ARCHIVE - Adam's blog

ARCHIVE - Forgiveness in relationship

Adam — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 00:03:05 -0800

What I’m about to share is somewhat personal, but it’s what I have been processing for the past week or so, so I thought I would take chance and be authentic.

Recently I have rekindled a relationship with a girl named Eli who I had been seeing at the beginning of the year. Though we have a really wonderful connection together the status of our relationship has always been somewhat undefined. Anyhow, last week Eli broke her clavicle (collar bone) doing handstands on the green and three days later had to get corrective surgery.

ARCHIVE - The Most Wonderful Monday of the Year

Adam — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:21:10 -0800

Yesterday, Monday March 3 was perhaps the most fulfilling day of the year for me thus far.

I woke up knowing that I had to get this beautiful day project “out of the way”, so in that sense I truthfully had low expectations for the exercise. But what transpired was one of those very rare “seamless days” where one positive experience led flawlessly to the next, steadily gaining momentum. Halfway through my day I could help but feel that the whole universe was conspiring for my happiness and wellbeing. Because of my affinity for detail and superfluous flowery descriptions, I skip the play by play rendition and bullet point the main positive events in chronological order.

ARCHIVE - EMP response

Adam — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 23:26:06 -0800

Reflections on the EMP field Trip

I had a blast on our field trip. The first thing that I really enjoyed was connecting with Sue-Marie on the car ride to Seattle. Despite it still being early morning, we spontaneously slipped into a very authentic disclosure of our lives and our dreams for the future. This started things out on a great note.

When we first got to the museum I had a lot of fun snapping pictures of Delwin, Walter and John. I also enjoyed our tour guide Juan’s cordial group introduction to EMP.

ARCHIVE - The Resilience Factor

Adam — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:57:08 -0800

Normally I despise the phrase/paradigm “Self-Help Book” however, I was surprised to discover Karen Reivich and Andrew Shatte’s The Resilience Factor is one of the few books I have read of its genre that has left a considerable and profound imprint on my consciousness.One of the thing that was rare about this book for me was that I found the book’s initial resilience intakes to have been very skillfully constructed. The questions were presented in a highly specialized framework that forced me to take a hard, closer look at the core beliefs that shape my worldview, how my unique worldview gets translated into my relationships and how my current coping strategies have both served and limited my overall resilience. In taking the tests I was shocked to find that I was slightly below average in some of the resilience skills—namely impulse control and emotional regulation. Having respect for the manner in which the questions were presented, the results came as a rude wake-up call (for emotional regulation I projected that I would be in at least 70-80 percentile), but it succeeded in hooking me into the material and got me emotionally and intellectually invested in the learning the techniques. Having been in Mark’s Theories of Counseling class last quarter—which focused heavily on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy—I found myself appreciating the authors for being able to concisely articulate the nuances of CBT which forms the backbone of their approach to resilience (i.e.

ARCHIVE - The Resilience Factor

Adam — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:57:07 -0800

ARCHIVE - Gratitude Activities

Adam — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:50:29 -0800

Gratitude Letter Activity

I wrote my gratitude letter to my new very close friend Saralynn. This assignment came at a perfect time because it forced me to reflect on who I have been grateful for in my life and in doing it, it spontaneously clicked all at once that her presence has been an indespensible teaching. For me, she is one of those rare BRIGHT individuals whose presence naturally lights the room, without any traces of contrived effort. It’s all pretty much here in the letter which I will share for you now:

ARCHIVE - compton response

Adam — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:17:11 -0800

Introduction to Positive Psychology by William Compton, was a comprehensive, user friendly textbook that maps in out in detail the major landmarks of Positive Psychology, which center around the three elements of: Positive connections to others, positive individual traits and life regulation qualities (7). In writing this book it was very apparent that Compton was not trying to present himself as a personal authority who knew the answers. In the beginning of the book he qualifies the research presented by saying,

ARCHIVE - activities 1 & 2

Adam — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 18:58:15 -0800

Going Up

I. As is true with many people, lifting my mood is synonymous with exercise. The endorphins high and the sense of well-being that I get from taking care of my body through running, biking, weights, basketball, rock-climbing and swimming are essential for my sanity—especially during winter in the Northwest.

Lately, my core practice has been jogging in the morning. I often wake up in a fog, and don’t want to even think about doing anything, so therefore I have learned to completely disregard what my mind tells me as I come to grips with daylight. Instead I go into this autopilot mode where, I pop out of bed throw on my maroon shorts, grab my headphones and dash outside into the brisk near freezing air the other part of me has time to protest.

ARCHIVE - Signing onto the class Network

Adam — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 13:55:23 -0800

Hey Guys,

Truth be told this is my first time on the website. Anyhow now I am down and commited to being a part of this community. Also I am really "psyched" about the play.

So yeah, anyone who ends up reading this feel free to shoot me a message so we can connect, in the in between time before class. Hope everyone is doing well.

-Adam