Unwavering Faith' in Students' Lives, Elder Ballard Tells CES Teachers" Scott Braithwaite BYU Bio Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Listen on YouTube Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 600 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally ran in October 2018. Scott Braithwaite has a PhD in Clinical Psychology and specializes in marriage counseling. He is a professor of Psychology at Brigham Young University, has a busy private practice, and also enjoys working with the BYU men's basketball team. Scott is a popular presenter at BYU Education Week, where he has taught about supporting loved ones through a faith crisis. He previously served as bishop of his ward and is currently serving on his stake high council. Highlights 10:10 The difference between sadness and depression 13:40 Leaders should ask for recommendations for good qualified counselors 14:15 You choose who to marry. God gives you agency. 17:40 Scott shares his experience going through a faith crisis 22:40 James Fowler's Stages of Faith can be helpful in understanding what someone may be going through. Stage three faith identifies as a group, has rules, and is concrete. Most fall under this level of faith. Things also appear black and white. 29:00 During a faith crisis the bottom falls out, they can leave the faith and find community elsewhere. 30:35 Going through the stages of faith are not linear 33:00 Perfectionism shows up in our minds as rules, as all or nothing. 33:40 Doctrinal Latter-day Saints vs. Cultural Latter-day Saints 34:50 Sometimes struggling with faith comes from cultural issues 36:50 The idea of organic evolution showcases the different thought processes of doctrinal vs. cultural Latter-day Saints 38:10 You can't go back to stage 3 40:30 Stage 5 is accepting the complexity of faith 40:50 Faith allows room for doubt 42:00 All faith allows room for wrestling 43:00 Stage 6 examples, such as Mother Teresa. Most people fall between stages 3, 4, and 5. 46:40 We can act as a midwife and help while people are in a faith crisis 48:30 Help others going through a faith crisis by listening to them. Listen more than talk. 50:50 Elder Ballard: Leaders ought to know and be able to address the difficult questions 56:00 There is a progression from stage 3 to stage 4 57:00 We should be able to talk about doubt at church 59:45 Help create a culture of faith 1:02:00 Elder Hafen's stages of faith Links "Like a Broken Vessel", by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, by Linda King Newell Stages of Faith, by James Fowler Planted, by Patrick Mason "On Dealing with Uncertainty", by Bruce C. Hafen "Help Build 'Unwavering Faith' in Students' Lives, Elder Ballard Tells CES Teachers" Scott Braithwaite BYU Bio TRANSCRIPT coming soon Listen on YouTube Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 600 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

Over the years, much of the work that we've done at Faith Matters has tried to take into account much of the wisdom and research that's been done in the field of faith and adult development. It's also been important to us to share and discuss some of the existing models, including Brian McLaren's four-stage framework, and the “creation, fall, atonement” framework that our amazing friend Jared Halverson has spoken about at Restore and on this podcast.All that said, we've never done a deep dive into the model that deserves as much or more credit than any other for helping people think along these lines in the first place, and that's James Fowler's Stages of Faith. Fowler published a book by that title in 1981 that laid a real foundation for understanding faith development systematically. So we're delighted that in this episode, we finally got a chance to talk about Fowler's work specifically and in a Latter-day Saint context, and to do that, we brought on our good friend Jana Spangler.And to be super clear upfront, and this comes out in the episode — it would be a misuse of any stages model to paint a given stage as “better” or “worse,” than others — what matters is not so much the stage we're in, but how we approach the world around us as we see through the lens of that stage. As Jana says, each stage has its gifts and shortcomings. What these frameworks can do is help give each of us the humility to recognize that there is another way to see things, and to give ourselves enough grace to accept the stage we're in and confidently live through it thoroughly, and without fear.Jana Spangler is a Certified Integral Professional Coach at Symmetry Solutions, and member of the International Coaching Federation. She is an alumnus of The Living School where she studied contemplative spiritual traditions and the work of transformation under the direction of Fr. Richard Rohr. Jana's professional and personal experience combined with her training makes her an expert in the field of faith transitions. She is a sought-after podcast guest, speaker, presenter, and retreat leader. 

On this Episode, we sit down with the Owner/Founder of Sugar House Distillery, James Fowler. Beginning as an avid home-brewer, James quickly found a taste for the fermentation world. Once James left Utah, his palate was drawn to spirits. Determined to open a facility that's dedicated to quality over quantity and grain to glass! Since … Continue reading "Ep. 181: Sugar House Distillery" The post Ep. 181: Sugar House Distillery appeared first on Tastemasters.

London's original one-day Travelcard made of paper, was once the affordable magnet-strip ticket unlocking the capital for the masses - but now Mayor Sadiq Khan's considering scrapping it, after 40 years' service.Amid financial pressures, Khan's looking to ditch the ‘all-you-can-travel' physical tickets as tube, bus and rail passengers move to pay-as-you-ride contactless payments.But there are concerns losing the iconic transport pass could see commuters suffering more financial misery.The Leader podcast's joined by Dr James Fowler, a lecturer in strategy at the University of Essex Business School and author of Strategy and Managed Decline: London Transport 1948-87. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Looking for ways to make your bar more sustainable? In this Bar Chat short, James Fowler discusses his top tips for reducing waste in your bar and how your business can directly impact the environment. Tune in now! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart . . .” Proverbs 3:5a As we begin our Lenten journey, it seems appropriate to explore the topic of trust, trust in God, trust in ourselves and trust in others. Trust influences our experience of life and is fundamental to our sense of safety and security in the world. It is foundational to our psychological and spiritual development from birth through adulthood. The well-known psychologist, Erik Erikson, developed one of the most popular and influential theories of human psychosocial development. The first stage he describes is Trust vs. Mistrust which begins at birth and extends to about 18 months. During this period, the child forms a view of whether or not the world is a safe and loving place. According to Erikson this is the most important stage since it shapes the child's world view and influences the personality she/he develops. James Fowler, a theologian and professor at Emory University, developed the Stages of Faith in which he describes a process of human faith development. His first stage, Stage 0 extends from birth to 2 years. He calls this stage Undifferentiated Faith. It is similar to Erikson's first stage in that this is the period when a child learns about the safety and security of his/her environment. If the child experiences consistent nurture and care, then she/he develops a sense of trust and safety in the universe and the divine. If neglect, hurt and abuse are experienced, then mistrust in the divine and the universe develops.If we are to engage in the process of reflection and self-examination that we are called to during Lent, then trust in that process is important. Trust that we will be safe embarking on such a journey; that God will be with us and we won't be challenged with more than we can handle.No one is completely trusting or totally mistrusting. We are all somewhere on a trust continuum. As we are willing to be open to where we are on that continuum and explore our life experiences that have landed us there, we have the opportunity to change and grow.As you move through each of the five steps, consider this issue of trust and your relationship with it. Try to practice it as many times as possible this week.·       Place yourself in God's presence. How does it feel to place yourself in God's presence?  Give thanks for God's great love for you. Do you truly believe and trust God's great love for you?·       Pray for the grace to understand how God is acting in your life. Do you trust that God will give you grace to understand God's action in your life?·       Review your day — recall specific moments and your feelings at the time. What moments during the day brought feelings of trust or mistrust?·       Reflect on what you did, said, or thought in those instances. Were you drawing closer to God, or further away? How did trust or mistrust influence what you said, did and thought and your sense of being close to or further away from God?·       Look toward tomorrow — think of how you might collaborate more effectively with Spirit. Be specific.How would you like to be different in the coming day? How might you practice greater trust? Conclude with The Lord's Prayer or your own prayer around trust. Ask for clarity and guidance where you need it. Ask for wisdom and courage where you need it.Support the showSupport us here:https://www.bpcusa.org/financial-ministry/ BPC Youtube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/BrentwoodPresbyterianChurch

Tony shares new information from a recent speaking event addressing the challenges of navigating a faith journey. He talks about how difficult it is to understand any experience in life until you have gone through something similar; how hard-wired we are only to see things through our lens; how "non-violent communication" impacts our ability to separate an observation we have of someone else's behavior from our judgment; our strong desire to avoid feelings of anxiety and discomfort; and how James Fowler's Stages of Faith can provide a framework to understand ones own faith journey, as well as put others struggle with someone close experiencing a faith journey. And follow Tony on the Virtual Couch YouTube channel to see a sneak preview of his upcoming podcast "Murder on the Couch," where True Crime meets therapy, co-hosted with his daughter Sydney. You can watch a pre-release clip here https://youtu.be/-RkRq8SrQy0 Subscribe to Tony's latest podcast, "Waking Up to Narcissism Q&A - Premium Podcast," on the Apple Podcast App. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/waking-up-to-narcissism-q-a/id1667287384 Go to http://tonyoverbay.com/workshop to sign up for Tony's "Magnetize Your Marriage" virtual workshop. The cost is only $19, and you'll learn the top 3 things you can do NOW to create a Magnetic Marriage. You can learn more about Tony's pornography recovery program, The Path Back, by visiting http://pathbackrecovery.com And visit http://tonyoverbay.com and sign up to receive updates on upcoming programs and podcasts. Tony mentioned a product that he used to take out all of the "uh's" and "um's" that, in his words, "must be created by wizards and magic!" because it's that good! To learn more about Descript, click here https://descript.com?lmref=bSWcEQ

