Life purpose and vocation; I sometimes wonder how they are related.
Sometimes I hear life purpose described simply and clearly, like this quote from notetoselfphilosophy.com:
Note to Self:
“What is my purpose in life?” I asked the void.
“What if I told you that you fulfilled it when you took an extra hour to talk…
Continue reading
Featured Artwork: Mandala Buddha, acrylic on paper, 36"x24", 2012, Tejal Murray
Over the last few blogs, I’ve been exploring Stephen Cope’s The Great Work of Your Life in a general way with examples from my own life. Today, I’m going to dive more deeply into the teachings by profiling one of Southwestern College’s graduates.
…
Continue reading
In my last blog, I talked about the intersection of dharma (our sacred duty in this lifetime) and flourishing at midlife.
The issue that typically arises from someone exploring dharma at midlife is fear. Fear that they’ll have to throw away most everything they’ve created and worked for in order to follow their dharma. Sometimes,…
Continue reading
I'd been exploring the intersection of Stephen Cope's book The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling, and Martin E. P. Seligman's book Flourish: A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-Being in relation to a blog series when this photo quote by Brené Brown came across my Facebook feed.
I think she hit…
Continue reading
Life evolves.
My 3rd and 4th Acts have taken place here at Southwestern College - first in Admissions and now as Director of Student Services. My 1st act was also in higher education – as a Residence Hall Director, Director of Student Support Services, and then as a Doctoral student. I advised, taught, managed, and…
Continue reading
Missed Part 1 or Part 2?
Part 3 - The Way Through: Relying on Intuition and Faith
In The Great Work of Your Life, Stephen Cope describes the way he has come to see intuition at work as we navigate decisions at midlife. He describes an 8-step process that is co-creative; it includes both our…
Continue reading
Missed Part 1?
Part 2 - The Terrain: Navigating the Transition
Midlife is a time of transition; a time when we are asked to put our mind in service to our heart. It's a time to serve ourselves and the world by embracing what is ours to do, and stepping onto our dharma path. This…
Continue reading
Part 1 - Living Your Dharma
As spirituality goes mainstream, there is much talk about “living your dharma”. But what does that really mean?
René Guénon, in Introduction to the Study of Hindu Doctrines defines dharma as “the essential nature of a being, comprising the sum of its particular qualities or characteristics, and determining, by virtue…
Continue reading
I never thought that the coursework in a master’s degree in counseling would help me to survive a night of being stuck in Utah’s rugged, remote, and desolate Horseshoe Canyon. Nor would I have ever guessed that an education in counseling would help me transform my consciousness in a survival situation to be able to…
Continue reading
Sylvan Schneider’s work experience journey included a commercial painting job, assisting in a dental office, a foray to the music industry and into the field of mental health. …
Continue reading
The Masters Degree in Counseling you were looking for......…
Continue reading
Perhaps you can relate to the state in which I found myself a few days ago—heart tight, body tense, mind churning, going over and over events from the far and recent past and in a useless but unyielding manner. I find myself in such a state fairly often, probably due to the fact that I…
Continue reading
In August of 2011, I presented a 1 ½ hour talk on compassion fatigue in animal care work to about 35 people at the New Mexico State Humane Conference in Albuquerque. Soon after I returned to Ohio for my Internship, I got an e-mail from the sponsoring shelter in ABQ, asking when I could come…
Continue reading
When I entered the second year of my counseling program, I immediately felt the shift of focus from myself to the client. Going to Tierra Nueva, Southwestern College's Counseling Center, for Practicum concretized the transition. Tierra Nueva used to sit in a small shopping mall surrounded by fun businesses such as the cycling shop, an…
Continue reading
Since 2006, Ecotherapy students at SWC have been reconnecting to Mother Earth by going on Wilderness Fasts, praying in sweat lodges, practicing Andean energy healing techniques, and participating in other indigenous healing ceremonies.
But how have these folks been applying what they learn, once they are out in the professional world of mental health? Here…
Continue reading
Southwestern College Santa Fe, NM