Sage Liskey's Blog, page 8

Feeling stressed out from the election results? Download this free booklet to learn coping strategies.

Feeling stressed out or depressed about the election results? Download this free booklet that teaches essential coping strategies for the times we are in and allow yourself to be more effective in moving forward.

The Happiest Choice:Condensed Edition covers foods to eat, nutrients to fortify, activities to do, habit reformation techniques, thoughts to think, ways to speak, and a whole lot more for calming nerves and taking control of your life.

Check out our other projects and free downloads here.

#radcatpress #thehappiestchoice #election

Oregon Country Fair Workshops and Portland Zine Symposium in July!

On behalf of Mind Freedom International I'll be presenting two workshops in July at the Oregon Country Fair!

On Friday, July 8th is "You Are A Great and Powerful Wizard!" and on Sunday July 10th is "Puff Puff, Pass: The Mental Pros and Cons of Marijuana Usage." Both will be held from 3-4PM in the Community Village Tipi.

"Puff Puff, Pass: The Mental Pros and Cons of Marijuana Usage" explores the many psychological effects that cannabis products can have on users. 

"You Are A Great and Powerful Wizard!" reveals the amazing powers of language, thought, and communication.

You can purchase tickets for the Oregon Country Fair here.


On Saturday, July 9th, we'll also be tabling with our many written works at the Portland Zine Fest.
The Portland Zine Fest will be held at the Ambridge Event Center from 11AM to 5PM and is free to attend.

A free Condensed Edition of The Happiest Choice is now available for download

We've been hard at work creating a booklet-sized Condensed Edition of The Happiest Choice. It is free to download and print from the Rad Cat Press page, or download the ready-to-read pdf here.

From the back cover description:
There are many reasons for the way you feel, and there are many options for creating the contentment and happiness you want in your life. The Condensed Edition of The Happiest Choice is a short and straight-to-the-point overview of traditional and alternative techniques for coping with forms of mental suffering such as anxiety, stress, sadness, and depression. Backed by scientific research and the author's personal experiences, it is an inclusive guide that has information pertinent to understanding the challenges that everyone eventually faces in life.

Included are habit reformation techniques, activities to do, thoughts to think, general body care tips, nutrients to fortify, guidelines for effective communication, and many more tools for living life fully.    

Thanks to Paul Bindel (Linkedin) and Patrick Andrews for taking care of editing, Janine Hesse for illustrations, and everyone else who has been part of this project over the years!

Check out the full-sized edition of The Happiest Choice: Essential Tools for Everyone's Brain Feelings here.

We'll Be At The L.A. Zine Fest!

The Rad Cat Press was accepted to table at the L.A. Zine Fest! Only 200 out of the 500 applicants made it, so we're really honored for this opportunity!

Check out our current lineup here.

Tips for Beating Depression and Anxiety

We put together a list of methods of beating depression and anxiety during these cold months and beyond. Check it out!

New Cover for The Happiest Choice!

Finally finished a new cover to The Happiest Choice!

Forgiveness and Apologies

1 FORGIVING ANOTHER

We carry around many experiences, some good and some bad. When we associate a person with a bad experience, there is a choice to forgive or not forgive that person. Depending on the action or lack of action that happened, it is up to you to decide if forgiving or not forgiving a person is the better option. You may or may not announce that you are formally forgiving a person, but forgiveness is always a personal mental action. If you want to forgive someone, it requires two things:

A desire to both forgive and continue creating new memories with the person in question.
To stop thinking about what that person did or did not do.