In this episode Val and Nathan open up with a refresher courses on the theories of faith development that have impacted their growth the most and break down a theory that is less about stages of faith and more cyclical in nature. This stage theory breaks down 1. Order 2. Disorder 3. Reorder. They give many examples in pop culture, nature, theology, and myth that illustrates that cycles of birth, death, and rebirth can be found virtually everywhere. This cycle reminds us that Jesus didn't begin the cycle of birth, death, and resurrection, but rather is one sublime manifestation of this pervasive phenomenon. Val and Nathan further talk about why we resist this cycle in our own lives, why this cycle is absolutely necessary to our growth and transformation, and how the cycles of order (birth), disorder (death/suffering), and reorder (rebirth/resurrection) can be found most significantly in our own lives as our own ideas, expectations, paradigms, and desires evolve ever upward.  Books referenced in this episode:  Stages of Faith by James Fowler, A Different Drum & The Road Less Traveled (3 book series) by M. Scott Peck, Faith After Doubt by Brian McLaren, Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell, Universal Christ by Richard Rohr, and episode 33 of Latter Day Struggles (for Valerie's Sunstone Symposium Lecture on Stages of Faith Development and Why we as a church are stuck).  ************************************************* Contact Valerie at info@valeriehamaker.com to get on a waitlist for one of her space limited processing/support groups mentioned in detail in this

On The Gate!  A podcast hosted by two ex cons and active comedians Geo Perez and Derek Drescher, who talk each week about their times in jail, what they learned, what you should know, and how they are improving their life each day. This week Geo and Derek kick it with their Fairy God Sister, Kerryn Feehan and her 17 year old prodigy, Peter James Fowler!#jail #convicts #comedy #podcast #onthegate #onthegatepodcast #geoperez #derekdrescher #kerrynfeehan #peterjamesfowler #skankfest #ayo

Continuing our conversation about behavioral contagions, this episode of Everyday Happiness discusses how we can use them to increase our happiness and the happiness of those around us.     Transcript:   Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life.    I'm your host Katie Jefcoat, and in our episode yesterday, we discussed what behavioral contagions are and how they spread. Of course, I had to leave a bit of a cliffhanger to kick off today's conversation about utilizing those behavioral contagions for our benefit. What benefit, you ask? Happiness, of course!   According to a study performed by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, they “found that social networks have clusters of happy and unhappy people within them that reach out to three degrees of separation." The happiest people tend to be at the center of their social networks, with each happy person bringing greater happiness to the group.   So, how can you use this to improve your social circle's happiness?   First, I encourage you to look inward, and consider how your emotions are affecting others. By being aware of your emotional processing, you can recognize when a bad mood negatively impacts your group. With this recognition, you can take steps to remove the lousy mood by thinking of something else, sharing your feelings in a positive manner to come to a solution, or, in worst case, removing yourself from the situation.   Second, recognize how other people's emotions are affecting your own. Is your friend's bad attitude dragging you down? Are you growing feelings of resentment, anger, or annoyance at something that wouldn't otherwise bother you because they are feeling that? When you recognize how someone else's feelings are affecting your own, you can take an internal step back and separate yourself from those emotions to keep an unbiased, calm attitude. However, if you are happy and bubbly, go ahead and bask in it!   Third, consider what actions you can take to spread positive or happy emotions. Something as simple as smiling at a stranger, sending a kindness card, or cheering for someone can instantly change the atmosphere in the room. When you send out happy, kind signals, other people will reflect them back to you and others. Remember, a simple act of kindness sends a ripple effect out into the world. Why? As I always say, kindness is contagious. Do your part today by spreading a little more happy contagions today with some simple act of kindness!    Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness   And, let's connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram   Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/   Inspired by this article in https://www.edge.org/conversation/social-networks-and-happiness

Discover why it's a natural human developmental and psychological process for us to go through a phase of questioning. I'm referring to James Fowler's Stages of Faith to show you all the different phases we go through in our faith and what you might experience in each stage. Learn how to channel trust and peace about your own struggles, or step into compassion and love for someone in your life who is going through their own faith journey.   Get full show notes and more information here: https://jodymoore.com/377

This week, I'm joined by comedians Peter James Fowler and Max Manticof. We discuss their new podcast No Soap, my strange interactions with Peter, Max's advice about squeezing the rag, how my therapist wants me to dye my hair purple, Peter's birthday, Peter's dream year, Max's favorite thing to talk about on stage, a coincidence in a cab with Max's barber, the time Max and Peter saved a woman, the kindness of strangers, Peter's comedy origin story in Arizona, a multi-card tarot card pull, and so much more!!! #nataliecuomo #cuomo #natalie #help #help! #podcast #standup #comedy #comedian #tattoos #peterjamesfowler #maxmanticof

Tony Overbay is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Certified Mindful Habit Coach, and a popular motivational speaker. Tony regularly speaks at corporate training events, schools, and churches in formal and casual settings mixing humor, clinical experience, his Christian faith, and a wealth of personal stories gleaned from years of helping others achieve their goals. This is part 1 of a 2-part podcast discussion. Highlights 2:40 Introduction 5:30 Tony's background and his story of becoming a therapist 13:50 Tony talks about his background helping people with pornography addictions. 17:00 Shame hasn't helped anyone in their recovery from porn 18:45 Tony talks about the most common problems people come to him with 22:15 The types of clients that Tony normally works with 25:45 Tony explains how he helps his clients and how a lot of times it leads to the topic of emotional immaturity and narcissism 28:00 Tony's new podcast, Waking Up to Narcissism 31:15 Is it easier for people to walk into a therapist's office or a bishop's office? 34:30 Tony shares an experience he had training Bishops in his stake about Fowler's stages of faith and his 4 pillars of a connected conversation. He shares what he thinks bishops should know and understand when trying to help people. Links PART 2 of this podcast Unhealthy Ways We Seek Validation As Leaders | An Interview with Tony Overbay The Bishop's Strongest Tools to Help Addicts | An Interview with Tony Overbay Tony's podcasts The Path Back: Overcoming Pornography The Magnetic Marriage Course Tony's PDF of James Fowler's Stages of Faith Development Why Am I the Last Person to Know What to Do with My Life? Am I the Narcissist? Exploring Narcissistic Traits and Tendencies Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Listen on YouTube Watch Tony's Leading Saints Live with 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The Leading Saints Podcast has ranked in the top 20 Christianity podcasts in iTunes, gets over 300,000 listens each month, and has over 10 million total downloads as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help latter-day saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, J. Devn Cornish, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, DeAnna Murphy, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler, Ganel-Lyn Condie, and many more in over 500 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

Tony Overbay is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Certified Mindful Habit Coach, and a popular motivational speaker. Tony regularly speaks at corporate training events, schools, and churches in formal and casual settings mixing humor, clinical experience, his Christian faith, and a wealth of personal stories gleaned from years of helping others achieve their goals. This is part 2 of a 2-part podcast discussion. Listen to Part 1 here. Highlights 03:20 Tony shares experiences people have had with a very harsh stake president 12:25 Leaders or sometimes therapists hand people a list of things to do in order to overcome addictions or whatever it may be. But what happens when checking off those boxes doesn't help? 13:50 Typically people go into the bishop's office with the energy of shame. The bishop needs to diffuse that energy. People should also consider other people they can talk to besides the Bishop. 18:00 A good question to ask an individual is, “Who do you feel comfortable talking to?” 19:30 Tony breaks down shame and where it comes from 24:50 We feel shame when we are unable to overcome certain behaviors or addictions. However, we are approaching it in the wrong way. We need to dive deeper into why we are doing what we are doing. 25:40 Tony shares his own personal experience on being human and making mistakes. We need to give ourselves a break because we are all just human having human experiences. 29:20 Leadership and narcissism. Too often people are throwing out the word narcissist when dealing with a difficult person. 30:45 What is narcissism? Where does it come from? 38:20 There is a healthy level of narcissism in all of us 40:20 We most often see narcissism in a negative light. There is also normal healthy narcissism. That could also be called a normal healthy ego or your sense of self. 44:10 Pathological defensive narcissism 53:30 Jesus had a healthy ego. He had a full understanding of His identity. 55:45 Tony explains confabulation 1:02:00 Dealing with narcissistic leaders 1:04:15 Internal validation versus external validation 1:12:30 There isn't much we can do about a narcissistic leader. What we can do is set our own boundaries. Links Part 1 of this podcast Unhealthy Ways We Seek Validation As Leaders | An Interview with Tony Overbay The Bishop's Strongest Tools to Help Addicts | An Interview with Tony Overbay Tony's podcasts The Path Back: Overcoming Pornography The Magnetic Marriage Course Tony's PDF of James Fowler's Stages of Faith Development Why Am I the Last Person to Know What to Do with My Life? Am I the Narcissist? Exploring Narcissistic Traits and Tendencies TRANSCRIPT coming soon Listen on YouTube Watch Tony's Leading Saints Live with 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The Leading Saints Podcast has ranked in the top 20 Christianity podcasts in iTunes, gets over 300,000 listens each month, and has over 10 million total downloads as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help latter-day saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, J. Devn Cornish, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, DeAnna Murphy, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler, Ganel-Lyn Condie, and many more in over 500 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.

