Allan G. Hunter's Blog, page 93

"After long silence, at last, something…"

I've been quiet for a couple of weeks now, and it's because I had the flu.  Yes, I got the vaccination, and promptly fell sick; sick as a whole pack of dogs.  I recall that last time I had a vaccination, seven or eight years ago, the same thing happened. At that time I also gave in to the hype about professors and teachers needing to be vaccinated. The moral of this tale seems to be that flu shots don't work for me.

Since I've been back at work I've told people about getting sick from the...

Illness as learning

One of the things about being a teacher is that inevitably one gets a cold simply because one has to deal with so many people who are snuffling and sneezing - at this time of year especially.

Colds, though, can be great teachers.

They catch us, usually, when we're already over-stretched, when our resistance is temporarily low, or when we feel mentally tired or sad. Then we have to let them run their course.  A cold, or the flu, or anything like that can't usually be hurried.  It leaves in its o...

More Youtube…

I've just added another video to the Youtube page here (look in the headliner, above, and click).  You may enjoy it.  It's about the stories we tell ourselves that aren't actually true.  But we live them anyway.  If you want to get free of your own prison you may as well take a look….

'The Mind forg'd manacles' is what William Blake called them. We create them, and only we can get rid of them.

And now some good news….

In case you're already agonizing over the Christmas gift challenge, help is at hand.  My new book, 'Write Your Memoir: the soul work of telling your story' will be out on December 1st, and so just in time for that special writer in your life.  Perhaps for you? Perhaps as a stocking stuffer?

No, I'm not entirely facetious.  I do believe in my heart that writing is good for the soul, and that we can't start using the techniques I outline in the book too soon.  We need them, and we need them...

Burn Out and Archetypes, Continued

Several people have been kind enough to contact me about my previous blog.  In it I described how living in the Warrior-Lover archetype can lead to a condition of exhaustion, and how to deal with that.

I'd like to go deeper, now.

The Warrior who fights for an honorable, sane, cause he or she truly believes in is a compassionate fighter, a Lover in the highest sense.  Ask any over-burdened mother who works two jobs to support her kids. If we are to avoid burn out, exhaustion, and collapse, it...

Burn Out and Recovery : an archetypal view

The last few weeks have been immensely busy for me.  Now, I know that everyone is busy these days: yet I've been particularly active compared to what is normal for me.  A string of house guests, several deadlines, a new venture with a consulting organization called Archetype Communications, and writing, always writing.

As I observed myself becoming more exhausted I found it useful not to focus on What-I'll-Do-When-I-Finally-Get-Free ideas.  These tend to emphasize 'rewards' in terms of some...

Tell Your Life Story; It's Good for the Soul

One of the things I've come to appreciate is that whenever we tell our life story (and I don't mean just blurting out a few details to a stranger about how we feel we've been mistreated) then we are forced to reassess important aspects of who we are.

This is best accomplished when we write things down.  Why is that?  Simply because when we write we usually manage to slow down our minds a little, enough to notice just exactly what it is we really are saying.  When we talk the words all too...

Doing Nothing - and helping others

Occasionally I come across a situation where a person obviously needs some help and guidance but there just doesn't seem to be any way to offer anything. This happened just the other day. People have their defenses, and sometimes those can be formidable. At such times they can't always hear what's being said.

What I've learned - yet again - is that all too often when I feel this way in response to a situation it's not really about what I think it's about.  Yes, the person may be in distress.  ...

The Princess and the Pea

This, on the face of it, has to be one of the most absurd fairy-tales of all time.  A princess cannot sleep on a bed with one hundred mattresses because a pea is at the very bottom, making her uncomfortable. And this is supposed to be a good thing?

Well, if we read the tale literally it is absurd, that's for sure.  But how about if we read it as a metaphor?  Ask yourself this: What is it that keeps us awake at nights? Worries, usually.  And sometimes we tend to try and blank out our worries...

Memoir - and soul work

Memoir, which is so often associated with celebrity kiss-and-tell sensationalism, can be one of the more meaningful things any of us can do.  To review one's life, or even a small part of one's life, will usually open us up to seeing that life in new ways. When we take this process and use it to see things more clearly we are doing 'soul work'.

Why is this necessary?  One reason is that we human beings are constantly re-inventing ourselves.  We grow, change, and we discard the person we used t...