In other words, in order to practice forgiveness, you must forgive and forget. It is completely your choice though. You have no obligation to forgive anyone. Sometimes it is best to accept that you're angry and frustrated with a person and no longer want to associate with them. Sometimes it is best to accept that you want to maintain a friendship. Sometimes it is best to keep in mind what happened and move on cautiously. Sometimes after repeated instances of forgiveness you realize that forgiving a person is no longer healthy. Sometimes we try to forgive a person and find that we cannot. Sometimes we need more time in order to forgive a person, or need to grow ourselves, or the other person needs to grow before we can forgive them. Sometimes we need to have a conversations with the person or to receive an apology. If you decide not to forgive someone, then there is also the option of communicating the end of a relationship, which may or may not be easier for a person to digest than silence. It's complicated, but whatever you decide to do, forgiving or not forgiving a person is a healthy part of being human.
2
APOLOGIZING TO ANOTHER

We may also associate the outcome of a good or bad experience with our own actions. Again, when we associate ourselves with a bad experience, it is up to us to decide if apologizing for it is worthwhile. You have no obligation to apologize for anything, especially not for who you are. Cultures and ideas clash. It is the beauty of the modern world that we have such diversity. Just know that not apologizing lessens the likelihood you'll be forgiven for your actions or lack of actions. Unlike forgiveness, apologies require some form of communication, whether verbal or nonverbal. There is also the option of communicating about why you're not apologizing by stating your perspectives and needs. Apologizing, or communicating about why you're not apologizing, both may save a relationship. Apologies require four things:

A desire to both apologize and continue creating new memories with a person
To not blame a person for their needs.
To do your best not to repeat the incident that upset the person in question.The apology itself.
3 FORGIVING YOURSELF

It is always important to forgive yourself for causing a bad experience. You can do this in the same manner as outlined above:

A desire to forgive yourself.
To stop thinking about what you did or did not do.
Understanding why what you did in the specific instance caused yourself or others suffering, and a willingness to avoid recreating that series of events again.

It may take time, and it may be difficult, but forgiving yourself or others, or apologizing to others allows your life to be lived more fully and makes it easier to live in the present moment.

~Sage Liskey


Image Sources:
1: http://pixabay.com/en/chinese-characters-background-676650/
2: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/53600/53638/53638_couple-talk.htm
3: http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/45500/45545/45545_boy_study.htm

Afterthoughts: Public Interest Environmental Law Conference 2015

image source: pielc.org As activists, volunteers, and advocates, it is easy become hyper-focused in your own work and to forget what people are doing worldwide to help protect the environment.The Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) brings together many groups for several days of panels, keynotes, tabling, discussions, celebrations, and more. The outcome is a powerful understanding that change is possible and there are many people collaborating to help create it.

The PIELC Facebook page has posted the keynotes from this past week. I highly suggest watching them, especially March 6th's from Janelle Orsi and Severine von Tscharner Fleming talking about the Green Horns and Agrarian Trust. Their work is advancing the power of worker-owned cooperatives, neighborhood associations, and farmers to help localize money and land resources. Moreso than any other campaign I've heard about, these people are creating a practical national model that can undermine unhealthy corporate bodies and build resilient communities.

During another part of the conference, I attended a panel discussing the constructive expression of anger and sadness through a model developed by Joanna Macy called The Work That Reconnects. I mention this work in my book, but the panel was the first time I had the pleasure of practicing it. After starting the session with introductions, we began working through the "spiral" one-on-one with a stranger in the room. We first expressed gratitude and said what we appreciated in the conference. We were then given 10 minutes to honor our pain with our partner, speaking without interruption about the difficulties we personally faced in our work. It's amazing what can come out in 10 minutes, and how much you can relate to another person's pain working on similar projects. Unfortunately at this point, halfway through the spiral, we ran out of time, but I am excited to explore the work further and hope to give a better synopsis soon. 

PIELC left a sense of empowerment and joy. I feel ready for the next year of work ahead and hope to come back in 2016 with my own panel on forming a resilient mind. What a fantastic week!

The Science of Happiness at the University of Oregon - March 12th, 2015

I'm giving a free workshop on coping with depression and cultivating happiness at the University of Oregon, in Eugene, Oregon on March 12th, 2015! See below for details.