Does giving to charity make you feel happier than buying something for yourself? Answer: YES! Tune in today to learn more about how charitable acts benefit happiness.    Transcript:   Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness, in about 2 minutes a day,  through my signature method of Intentional Margins® (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness science, and musings about life.    I'm your host Katie Jefcoat, and today, I want to talk to you about charity. While I have mentioned charitable giving in passing, I want to dive deeper today. You know that phrase “money can't buy happiness.” Well, it can…as long as you are buying something for someone else. A 2008 study by Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton found that spending money on someone else provided greater happiness than buying something for ourselves. The pleasure of giving to someone could actually be linked to the release of endorphins, commonly known as a “helper's high.” Along with that happiness rush, charitable giving evokes gratitude. Whether you are the one giving or the one receiving, gratitude promotes happiness for both parties. We have talked a lot about gratitude here on Everyday Happiness, so I won't go further back into that today, but you know the details! In addition to making us happier, charitable acts increase social connection. As I have mentioned in past episodes, social connections are a critical component of our happiness. Studies have shown that when we are charitable, it promotes a sense of trust and cooperation with everyone involved. We feel closer to those we are helping and vice versa. We also feel closer to those who help along with us, whether family, friends, colleagues, or community members. As Sonya Lyubomirsky writes in her book The How of Happiness, “Being kind and generous leads you to perceive others more positively and more charitably… it fosters a heightened sense of interdependence and cooperation in your social community.” Lastly, I want to note that kindness is contagious! When you give, it initiates a ripple effect of generosity. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, by James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, and Nicholas Christakis of Harvard, found that when one person acts charitably, it inspires other people also to act altruistically. Not only does it remind people of the benefits of charity, but it encourages them to give and inspire even more people to do the same. So whether you want to volunteer, buy gifts for others, or donate money, I encourage you to consider how to incorporate charitable acts into your Intentional Margins. Get Everyday Happiness delivered to your inbox by subscribing at: https://www.katiejefcoat.com/happiness   And, let's connect on social at @everydayhappinesswithkatie  and join the community on the hashtags #IntentionalMargins and #everydayhappinesswithkatie on Instagram   Links:  https://onamission.bio/everydayhappiness/

Welcome back Double Portion Nation! We are so glad to see you again! Is Marijuana medicinal? Should the church be allowing it? Join us in this with our special guest Bro. James Fowler and how God delivered him. We would love to hear how God Delivered you. Please give us some feedback. God Bless every one of you!!Look for us @Instagram (Double Portion Podcast)Youtube - CGCPUBELO LIVE - PLAYLIST (DOUBLE PORTION PODCAST)www.cgcpueblo.org/doubleportionAlso available on most Podcast platforms.Thank you,Look for us @Instagram (Double Portion Podcast)Youtube - CGCPUBELO LIVE - PLAYLIST (DOUBLE PORTION PODCAST)www.cgcpueblo.org/doubleportionAlso available on most Podcast platforms.

We all live our lives within mythic structures, and we always will. But early on, as James Fowler states, we take these overarching stories as literally true (he names his Stage 2 "Mythic-Literal"). Then life, in ways that we can comprehend, serves up alternate mythologies. We begin to see the stories of others as genuine options for us to adopt, or to at least appreciate deeply. In that dilemma of seeing more than one story or mythic framing being as capable of leading people to experience rich and joyful lives, with strong values and a dynamic sense of purpose, we must begin to shift our perspective. We are now forced to see our myths as "value stories" rather than factual truth, and as we do so we begin to enter into a new relationship with them. Making this shift is extremely difficult. At first, most of us want to hide or re-cocoon ourselves solely within our story as being THE right or best one. This transition toward comfort with our overarching stories and sense of the world/universe/purpose as being mythic can take a very long time. But it is a shift worth making, because all of a sudden the world and universe come alive for us in ways we can't, in our fearful modes, imagine. Now we find ourselves playing on a much larger stage, and the call for us to embark upon the hero's journey, the quest to overcome what scares us or holds us back, becomes louder. It is likewise only through such journeys that we can heal ourselves, which then allows us to heal the communities we are part of.  In this episode, my wonderful friend Charles Randall Paul (Randy) and I dive deeply into the importance and value of myth (debunking any thought of it as “not true”) and the excitement of being in a broader world in which we are now able to be creators and teachers and livers of our highest values and experience harmony between our old and ever-emerging selves in ways that enliven our family and community bonds and experiences and, hopefully, model for others the boons of these journeys into the unknown that lead us back transformed in powerful ways. I hope you'll join us in this important conversation, our attempt to assist us all in “unlearning” any pejorative thoughts about myth as being less powerful or vital than “facts.” I also hope you'll find attractive, as well, what we do in the sections that help bring alive gorgeous aspects of Mormonism's foundational myths. This episode was originally aired June 26, 2019. It is definitely worth revisiting! The image above is a representation of the Judgment of Paris, a foundational Greek myth discussed in the episode.

Please join us Right Now, July 11, 2022 at 11:00AM PST as Director, Producer, Actor Alejandro Montoya Marin, Actor, Director James Fowler and Celebrity Photographer Richard Darryl Nichols joins host Ron Brewington on "The Actor's Choice."

Plenty to talk about this week as James Fowler left his role at the club. Along with some transfer rumours as well as the highs and lows of following Killie before Killie Trust Bingo.

On this episode of Bergs Base host Aaron Berg welcomes Alt-Left Comedian Peter James Fowler to the show! P.J. thinks Aaron may have skin cancer, Aaron's Nickelodeon show "Uncle A's Kids" is BACK with Officer LeMaire Lee, the alt-left FACES OFF against the alt-right and much much more... on your new favorite podcast: Berg's Base!Original Air Date: 06.08.22Watch & SUBSCRIBE on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTjzh35l676IwN5XD8Y9YNQ?sub_confirmation=1Bergs Base is LIVE every WEDNESDAY at 10:30PM E ONLY on GaS DigitalOr catch the YouTube Premiere the next MONDAY at 10PMhttps://GaSDigitalNetwork.com/LIVESign up to Gas Digital Network with promo code BERG for a 7 Day FREE TRIAL to get access to the HD livestreams, the live chat, and all episodes On Demand in HD.https://GaSDigitalNetwork.com/high-octane-all-accessFOLLOW THE WHOLE SHOW!Berg's Base PodcastInstagram: https://instagram.com/bergsbasepodcastAaron BergInstagram: https://instagram.com/aaronbergcomedyTwitter: https://twitter.com/aaronbergcomedyPeter James FowlerInstagram: https://instagram.com/peterjamesfowlerLeMaire LeeInstagram: https://instagram.com/lemaireleeTwitter: https://twitter.com/lemaireleeGaS Digital NetworkInstagram: https://instagram.com/gasdigitalTwitter: https://twitter.com/gasdigitalSEND US MAIL:GaS Digital Studios Attn: Aaron Berg151 1st Ave # 311New York, NY 10003#Comedy #Podcast #AaronBerg #GasDigital See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Jealousy is a fervent desire to have things transpire as one desires. James Fowler. 2 Corinthians 11:1-2, Song of Solomon 8:6, 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 1 Samual  19:1-17,Proverbs 27:4 

We welcome guest Peter James Fowler to the podcast. You can see him do stand up all over the city! The most legendary moment ever of OnlyFeehans history is stored in this episode.

Welcome to Kid's Ministry Coffee Break: today's break is called “Stages of Faith” Have you taken a moment to breathe today? Are you dialed in to this time and claiming your window of rest and refreshment? Do you have your cup? If you've had the opportunity to receive education in the field of children or youth ministry, chances are strong you've heard the name Rev. Dr. James Fowler. He was a brilliant professor, teacher, and minister. He published a book in 1981 which gave us the stages of faith. Now…the reason I want to bring this up is because it's helpful to know where people are in their faith development. It's helpful to know where kids are as well as adults. Have you ever been doing your work and it just seems like some people don't or won't understand where you're coming from? Jesus dealt with this ALOT! And we, as ministers, do too. It's part of the process and calling of ministry. It's hard when you are passionate and excited and want to share the joy and wisdom you've discovered only to be met with resistance or glazed eyes. Well…there are 6 stages of faith, according to James Fowler. People from one stage may have trouble understanding someone in the next stage. They will almost certainly NOT understand someone more than one stage away. It's not a hierarchy. Rather than try to measure up…this is a way to understand why we might misunderstand one another. Today's message is brought to you by Rev. Joseph Sanford from Sanford Curriculum -- resources for children and youth created by he and Lauren Sanford and available on The Sunday School Store. Music by The Muse Maker. Download free Sunday School Lessons https://sundayschool.store/collections/free-downloads 52-Week Curriculum https://sundayschool.store/products/52-week-sunday-school-curriculum Bible Verses on Finding God's Calling https://10bibleverses.com/scripture-quotes/bible-verses-about-calling/

