ARCHIVE - Jeanne K.'s blog

ARCHIVE - Forgiveness

Jeanne K. — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 16:05:07 -0800

    When confronted with this assignment I was very confused as to where to start and who to forgive. I realized that I have tendency to just “lose touch” with people when they upset me instead of actually confronting them and telling them the problems that I’ve been having with our relationship. I’m an avoider, big time. I let things build up to a point where I’m just too frustrated to even consider talking to the person who I feel has offended me.
     I eventually chose to “forgive” someone who I had dated for three years and lived with for two because it seemed to be the easiest of the bunch . When I had left New York four years ago to relocate to Seattle, I had hoped he would come with me, but our relationship was waning and he decided to stay in New York. We remained close friends for a while once I arrived in Seattle, talking on the phone at least once a week. He even came out to visit after I had been here for a year. But underneath the friendly exterior, I was still pretty angry at him for being able to decide so readily to end our relationship and stay in NY. I was even angrier that he had made some of the changes in his life that I had wanted to see when we were together.
    This exercise made me realize quite a few things about this particular situation. I was able to recall that I was his first serious girlfriend and real relationship. I had been lucky enough to had been in a wonderful relationship when I was in my teens/early twenties but not many people could say the same. I remembered breaking up with my first boyfriend because I wanted to date other people and could not so easily commit to someone at such a young age. Despite the fact that Joe (not his real name) was already in his thirties, he had yet to “sow his wild oats” so to speak. I also realized that this took place right after my father died and I was desiring tremendous change in my life. Joe was content in NY and had never wanted to leave as badly as I did. He liked being near his family and had a much greater love for the city than I. For numerous reasons, our relationship had been deteriorating. Would I have moved if the situation were reversed? Probably not.
    I was then able to recall a time when I had been forgiven and how great I had felt. I had broken up with my high school boyfriend, Andy, in college because I wanted to date other guys while we were apart. I quickly realized what a mistake I had made and the next summer, got in touch with him and literally begged for his forgiveness. He readily took me back and rarely reminded me of the incident. I remember feeling redeemed and thankful. I had been so sad and remorseful but all it took was his forgiveness to make everything all right again.

ARCHIVE - Beautiful day

Jeanne K. — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:32:14 -0800

I began my “Beautiful Day” by waking up to my internal clock, not to an alarm. It’s always nicer to feel like you are in control and have the final say of when to get up and that there is no where you have to be. I then had some great coffee hat my boyfriend had so lovingly prepared before he left for work. I start every morning with coffee. It is a ritual that while addictive, I also find ceremonial and I really enjoy. It’s especially nice to linger over coffee in the morning when you don’t have to hurry. You can really savor and enjoy it. I than cooked a nice, healthy breakfast. When I have to go to work or school I usually just eat cereal or something quick that I don’t have to cook but the truth is that I have plenty of time to make something warm and substantial and I would probably benefit from it as far as having more energy in the mornings if I ate a hot breakfast more regularly.

ARCHIVE - Field Trip to EMP

Jeanne K. — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 13:44:17 -0800

I’ve lived in Seattle for almost four years but until last weekend, I had never even considered visiting the Experience Music Project. I had heard it was overpriced and over rated plus I’ve never been much of a classic rock fan. I assumed it just a larger and less commercial version of The Hard Rock Cafe. What a surprise I was in for! To begin with, I have to admit that I love the controversial design of the building. I find its’ rounded lines and use of color to be organic and more human than the traditional boxy building and it also appeals to my sense of curiosity and love of beauty. I was very impressed by the impromptu orientation that we were given by the tour guide and his warmth and sincerity. I felt he really appreciated our attention and gratitude. As far as the exhibits go, my favorite was definitely the first sculpture that we saw upon entering the museum. It was a mountain of guitars made into a sculpture by an artist by the name of Trimpin. What I enjoyed about this sculpture is that it engages so many of the senses and was interactive. I was also excited when I realized that I had seen his work before last summer at the Frye and am now interested in learning more about his work.

ARCHIVE - Three Blessings

Jeanne K. — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 19:29:53 -0800

Three Blessings
I’m terrible about remembering to do anything before bed. This would be one of my excuses for posting this so late. While I intended to write down my three blessings every night for a week, I only remembered to physically do so about half the time. That’s not to say that I didn’t think about my three things on a daily basis. In fact, the mere practice of thinking of three things that went well everyday seemed to have a very positive effect on my mood. I found it a great exercise because it was easy when I put my mind to it and it made me realize all of the things that I have going well in my life right now. At first it was difficult but as the week progressed I was easily be able to pinpoint three things that had gone well that day.

ARCHIVE - Gratitude Letter

Jeanne K. — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:43:48 -0800

Gratitude letter

After much consideration, I decided to write my gratitude letter to my boyfriend of two years, John. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to write to him, because we live together and I assumed that he knew how much I appreciated him and why but it turns out I was mistaken. Writing the letter was difficult and I procrastinated because I knew that it would make me emotional to compose my thoughts and then to read them out loud (and i thought this exercise wasn’t due until the next time that the class met!). I did get a bit teary when I realized how much I’ve depended on John and how he’s been my number one supporter since I decided to return to school full time.

ARCHIVE - The Resilience Factor

Jeanne K. — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 16:31:17 -0800

“The Resilience Factor”

I found The Resilience Factor by Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte to be an informative manual on how to improve one’s resiliency and bounce back from life’s many setbacks. Both Reivich and Shatte have worked extensively with Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania and it shows in the way that this book elaborates on many of the ideas that Seligman presented in Authentic Happiness. The first chapter provided the “groundwork” and pillars upon which the research behind this book was built upon. Many of these pillars mirror those of positive psychology such as; focusing on strengths instead of weaknesses, reaching out and teaching resilience skills to children to avoid depression as adolescents and adults (49-62).

ARCHIVE - Csikszentmihalyi in Seattle Monday 2/11 and Tuesday 2/12

Jeanne K. — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:53:03 -0800

Hey everyone! I'm super excited because Csikszenthialyi (the flow guy) will be speaking as part of a lecture series at the UW on Monday 2/11 and Tuesday 2/12. It's a bit of a hike for some of you but it's free. here's the link to find more info:

http://www.ucds.org/workshops/

It couldn't have happened at a better time for me becuase i am doing a contract in psychology and creativity this quarter as well as the Pos. Psych class. Serendipitous, no?

PS. if you want to go you have to RSVP to: brookel@ucds.org

hope to see you there!