"STAGES OF FAITH" Kids Ministry Coffee Break 5: There are 6 stages of faith, according to James Fowler. People from one stage may have trouble understanding someone in the next stage. They will almost certainly NOT understand someone more than one stage away. It's not a hierarchy. Rather than try to measure up…this is a way to understand why we might misunderstand one another. Stage 1: preschool-aged, usually. They need concrete symbols and stories. Object lessons will NOT connect with stage 1 kids. Trying to say that “Jesus is the rock” will just lead to confusion. They may nod and say they understand, because they want to be approved and agreeable, but they don't get it, friends. Stage 2: school-aged. They deal in strong beliefs about right/wrong. Also, God is going to look and act like a human being. This is the old man in the sky stage. That's all they can really grasp. The idea of spirit is just not going to connect. https://ministry-to-children.com/bible-verses-about-children/ Stage 3: begins with adolescence and large percentage of people remain here throughout their life: there's conformity here. Youth will know what they need to conform with for your approval, so they will. They will understand the overall version of the faith story as your church presents it. They will be agreeable to that as their identity as a Christian and conform with those values, more or less. https://youthgroupministry.com/ Stage 4: begins with early adults and most will remain in this stage throughout life. People here tend to take personal responsibility for beliefs, values, systems of meaning, and commitments. Many times, they will claim their own by stepping out of or away from what they were asked to conform with. They MUST do this, friends. They need to let go of what they were given so that they can find what they claim for themselves. It's such a joy to be a safe person they can do this with. Don't worry when they reject the version of faith they've been given. This is maturity in progress and they just need you as a safe person they can talk with as they find their way—not to guide them, but to be a non-judging person whom they can come to, ask questions, and be honest with. If you don't do it, they'll find someone else who will. Stage 5: Conjunctive — It's rare that anyone is in stage 5. This is where we can acknowledge paradoxes in our faith experience. We will critically reflect upon our faith. The ability to see the validity of other people's experiences and faith expressions will come here. They will also realize that truth is bigger than any one particular perspective. Stage 6: very rare — this is where people will live their lives with genuine compassion and love for all people of all faiths, all places, and all perspectives. There will not be energy invested in division or defensiveness with perspective here. If this interests you, google it and read up. If this doesn't interest you, then just know it's normal for people to not all be looking at faith and life through the same lens. Knowing your people—both students and their parents and fellow church members and from what stage they might be operating is extremely helpful when you encounter some resistance in what you're trying to accomplish. We're meant to be diverse here. Different is good. It'd be ideal to have a crew of people you work with who are in different stages. They will help your ministry be well-rounded and able to reach a larger group of people. https://ministry-to-children.com/best-childrens-bibles/ Enjoy the process and don't let confusion demand too much of your time. Roll on, keep going, and trust that the Holy Spirit is doing the work in people's hearts even when their mind doesn't seem to connect to what you're doing. https://sundayschool.store/collections/easter-curriculum-for-childrens-ministry

In this episode, Jason explores James Fowler's faith development theory from the book Stages of Faith (book link below). At each stage of our development we engage the Bible differently. As faith becomes our own (stage 4), we sometimes need to read the Bible with different lenses as we explore what we believe and how it shapes who we are becoming. Stages of Faith (by James Fowler)

Drawing inspiration from aerial views of cities and maps, James Fowler's acrylic, oil and gouache works on canvas, paper, and wood are playfully geometric and resonate with the digital world, and culture of online information distribution. His non-traditional landscape paintings borrow from cartography and geometric abstraction, and celebrate both urban centres and rural living. James attended York University in Toronto for Film Studies and maintains a full time studio practice as a painter in Toronto.   His work has been exhibited in Canada and the United States, and his work can be found in private and corporate collections in Canada, US and Europe. In addition to exhibiting, James has been involved in several curatorial projects including the 10x10 Photography project, Nuit Rose and Queering Space at the Archives formally the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives  to name a few. James is a great mentor to younger artists and has vast knowledge of the contemporary artist's practice, community building  and social media. On today's Episode James discuss his process for his city view paintings, supporting Queer artists as well as his recent adventures with Tik Tok.Interested in seeing some of James' work. Go to his website at https://iamjamesfowler.com/artFind James on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jamesfowlerart/Find me on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/artconversationswithlisajayne/ or at my website at www.lisajayneirvine.com

Brandon Smith is, "The Workplace Therapist.” He's the Founder and President of The Worksmiths, an Executive Coach, Speaker and Author of the book, The Hot Sauce Principle. In this fascinating conversation you can learn about: The reason there is so much dysfunction in the workplace. The best survival tactics for eliminating dysfunction. How to stimulate urgency and avoid panic when driving performance. What the Host Sauce Principle is, and why getting balance is essential. Join our Tribe at https://leadership-hacker.com Music: " Upbeat Party " by Scott Holmes courtesy of the Free Music Archive FMA Transcript: Thanks to Jermaine Pinto at JRP Transcribing for being our Partner. Contact Jermaine via LinkedIn or via his site JRP Transcribing Services Find out more about Brandon below: Brandon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonsmithtwpt/ The Workplace Therapist Website: https://theworkplacetherapist.com Brandon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheWPTherapist Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewptherapist/   Full Transcript Below   Steve Rush: Some call me Steve, dad, husband or friend. Others might call me boss, coach or mentor. Today you can call me The Leadership Hacker.   Thanks for listening in. I really appreciate it. My job as the leadership hacker is to hack into the minds, experiences, habits and learning of great leaders, C-Suite executives, authors and development experts so that I can assist you developing your understanding and awareness of leadership. I am Steve Rush and I am your host today. I am the author of Leadership Cake. I am a transformation consultant and leadership coach. I cannot wait to start sharing all things leadership with you   On The Leadership Hacker Podcast today, we have Brandon Smith, the workplace therapist. He's a founder and president of Worksmiths, executive coach and speaker and author of the book, The Hot Sauce Principle. But before we do sound speaker Brandon, it's The Leadership Hacker News. The Leadership Hacker News Steve Rush: Have you ever avoided just putting stuff off that you know, that you should be doing. Well, procrastination could be the most expensive cost in life and business. Leading to stress, misunderstandings and missed opportunities. Many people put off task until the last minute. And according to psychology today, twenty percent of people are chronic procrastinators. More than ever people are getting pulled in different directions and demands on time, schedules and energy are increasing. So, in order to cope with the pressures of life and work, many spend excessive time tuning out non-work activities, scrolling on social media, engaging in group gossip, reading blogs, watching TV. The activities that make us feel better in the moment yet prevent us from taking the action on our tasks. So how can we perform at peak performance levels? When our self sabotage can often hold us back. According to an article by Balkis & Duru, procrastination occurs because of a number of things, including poor time management. I like to call that self-management by the way, lack of motivational skills, organizational skills, inability to concentrate, unrealistic expectations and personal problems, a fixation on negative thinking or negative beliefs about one's capabilities, perfectionism and anxiety, and fear related. Also contribute to procrastination. So here are five tips for peak performance and to bust through procrastination. Number one, question yourself like you've never questioned anybody else. The voice in your head is the one voice you wake up to in the morning, but it can be questioned. So, have you asked that voice in your head questions like? Are you setting and realistic expectations for yourself? Am I putting pressure on myself? What types of things are you hearing? What's the why behind what I need to do today? What are the consequences and what are the rewards of getting this done? Take time to just keep asking those questions. Two, you might be familiar with the Eisenhower Matrix often called urgent and important matrix. In a time where everything is urgent and important. The reality isn't really that true. So many of our tasks and deadlines can be adjusted or renegotiated and a powerful strategy that can help us do that is the Eisenhower Matrix. There are four quadrants that help label tasks, urgent and important, urgent and less important, less important and urgent and less urgent and less important. So, identify which of the task go into which quadrant which will help focus your energy time and attention. Number three is called the one-minute method. Start something for one minute. All it takes to get into action and get moving is one minute, sixty seconds. Jump in regardless of how you're feeling. Start that task before you're ready. Many people think too much, take too little action. Set your timer for sixty seconds and take action. And before I call the bracelet technique. And I learned this technique while studying neuro-linguistic programming. Start out by getting an elastic or rubber band and wear on your wrist like a bracelet. And every time you find yourself putting something off or thinking negative thoughts, snap that elastic rubber band on your wrist. This act associates, physical pain with negative thoughts and procrastination. It can be an effective way to overcome procrastination and the negative thoughts that sometimes come along with it. And number five, the timeline. Can setting deadlines and timelines really help when overcoming procrastination. Well, according to a study mentioned in the psychological science journal, it's been reported that setting deadlines does in fact, improve the ability to complete your task. Self-Imposed external deadlines, really quite effective. Play a game with yourself, run an experiment and set a small internal deadline to see if you can complete it in a specific amount of time, a little competition between you and your internal voice in your head and your words and actions can be fun. And it also turns out the procrastination is actually a mindset. So, if we think we can do it in the time we have, and we can do it now, and it won't cause us discomfort, we're more likely to do it. And if we think we can't, guess what? You're probably right. So, the leadership lesson here is when you're engaging with your team and the people that work with you. Think about and observe, are they holding back something? Are they're procrastinating? And if so, how can you help them engage the voice in their head? How through the power of questions, can you help them unlock their thinking? So, they can really hit peak performance. That's been The Leadership Hacker News. If you have any news, stories, insights, you know where to find us through our social media, we look forward to hearing from you. Start of Podcast Steve Rush: Our special guest on today's show is Brandon Smith. He's the founder and president of The Worksmiths. He's an executive coach, speaker and author of the book, The Hot Sauce Principle, Brandon, welcome to The Leadership Hacker Podcast. Brandon Smith: Steve, I am thrilled to be on the show today. Steve Rush: Me too. It's been a real challenge for us to get our calendars to connect since the last time we spoke. But the world's a very different place too, to be fair, right? Brandon Smith: That's absolutely right. That's absolutely right. You know, it's funny. I used to think to myself. Oh yeah, I'm pretty good about predicting what's going to happen. Steve Rush: Yeah. Brandon Smith: The last eighteen months has been very humbling for me indeed. So, I've thrown my crystal ball and it's just, you know, take it as it come. Steve Rush: Exactly right. Now I remember from the first time we've met; you have a really kind of tragic slash challenging kind of upbringing that really kind of led you on the path to what you're doing now. For the listeners that haven't had the chance to meet with you perhaps, can you just give them a little bit of that backstory? Brandon Smith: Sure, sure. So, I was the youngest of three boys. Both my older brothers were adopted. My parents were told they couldn't have children and surprise I showed up. And so, both my older brothers were twelve and eleven years older than me. So, I would always tell folks, you know, if you've ever had older brothers like that, you know what the inside of a dryer it looks like, you know, it's like someone say, don't ask questions, just drink it. That's what older brothers do to little brothers. And my life was, you know, when I look back on it, I would say generally, I feel grateful, but there was some times in my life where it's was very dysfunctional as hell. My older oldest brother, Chris, he was in and out of either jail or rehab centers, my entire life growing up. And when he was home, it was a lot of yelling and screaming in my house. And so, when I was ten, he ran away from a rehab center and he was living with us and he just decided life was too hard. And he took his life one night and it was very, very tragic and very, very challenging for all of us. In fact, it was so challenging for me that within about six months of that happening, I came down with an uncontrollable stutter. So, I couldn't speak in public at all. And so, every day before school, I would go in and see my speech therapist early in the morning. I'd work on my Bs, my Ps, and my Ts, the letters that would always trip me up, and then I'd go on to the school day. So, between growing up with that dysfunction of my house, and then the way kids with stutters are treated at school. I made a kind of a conscious or unconscious decision that I just wanted to distance myself from people. They were just way too dysfunctional. And so that's kind of how I went through high school all the way to college and university. I just kind of kept myself kind of arms distance. Well, ironically enough, I ended up majoring in communications at university. And like most communication majors. I couldn't find a job after graduation. And I took a job in a small chain of retail stores. It was a family-owned business. The woman who started the business had fifteen stores. And I was going to be the assistant manager at one of these stores. And my boss was the son-in-law of the owner. So, her daughter marries this guy, he's, my boss. So, on my first day of real work, so I'd worked other jobs before, but this was my first day post university full-time job. I show up at the store, he greets me at the door and he says, I'm so glad you're here, before you get started, I have task for you. Waiting for you in the back room is the current assistant manager of the store, but he does not know you're coming. So, your job is to go back there and fire him and you get his job. Steve Rush: Wow. Brandon Smith: That was my first task on my first day of work. And that was how my manager rolled. He loved to do everything that we know as kind of really followers and lovers of leadership. He would do everything that's opposite of what we believe to be true and good about leadership. He loves to do surprise visits, to try and catch people doing the wrong thing. I had to do more layoffs of people in that first six months of that job than any other time in my career. That kind of experience really woke me up, made me really realized three things about my life. First, work should not have to suck. It should be a place for fulfillment and purpose and meaning for all of us. It shouldn't be a place of anxiety and depression and worry. I mean, it is work, it's not perfect, but it should have all those positive things. Not those negative things. We can't always choose the families we get, but we could choose our workplaces. We have a lot more control over that. Second, if my boss was any indication of the state of leadership in the world, I really want to change that. I want to improve how we lead other people and the impact we can have on workplaces. And third, that was where my purpose was born. I decided at that moment, I want to eliminate all workplace dysfunction everywhere, forever. Having no idea what I signed up for Steve. Steve Rush: Yeah. Brandon Smith: So, I went on and pursued a clinical therapy degree and practice in the clinical world for many years. And then also then got my MBA to kind of balance those two things. So, my version of kind of chocolate and peanut butter combined, somehow it works. And that was where my handle of kind of the workplace therapist was born. So that's a little bit of my journey that kind of got me on the path that I've been on. Steve Rush: And having met with you and looked at some of the work and spend some time looking at your book. There is a real purpose behind this. This is not something that somebody is doing for a job. You are doing this because intrinsically it's something that you want to eradicate, right? Brandon Smith: Absolutely. Absolutely. We have enough challenges in life, you know, if we can make work, not one of them, that would be a really great thing. Steve Rush: Yeah, so what do you think the reason is that there is so much then dysfunction in the workplace today? Brandon Smith: There's always been dysfunction in the workplace for one primary reason. We bring our own stories to work. We bring our own histories; we bring our own family dramas and family place to work. And so, you know, we put that on other people. So that's always been true about us as human beings. So that's always going to be a challenge, but you used an interesting word in that. You said, why is so challenging today? So, today's a little different time in the workplace. So, what I've experienced and you've experienced is, it doesn't matter where in the world we meet somebody. There are two things that are true about our workplace today. Time is our most precious resource. It's not money, it's time and everything feels urgent all the time. And that creates a whole other set of distinctions to fall along with that, because we're rushing and everything feels urgent, we don't spend time giving positive feedback to our team members. We don't get to know them or look to align with other leaders in the organization. It causes a lot more challenges particularly with communication. So, there are some interesting challenges, we can even go further down the rabbit hole of working remotely on some of the challenges there, but there's a real interesting opportunity let's say, for our workplaces today. Steve Rush: And the world has changed as we've moved to more of a hybrid world working from either our desks or our homes, or a combination of both. Have you seen the change to how people are responding in that environment? Brandon Smith: Yes, absolutely. So, in the first six weeks, two months of this event, everyone around the world probably said something to this effect. Well, you know, this isn't so bad. I just picked up two or three hours in my day. I'm not commuting, so I can kind of wake up in the morning, have some coffee, maybe have a little bit of breakfast and then hop on my first meeting at nine am. At some point around that six-week mark, eight-week mark. Everyone realized, everyone wasn't commuting and they start scheduling meetings at eight thirty in the morning, eight in the morning, seven thirty in the morning, six o'clock at night, six thirty at night. Steve Rush: Right. Brandon Smith: So now when I talk to my clients, one of the challenges they say, they say, I don't know how I'm going to go back to the office because I have staying meetings at seven thirty in the morning. That's when I'd be commuting. And I have meetings during lunch. So, we we've packed our days, even more full with all these meetings, and so that's the first one. Second, I hear constant kind of complaints from folks about being on camera all day long and the strain that's putting on them. I think that's the second one. The third one is people just aren't able to really fully connect. It's hard to build relationships over zoom or teams or whatever platform you use. Those meetings tend to default to more task, operational things. Let's catch up about how your weekend was. We often do those over meals and we haven't been able to do that. So, it's hard to build those relationships. I met a lot of people. I know you have two that have started with a new employer within the last year, and they have not even ever met their coworkers yet. Steve Rush: Right, exactly. Brandon Smith: Let alone go into an office. So, I would say those three at least would apply to everybody that's been working remotely. There's been some real challenges around that. Steve Rush: And the principle of everything being urgent all of the time has been expedited because of that, right? Brandon Smith: That's right. It's very difficult to tell what really matters and what doesn't matter. And because there's constant change. And we could attribute some of this to technology, we're always available, on call all the time. We could also attribute some of this to general global media. There definitely a frenzy regardless of what media you listen. It definitely heightens that sense of anxiety and urgency really is that. Urgency is anxiety, so we're living in a very anxious time right now. Steve Rush: Of course, the only one person that can control it, is ourselves. Brandon Smith: Well said, well said Steve Rush: You wrote the book, The Hot Sauce Principle, how to live and lead in a world where everything is urgent all of the time. So, what is The Hot Sauce Principle? Brandon Smith: So, it's a really simple analogy. From now on, for everyone listening to this. When you think of urgency, I want you to think of hot sauce. And why that analogy works so well is because, you know, I love hot sauce personally. I really do. I put a little bit hot sauce on something and that's flavor, it adds focus, it adds spice. It really makes it stand out. And so, urgency by itself is not a bad thing. It's really preps prioritize things. But if everything that's coming out of the leadership kitchen is covered in hot sauce. The appetizer, the salad, the entree, the brownie, the iced tea that you're drinking, at least in the U.S. we drink a lot of iced tea here. If all that's covered in hot sauce, your mouth is going to be on fire. You're not going to be able to taste anything and you're going to be overwhelmed. And so that's really why the idea is so sticky because we want to make sure we're very thoughtful and intentional about what we're putting hot sauce on for our teams, but also pushing back if our leaders are putting hot sauce on everything, because it makes everything a priority, which then means nothing's a priority. The other reason why this is also such a great analogy is, you know, we know our teams, some members of our team just need to drop or two hot sauce and they they've got it. They know what they need to do. And often running, we've got other members of our team that need a bottle or two to really get them moving. So, knowing your people and knowing how much urgency they need is another kind of important element around that analogy. Steve Rush: I love it. It's really, I'm quite a visual guy and therefore, and olfactory. So, I can see this and taste this and smell it. And therefore, it's a really great analogy tip to let leaders know that actually you're holding the hot sauce bottle most of the time as well, right? Brandon Smith: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. And what you choose to put hot sauce on and how much you choose to use is going to either create an amazing, wonderful dish, or you're absolutely going to ruin the whole lot. So, it's a good image for leaders. Steve Rush: So, here's the thing. It's a really fine line between urgency and panic. How do you differentiate the two and maybe how do you recognize it even? Brandon Smith: So, I'll tell you a story to illustrate that point. So, I was having a conversation with a client of mine some years ago around this idea, this analogy, and he was an entrepreneur. He owned a marketing business and he was probably one of the most anxious guys I've ever met. And so, kind of unusual to be an entrepreneur. I mean, he was almost shaking when I'd meet him. He was just so wound up. And when I spoke to the folks in his organization, they said, you know, we really like it. He's a really nice guy, but he makes everything urgent all the time. And it's really creating burnout around here. To your point, it's like panic. So, I told him this analogy, well, on his own, after our conversation, he went to the grocery store and he bought three bottles of hot sauce. And he put them on his desk, one, two, three, and whenever there was a new project or initiative, when he was assigned that to a member of his team, he would hand them one of the bottles of hot sauce. And he instructs them to keep the bottle of hot sauce on their desk, representing the importance and urgency of that initiative. And until the project was done, they had to keep a hot sauce bottle there. But once it was done, they had to return the hot sauce bottle to him. Here was the beautiful thing that kind of gets to your question. He only had three bottles he could give out. So, because he only had three bottles, that was like a forcing mechanism for him. So, he was able to prioritize, but he couldn't create panic because he didn't have an infinite number of bottles. So, any way you can limit the number of bottles you put out, or the number of hot sauce items you create, that will help to keep it on the urgency side and not tip the panic. Steve Rush: And what do you notice in people's response? Either through their verbal and nonverbal communication that might help you recognize as a leader, if you've gone too far, you've nudged into the panic zone? Brandon Smith: So, the panic zone by itself is not as concerning as the apathy zone. That's where you get past panic. So, we pass panic and now we're into full on burnout. And that's when the people are just apathetic. So, no matter how much hot sauce you put on them, they just respond to the same way. That's when you know, you've gone too far. And so, another way analogy around this is, I've often heard working today in our workplaces, it's almost like you have to think about like interval training, high intensity interval training. So, you're running or pushing or exercising at a high intensity, but then you need to take time to rest and then do it again, time to rest and then do it again, and time to rest. And of course, the challenge with our workplaces today is there there's no time to rest. So, another way that we can manage panic is make sure that, you know, if you are pushing your team really hard on something that's urgent, give them a little bit of a pause before you immediately throw another urgent item on them. Steve Rush: Yeah, I want to go back to the apathy bit. Because something you said that really struck a chord with me, most people, when they hear apathy would maybe have a thought process or a connotation of somebody who is lazy, disengaged and not the opposite, which you described as going past panic. And I wondered what you'd noticed and how that might've played out for you when you've coached your clients? Brandon Smith: So, when we think about love, the opposite of love is not hated. The opposite of love is apathy. We were no longer invested. So that's why when you get to that place, it's a really dangerous place to be because you've lost your people. They're no longer invested. They're no longer committed; they've got nothing left. They feel like, it doesn't matter how hard they try. It's never enough. They've almost given up at least emotionally and maybe even mentally. So that's a real, real, a dangerous spot to be because when I see clients get to that place, really the best antidote for them is to take a vacation or holiday. They need to take some time away to reset and recharge it. Often it takes at least two weeks. And the more time they can take off the better. Because it takes at least week to get that apathy out of your system and start to really reconnect to what's important to you in life and what really matters to you, but you need that space. So, my hope would be that leaders don't push their folks that far because it takes time to recover from that. Steve Rush: And most of it, of course, from a leadership perspective, in my observation, in any case, is this, isn't an intentional thing that leaders do. It's often very unintentional as a byproduct of bad behavior or too much urgency, right? Brandon Smith: That's exactly right. And I'd say that the biggest culprits in this would be your publicly traded companies, because what they do is, because of the way the markets move, the markets put pressure on them to change quickly and transform. So, then those C-level executives make everything urgent all the time and pat themselves on the back and say, I'm a great leader. I just pushed lots of urgency into the system. And all they've done is just given the organization an overdose of anxiety. And so, then that goes down to the next level of leaders who push it down to the next level of leaders who push you down to the next level of leaders. And it just kind of funnels all the way through. And so, it's a real dangerous place for us to be. And so, if more leaders can be conscious of how much they're doing of this, it can be good for not only performance because it creates more focus, but the overall health and wellbeing of everyone in that organization. Steve Rush: And I suspect that also then contributes to more dysfunction in the workplace? Brandon Smith: Absolutely. Absolutely. Funny when you said dysfunction, the first word that came to mind for me was kind of a close synonym to that, which was chaos. A lot of chaos, a lot of chaos, because again, if everything's urgent, nothing's urgent, it's just chaos. There's no focus. And then it becomes really hard to know what to work on, to align, and do all the other things that we need to do. Steve Rush: Yeah, indeed. And in your book, I love the fact that you call this out, you have an emotional booster shot. Love you to share with our listeners what an emotional booster shot is and how might they want to go ahead and get one? Brandon Smith: So, let's think about how you can do it for yourself. So, when we talk about an emotional booster shot. Think of it as resilience, we really want to try and help ourselves have more resilience, be kind of stronger, almost more flexible, like almost like stretching. We're going to stretch if we use the analogy again of, you know, a workout, okay. So, there's a couple of ways we can do that. First, we can reframe the situation. So, when people are pushing down more urgency on you, you can reframe the situation as this is not a crisis, we're going to get through this. And you do that with your teams, communicate that, we can overcome this. Second one is, think of it as a learning opportunity. I'm going to learn and grow through this. It may be really hard and challenging, but I'm going to get stronger. And it's going to help me, help me grow. And the third way we could look at this is kind of how can we maintain kind of hope that things are going to turn out better on the other end of this, that everything's going to kind of work out for a reason. There was a famous theologian at Emory University name James Fowler, and he used to have this beautiful saying, he would say. As leaders, we want to give people hope and handles. And I just think that's so beautiful, hope and handles. Steve Rush: Love it, yeah. Brandon Smith: What's the future going to look like? And what can we do right now to move kind of further down that path. So those are all ways that you can reframe it for yourself. But also think about how you can use those same techniques, with your team. Steve Rush: Yeah, I love it. I love the principle of the hope and handles and hope is a word that we sometimes quite uncomfortable in business using because it has this notion of being not grounded in purpose and not grounded in something, because it's hopeful, but actually that's where most vision and purpose drives from, right? Brandon Smith: I agree with you, hundred percent. Hope feels like it's out of our control, but if anything, over the last eighteen months as taught us, there's a lot of things out of our control. And so, it's okay to be helpful. We're hopeful that we can meet our teams again, by the first of the year, we're hopeful that, you know, life will start to resume some sense of normal by 2022. Hope is a good thing. Steve Rush: So how do you see the future of work playing out as the workplace therapist and in the work that you do with organizations with Worksmiths, what do you think the future of work will look like for us? And how might we want to adapt for that? Brandon Smith: Here is what I hope it's going to look like. I hope that we we've learned a lot from how we've learned to work together over the last eighteen months, and we carry that with us into the new future. So, I think hybrid workplaces are very healthy things. That said, I still think we need that time with each other. So, I'm really worried about the organizations that say, oh, we're going to go virtual from now on. I've worked with fully virtual organizations before that were virtual, even before the pandemic. And they have a whole set of dysfunctions that are very difficult to cure. Then there's largely two of them. One they really struggle with alignment because they don't ever get in the same room with each other, they're virtual. And two, they struggle with giving each positive intent, assuming positive intent. So, they give each other feedback, some of the feedback in those organizations is absolutely brutal because they just don't know each other. So, I still think we need those times and moments to meet each other in person for collaboration, innovation, and frankly, just connecting over a meal. That's always been important to us as human beings. So, I wouldn't want to lose that, but if we can bring in technology, I think it can allow people to have better work-life balance, a better wellbeing and a lot more care and compassion each other. Steve Rush: Yeah, I agree. It comes back down to compassion a massive driver here, isn't it? More we understand about people, the more we can empathize, the more we can adapt ourselves. Brandon Smith: Absolutely, and just hearing you say that Steve reminds me, you know, now we've been given the gift of being invited into a lot of our coworker's homes, at least virtually. We may see their children; we may see their pets on camera. We may be talking to them in their kitchen and they're dressed more casually. And so, we've learned more about their lives, and I think that's a really good thing. Steve Rush: Do you think we'll have a return to the future moment at some point in the future where we become more connected and go back to being more office and location focused? Brandon Smith: I do think so, but I think that is going to be not nine to five, Monday through Friday. I don't see that for most workers that are able to work virtually. Now, there's always going to be jobs out there where you don't have the opportunity to work virtually, you're a frontline worker, so you've got to be onsite, but for those jobs that allow for virtual work and collaboration, I think a hybrid is likely, I don't think there's going to be a lot of organizations that are going to require everyone to be back in the office nine to five, if there's options. Steve Rush: Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? That for so many decades, we got into a routine of doing things and within eighteen months, the whole work environment has completely changed. Brandon Smith: Absolutely. Absolutely. And most organizations that were really nervous about that change. Their fear was, I won't be able to see my people working. Therefore, they won't be working there. It's going to lower productivity. And all the research that has come out has actually shown increase in productivity with people working from home. So, the good news is that fear wasn't valid. But again, how we carry that forward is going to be the real challenge. Steve Rush: Yeah, it's going to be the game changer, isn't it? So that we don't move beyond urgency into panic and we maintain that trust and work-life balance as you called it. Absolutely. So, so what's the focus of the work with Worksmiths and for you now, Brandon? Brandon Smith: Yeah, thanks for asking. So, I've always still had my practice, which is the Worksmith, probably is very similar to you. I'm an executive coach and I work with individual clients as well as teams and also teach and facilitate sessions on helping people become better leaders. And that work really hasn't gone away, even through the pandemic. There's still been a lot of leaders and teams that have needed that extra support and counsel. The one additional change is I co-founded another business this past year called The Leadership Foundry and what we do there is we do leadership development, all virtual, but with cohorts of leaders. So that's been a big change because a lot of organizations still want to develop their leaders, but by necessity, it's going to have to be done virtually. Steve Rush: Right. Brandon Smith: But without it, it's actually a lot easier to coordinate. You can easily schedule a two-hour session. You don't have to find a big meeting room or a hotel ballroom or whatever happens to be location, to get everyone in. And you can give people kind of small doses of leadership tools and training to kind of keep them nourished and supported. So that's been a new evolution that I've really enjoyed, kind of exploring over the last year. Steve Rush: Great stuff and congratulations on the new venture as well. Brandon Smith: Thank you. Thank you. Steve Rush: So, there's a subtle shift to the tone now is we're going to start to hack into your leadership brain. And my job as a leadership hacker is to grab hold of those great ideas, tips, tools, or ideas. So, if you had to wrap your arms around your extensive career and narrow that down to be your top three leadership hacks, what would they be? Brandon Smith: So, the first one, and this is order of priority. First one is, drive clarity. You can prevent fifty percent of dysfunction in your workplace by setting clear expectations, not only of yours, but also of the person that you're working with. What do they expect of you? Whether it's your boss, your customer, you're a direct report. So, clarity from my perspective, it's the first job of any leader is for her or him to drive clarity. Second, I think it's really important that leaders look to continue to find opportunities to connect and spend time with their people. That consistency is really, really important. So, we've got another kind of letter C here. Consistency is really important. So, making sure that you're consistent in your rhythm and your meetings with people, that's really important. And that goes out the window when everything feels urgent all the time. There was a group of researchers and they did work on studying kind of what's the most dysfunctional kind of leader to work for. And I expected them to come back with angry, yelling and screaming boss or the micromanager. None of those were the worst. The number one worst was the one who is highly inconsistent because you don't know what you're going to get. So, the more we can be consistent with our messaging and consistent with our meetings, the better. And the third is just probably a really simple, easy tactical thing that all leaders can do, all individual contributors can do. Be highly, highly responsive. There was a piece of research that found that the thing that separated the best managers from everyone else is they were highly responsive to all of their people on their team and that communicated that they valued their people and respect to their people. So, if we drive clarity, we're very, very consistent and highly responsive, it's going to really create a strong team environment. And it's going to prevent a lot of dysfunctions. Steve Rush: I love It. It's really simple, but very, very effective advice. Thank you for sharing that, Brandon. Brandon Smith: Of course, of course. Steve Rush: Next on the show we call Hack to Attack. So, in essence, this is where something hasn't worked out well, might've even been quite catastrophic, but as a result from that experience, it's now a learning and a positive in your life or work. So, what would be your Hack to Attack? Brandon Smith: So, I would say probably the number one for me, you know, thinking about the way you say that, there so many Steve, gosh. Things I learned from, miss steps that I've made along the journey. I would say there was one. And this was probably more driven out of fear. So early in my career as workplace therapist, I kind of straddle the fence. I taught part-time and multiple universities. And then of course, I also did my coaching and leadership development practice. So, I kind of lived in both worlds. And what I found was the university world was a very political world. And it actually limited a lot of my other opportunities because it was one that consumed a lot of my time. But there was fear of leaving that because not only would I maybe lose some of the credential, I lose some of that stability. And ultimately, I made the decision to it. And it was scary. It ended up working out for the best, but I would say the learning in that was, I probably waited a good five to ten years too long to do that. So, if I could go back in time, I would probably say, wow, Brandon, you should have probably done that a little bit differently. Steve Rush: That's really interesting. You're not the first person on this show. And certainly, the many leaders I've worked in coached over the past ten or fifteen years have also said that it's sometimes the fear that holds us back and the stability and not being comfortable with discomfort that stops us moving forward, right? Brandon Smith: That exactly right. I've always heard this adage that, you know, when you say yes to something, you're saying no to something else. Steve Rush: Yeah. Brandon Smith: And the opposite was true in this situation. If I say no to that, that means I can say yes to a lot of other things, but the scary thing was, I didn't see what those things were. It wasn't like I had a whole bunch of things I could choose from. I had nothing to choose from. So, I was kind of creating this vacuum where this void hoping that it would be filled. So, there's that word hope again, and luckily it did. Steve Rush: And of course, you can't sometimes even see those things until you've said no. And the yes appears, right? Brandon Smith: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Steve Rush: Yeah, really fascinating. Love it. So last thing we get to do today is give you an opportunity to do some time travel and you get to bump into Brandon at twenty-one and give them some advice. What would be your words of wisdom? Brandon Smith: Okay, here's probably, gosh, I have a couple. One, here's what I would tell the younger Brandon. Younger Brandon really watches the relationships that you're in, personal and professional and make sure you don't stay in some of them too long. So that's been a big learning I had. I had a business partner for some years that I worked with, wonderful man, wonderful guy, brilliant man, not a very good business partner. I stayed in that too long. I've had some other folks along the way that I've been, you know, stayed in too long, that ended up limiting. So, I would say, you know, make sure that all the relationships you're in, are always healthy and are getting you what you need and you're giving them what they need. The second one I would say is, write your book sooner, Brandon, you don't need to wait until you're forty-six to write it. You can write it sooner, it's okay. Steve Rush: Yeah, there's this strange notion, isn't there? About putting pen to paper. That you have to have this inordinate legacy of a career behind you to share your lessons. Whereas when I coach some very young leaders now, they already have some fantastic lessons that need to be shared. And that comes back, I think, to your point around fear saying no, opening another yes, and vice versa, right? Brandon Smith: Right, exactly, exactly. And then of course, with something like a book, a bigger project like, that no one else is putting on your plate, you're putting on your own plate. You've got to be really intentional with your time and block that off and, you know, manage that. Which was a hard thing for me. I struggled with that for many years until I finally hired a book coach to hold me accountable. Steve Rush: Yeah, right. Brandon Smith: Yeah. Steve Rush: So, is there a book two? Brandon Smith: There is a book two, I'm working on a second one right now. It'll be out at the end of the year. I'm really, really excited about it. I won't spoil it yet, but I think it's going to be so incredibly helpful for leaders. Very practical, easy to use, help them learn how to sit in the right seats with their leader and with their team. So ultimately, it'll get them using their time in the way they should be. Steve Rush: Awesome. We'll make sure we get you back on the show so you can tell us a little bit more about it another time. Brandon Smith: That sounds fantastic. Steve Rush: So beyond today, we want to make sure our listeners can stay connected with you. Where's the best place for us to send them? Brandon Smith: The best place frankly is, just go to theworkplacetherapist. I'm the only one, so if you just google the workplace therapist, you'll naturally go to me. And so that's a site, it's got free resources, it's got blogs and articles and podcasts for my show that folks can listen too to help their workplaces become smoother and better and less bumpy. And then of course, if they're interested in anything beyond that, then there's links on that site that will take them to either the Worksmiths or The Leadership Foundry. But the workplace therapist is the best place to start. And if you haven't bought a copy of the book, The Hot Sauce Principle, how to live and lead in a world where everything is urgent all the time. You can find that on Amazon and lots of other places as well. So that's another option. Steve Rush: Awesome, we make sure they're in our show notes as well. Brandon Smith: Okay, thank you. Steve Rush: And I'd just like to say, thanks, Brandon. I think we've had just enough hot sauce today to get everything to spice up. So, you've done a brilliant job in the time that we've had together. I've always enjoyed talking with you and just thanks for being part of our community at The Leadership Podcast. Brandon Smith: Steve, this has been absolutely fantastic. Please keep up the great work. I know you're doing so much good in the world. Steve Rush: Thank you very much, Brandon. Closing   Steve Rush: I genuinely want to say heartfelt thanks for taking time out of your day to listen in too. We do this in the service of helping others, and spreading the word of leadership. Without you listening in, there would be no show. So please subscribe now if you have not done so already. Share this podcast with your communities, network, and help us develop a community and a tribe of leadership hackers.   Finally, if you would like me to work with your senior team, your leadership community, keynote an event, or you would like to sponsor an episode. Please connect with us, by our social media. And you can do that by following and liking our pages on Twitter and Facebook our handler there: @leadershiphacker. Instagram you can find us there @the_leadership_hacker and at YouTube, we are just Leadership Hacker, so that is me signing off. I am Steve Rush and I have been the leadership hacker.    

From birth until death each human being shares the act of development. We are constantly growing and changing, or missing our growth points and living in unhealthy ways. Faith is no different. Our spirituality also has stages of development and on episode 16 we discuss a few of the stages that are really key in faith deconstruction. Can we move away from faiths that lack critical thinking and can we move to becoming more open handed? We look at James Fowler's Stages of faith in the hopes to answer this question! Boulder Help: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/03/23/boulder-shooting-how-to-help/ https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/boulder-shooting-fundraisers Reid's Socials: Recess Tik Tok: Recesspodcas Twitter, IG: ReidBervik Mental Health IG: ReidiBervik Facebook: Reid I Bervik Tik Tik: Funny: reiderrrr; Mental Health: Reid Bervik Music: "Meditate" Instrumental by Homage. https://youtu.be/dh_Y7gH8tgY

Have you ever wondered why some people seem a little more spiritually advanced in their faith? Based on the work of James Fowler, everyone is at a different level of faith and we all develop into different stages at our own pace. Some people remain at one stage their whole life while never advancing to the next while others are able to make it all the way to the final universalizing stage. In this episode, I take you through Fowler's six stages and compare them to philosopher Ken Wilbur's color-coded spiral dynamics of collective human development. I also weave in some of my own personal story as I recall where I was when I grew in and out of each stage of my own personal faith. If you like what you heard, hit that subscribe/follow button and consider donating to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/annearchist to support the work I do as a writer and public speaker. You can also follow me on TikTok and Twitter @anniekabannie, or follow me on Instagram @anniekinskywalker. Sources: Christopaganism: An Inclusive Path, Joyce and River Higgenbotham Stages of Faith, James Fowler LearnReligions.com, https://www.learnreligions.com/religion-vs-spirituality-whats-the-difference-250713

Additional resources for stages of faith:"Stages of Faith" by James Fowler"Faith Shift" by Kathy Escobar"The Wisdom Pattern" by Fr. Richard Rohr

80% of life is showing up – Woody Allen  Talent is the rate at which you increase in your skill with effort – Angela Duckworth.  Definitions: Work: Is an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result. Purpose is defined as the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists. Calling: A strong urge toward a particular way of life or career; a vocation. Vocation: Is a job or profession. James Fowler an American theologian who was Professor of Theology and Human Development at Emory University. Describes vocation as finding a purpose for one's life that is part of the purposes of God. I feel like the list of who landed in what work or even the right work and who didn't, is exhaustive. I for one fall into the category of those who aren't doing what they really love: or so I thought. People tell you to follow your passion and everything else will follow. I have been trying to figure that out though, and have no answer to the popular quote than to say it doesn't always work that way.  “Do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life”. That word is attributed to Confucius, who lived from 551 BC to 479,  a Chinese philosopher and politician.  Totally unrelated, but a funny thing is, in our century this quote is also attributed to…. drum roll please, no one other than J-Lo's former husband Marc Anthony. He's quoted as saying that “if you do what you love you'll never have to work a day in your life”. The same quote with a little bit of tweaking – still the same idea. So, how about those people who've always known what they wanted to become? Well, I've met a couple and I'm sure grit plays a major part in them achieving their goals. There are those people I've met who it seems always knew what they wanted to be when they grew up. We'll get to them in a few. There are also public figures, people like Neil deGrasse Tyson an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, planetary scientist who met Carl Edward Sagan an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator at age 17.  Or people I've met, like that mechanic shop owner I took my car to one time. He looked like he enjoyed what he did so I asked him how he knew that was the job he was meant to do. He told me that when he was younger he used to fix cars with his dad…  this conversation has been a while now so I can't remember if his dad was a mechanic or if his dad was just one of those parents that always had a car they we're always fixing. Long story short, today he's a mechanic. Then there's that real estate broker I met. I also asked the same question. He too looked like he enjoyed what he did too. How did you know you were going to be a real estate agent, I asked him, how did you know that this would be the thing that work, that this would be the job for you (again the stories old now) but he said someone came to his school on a particular day (maybe career day) and gave a talk and the person was a real estate broker (I hope I'm remembering correctly) and he got the opportunity to take a personality test and when he took his test it turned out he was matched to becoming a real estate agent. So, he became one, specializing in residential homes and then later becoming a commercial Real Estate Broker. Lesson to learn: That finding the work you're called to is not linear, but you want to get as close as possible by starting early. Even though he didn't start as a commercial real estate broker, staying in real estate helped him find out the type of real estate agent he wanted to be. And taking that personality test also helped. He too, like the owner of the mechanic shop I referenced above earlier, continues to love the work they do till today. What a great inspiration for anyone looking to pivot or find the work they are called to do. Then there are people like me who work and then start thinking maybe I mad...

We take a look at The Critical Journey theory by Hagberg + Guelich, which looks at the external + internal spiritual journey.  We weave in a lot of Peter Scazzero's Emotionally Healthy Spirituality theory, and how important that perspective has been.   "You can't be spiritual mature if you're emotionally immature." Pete Scazzero The Critical Journey Drawing upon this classical vision of the Christian life and drawing from the work of James Fowler's seminal Stages of Faith, Janet O. Hagberg and Robert A. Guelich, developed a stage theory model for the spiritual journey that they call “the critical journey.” 6 stages: First 3: the “external journey” (1) Recognition of God—a believer first encounters God and experiences the life of faith; (2) Life of Discipleship—one engages in the disciplines and practices of their faith; (3) the Productive Life—one moves towards a productive and active life working for God. Next 3, Inner Journey What do you think it ends with? (4) Inner journey, doubts and disappointments, loss of previous structures, church may not make sense DESIRE LINE! (5) Journey outward, toward others, freedom to be, no need to prove their faith or earn anything In love, submitting to God's perfect love We see love is all in all (6) Life of Love, union with God “For most of us the Wall appears through a crisis that turns our world upside down. It comes, perhaps, through a divorce, a job loss, the death of a close friend or family member, a cancer diagnosis, a disillusioning church experience, a betrayal, a shattered dream, a wayward child, a car accident, an inability to get pregnant, a deep desire to marry that remains unfulfilled, a dryness or loss of joy in our relationship with God, a building permit denied by the community for the fourth time.” Peter Scarzerro “The Wall experience”, Hagberg and Guelich explain, “is the place where psychology and spirituality, converge.” Ignatian Spirituality "Finding God in All Things" Check out this article on Ignatian Spirituality http://jesuits.org/spirituality You can't be spiritual mature if you're emotionally immature. Pete Scazzero Matt 23:26 "First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too." John 1:1-5 (NLT) 1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,[a] and his life brought light to everyone. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. With Spiritual Development, what you're going through, isn't chaos. It makes sense. Anything that brings up fear, or the unknown-- trusting God and seeking Union with HIM is what gets you through.

Our ALMOST final episode on Spiritual Development.  In times when language doesn't express fully your love for God, or pain, hurt or struggle, there's ways to continue praying without words.  We look at The Dark Night of the Soul, and define the "darkness" as "unknowing" instead of necessarily "scary" (like being left alone in the dark).  We look at different methods for approaching God + theology, Cataphatic & Apophatic. (The "knowing" that comes with language or the ability to describe, and the knowing that is too deep for words).  The Dark Night of the Soul In every developmental model that we've looked at in the past few episodes (M. Scott Peck, St. Teresa's Mansions, James Fowler's Stages of Faith), they have two similar parts: 1. The Dark Night of the Soul 2. Every pattern ends with Union with God The Dark Night is an "Unknowing" (see Gearld May's book), as opposed to "Scary" (see the original writing from St. John of the Cross in Spanish). You can feel alive & experience God's presence, but not know what's happening, or how to move forward. The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth by Gearld May https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Night-Soul-Psychiatrist-Connection/dp/0060750553 ------------------------------------------------- Footprints in the Sand: One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the LORD. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the LORD about it: "LORD, you said that once I decided to follow you, you'd walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me." The LORD replied: "My son, my precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you." Author: Carolyn Joyce Carty ------------------------------------------------- Cataphatic & Apaphatic: Attempting to Capture Truth Cataphatic: truth that we can put language to. Apaphatic: truth that we have, without being able to fully describe it. Our notions of love are so thread-bare compared to the reality of God's love, that all we can really say it "God is not hate."

How does our view of God & His love for us change as we grow from childhood into adulthood?  Looking at how our faith develops over the span of human development, using James W. Fowler's Stages of Faith.  We talk a lot of attachment theory, and how we have frozen in different developmental stages in a few ways.    Debate: Who's the bigger nerd?  Susette or Brandon? You can vote on our Desire Line Podcast Community on Facebook! The OC Supertones "Found" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMYnU_VyCM0 A Chart comparing Fowler's Stages of Faith with M. Scott Peck (see ep 15-18 of the Desire Line) http://www.psychologycharts.com/james-fowler-stages-of-faith.html Information on this episode was taken from this article by Rose Anne Karesh (Thank you, Rose Anne!):  https://owlcation.com/humanities/James-Fowler-and-Spiritual-Development-Stages-of-Faith From the article: James Fowler's Stages of Faith Stage 1: (3 to 7 years ) Intuitive–Projective stage in which children are beginning to be able to use symbols and their imaginations. However children in this stage are very self-focused and inclined to take very literally (and self-referentially) ideas about evil, the devil or other negative aspects of religion. The ability to sort out reality from fantasy is not well developed. Stage 2: (6-12 years, school age) Mythic–Literal stage in which information is organized into stories. These stories, along with moral rules, are understood literally and concretely. There is little ability to step back from the story and formulate an overarching meaning. Justice and fairness are seen as reciprocal. A few people remain in this stage throughout their lives. Stage 3: (adolescence to early adulthood, some people remain permanently in this stage) Synthetic–Conventional stage in which people believe without having critically examined their beliefs. Their beliefs are in what they have been taught and in what they see “everyone else” as believing too. There is a strong sense of identity with the group. People in this stage are not very open to questions because questions are frightening at this point of development. People in this stage place a large amount of trust in external authority figures and tend not to recognize that they are within a belief system “box” as their beliefs are internalized but have not been examined. Stage 4: (the earlier in adulthood the easier on the person) Individuative-Reflective stage in which a person begins to recognize they are in a “box” and look outside it. People in this stage ask questions and see the contradictions or problems in their beliefs. This can be a very painful stage as old ideas are now modified and sometimes rejected altogether. Some people give up on faith altogether at this point but faith can be strengthened in this stage as beliefs become explicitly, personally held. There is a strong reliance on the logic, rational mind and the self. Stage 5: (usually not before mid-life) Conjunctive stage in which a person who has gone through the deconstruction of the Individuative-Reflective stage begins to let go of some of the reliance on their own rational mind and recognize that some experiences are not logical or easily understood at all. The move here is from either/or to both/and; complexity and paradox are embraced. People in this stage are more willing to dialogue with people of other faiths, seeking further information and correction to their own beliefs, and are able to do this without letting go of their own faith. Stage 6: Universalizing stage. Very few people reach this stage, which is characterized by seeing all of humanity as one brotherhood and taking profound, self-sacrificing action to care for all humanity because of this view. Article on Play Therapy: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/contemporary-psychoanalysis-in-action/201601/child-s-play-how-play-therapy-works