“Just The Facts Ma’am”

Greetings my very gentle readers to anther weeks installment of the “Be Yourself, Often” blog found here at: http://www.joelwlamoure.com/id43.html . Ah, that time when we can sit back and appreciate the calm and soothing sense of nature and the chaos theory that abounds within Her.

This week we will take a look at one of my favourite movies, which is Dragnet. The modified one (of course) with Dan Aykroyd as the uber straightlaced, yet prone to impulsive decisions and actions Sgt. Joe Friday and Tom Hanks as his partner with a list of merits ad citations yet a flagrant disregard for the status quo. The dynamic and yet unusual duo that end up together through some cosmic mis-association in the LAPD. We all know the movie!

The Facts present us well and define us when they are filtered through the chaos of nature vs the amorphic and sometime ambiguous definitive lines that exist in a set culture, society or where there is a rigid pecking order. Quite intriguingly in my observations->  it seems across over 20 years of practice (11 in psychiatry), 140 journal articles, unknown OTN lectures and discussions, over 500 lectures, 3 continents and 60,000 hits to this website alone (plus 6000 on Academia.edu: www. http://uwo.academia.edu/JoelLamoure ) that the opposite is true.

Home is where the heart is. Not a place of straight lines, but one of amorphic curves. Per wit, embracing nature vs the man made entities that have their manipulation and unpredictabilities. Sometimes, one has to make a set stand in their Belief Systems and in their Creator to see that. These decisions are not easy, but do reflect how expectations can drive one insane. Totally, truly, clinically insane.

A wise person told me yesterday about anger, uncertainty and stress being like a balloon and how every event is like a puff into that balloon. And ways to distress and decompress that balloon…especially where there are factors that cause inherent impacts on the balloon to start with: like abuse, harassment, PTSD, anxiety, loss, grief to name a few. Interesting as I love writing and using metaphors in my sermons and writings.

“Just The Facts Ma’am” and knowing all the facts before making hasty decisions helps prevent inflation of the balloon and wiser minds to prevail. Step back and analyze what are the root causes and cause/effect and epidemiology and taxonomy of the situation Step back and analyze what are the root causes and cause/effect and epidemiology and taxonomy of the situation and prevent unneeded provocation and escalation. These are the facts of life to live. Peace, patience, silence, humility and serenity as I have stated many times (with varying success). I too fail, often.

Touching nature as it is meant to be in all its glorious, unrefined chaos is an appealing idea. To return to the roots and the Earth is to be yourself, often.

___ Rev. Dr Joel Lamoure    July 2013

Yea Though I Walk Through The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Yea Though I Walk Through The Valley of the Shadow of Death

…I Fear NO Evil (Psalm 23). 

Greetings my gentle readers to another week's installment of the "Be Yourself, Often" blog at www.joelwlamoure.com . This is the time where we can sit back with our favorite pieces of reflective company and step back from the chaos of the week that was. Too often, we do not take the appropriate steps and moments of peacefulness and tranquility and rush through each thing in order to get to the next. Turn off the television sets and reflect on the wonder and beauty of the moment. There is so much beauty,and so sad that evil sells… and we do NOT have to buy.

So, here we go my fearless friends. Look at where you are in the here and now. Value and look at family, friends, health, where you live, what you have, what you get and what you give. That fearless Fourth Step Moral Inventory.. without all the naughty and nice attached to it. Even if there are downs, that’s a sign you are alive and then you have the ability to make choices and decisions and look and work with the Fates to write the next set of chapters in your book. If there are up then I can guarantee that complacency, greed, selfishness are choices that can and will push you down. This is the "Story of a Life" which is also the name of a song sung by the late Harry Chapin and released on his last studio album.   "...And for every dream that took me high, There's been a dream that's passed me by.  I know it's so true” Harry Chapin Reference: http://www.harrychapin.com/music/story.shtml 

 It IS the story of your life and the next decade is but another chapter and with the love, insight and use of your gifts and advancing yourself and others, use of courage, avoiding judging and being gentle to yourself then it will be the best of when we look back. We have the chance to stop and reflect on the choices that we make and how we live our life.  But what a week that was with terrorism, mass murder and also natural disasters and explosions. The world may seem to be insane and for sure adds to the challenges that there are. But we have a choice in the story of a life that we enjoy. We do not have to engage or participate in this type of behaviours and we can advance our kindness by turning off and engaging in positivity and not hatred and anger or denial.

We can learn through respect and basic intelligent human kindness and appreciate each other and what we are able to do and care and share. So sad indeed that in the face of all the hatred and trauma that there are conspiracy theories and denial of the hurt that just makes the hurt worse. There appears to be a paucity of kindness and thought processes that consider where we are in the world, lead to more unanswered questions. What about the facts, finding of information and not judging? Are we really the right ones to cast the first stone? Are you?

Galatians 5:18 and 22 states that “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness”. 1 Timothy 1:9 offers that “We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers” with the reflection in Jeremiah 33:6  states “Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.” “Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security.”

Can you believe people get hurt because people do things and actions to try to discredit others that results in a third party being hurt? Brainwashing, hatred, terrorism at a small or large scale. Its called bullying. It is a state of ego imbalance and these individuals are inherently egomaniacs with an inferiority complex. They are all about them, don’t listen to reason and will undercut you in a heartbeat. Been there and seen it. People die...

Put the ego on a diet and take in what you need and whatever you get, try giving some of it away again. That is part of the key to abundance. The second parameter here is watching WHAT you take in and make it count. You would on a real diet and this one means much more. People may REALly start to listen and ask of you and listen and reciprocate. To earn that though involves much mindfulness of what you taken in and your body and mind, which I have learned from a couple very close friends and then 2 weeks of observations into both beatific behaviors and spiteful soliloquies and vehement victimization.  

There is evil and kindness, vitriol and love. Light and dark. Which side and which sells and where does the line get drawn and re-drawn?  What are the belief systems you are will define the results that occur secondary to the behaviours and actions you enact. We are created in God's image... to be yourself, often.

                      ~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure  April 2013

Do you Know your Pathology and Route to Freedom?

 Greetings my gentle readers to another week's installment of the "Be Yourself, Often" blog at www.joelwlamoure.com . This is the time where we can sit back with our favorite pieces of company [warm drink, soft pet or other] and step back from the milieu of the week that was. Too often, we do not take the appropriate steps and moments of peacefulness and tranquility and rush through each thing in order to get to the next.

Along the concepts of hope we appreciate that there are at least four dimensions that we need to explore in order to achieve optimal hope. The first is holistic health, second is outcome driven objectives, third is the fact that everything we do is personalized and the final aspect is that of empowerment. Bar too often we go through life as if feeling that we are a victim. I have touched on this theme multiple times through this blog. However, being a victim creates its own sets of psychopathology and ruts that individuals tend to get comfortable in. Life is perceived as unfair, unjust, and that an individual develops a learned helplessness [in fact almost a degree of institutionalization to the societal driven mechanisms that overwhelm us) to everything around.

But what of the individuals that tend to be the aggressors? What about individuals that are aggressors without even realizing it, constantly pushing ahead in their own agenda without realizing the impact on others? Too often, we are seeing a polarity of society where there are victims and there are aggressors. The individuals in the middle are left not knowing which way to turn and create a degree of un-empowerment, thus turning to one of the two poles. Certainly, we realize there are individuals that are aggressors and wish to be aggressors. They wish to control and overwhelm by their simple actions, decisions and often their narcissistic, grandiose delivery. Often, these individuals are egomaniacs with an inferiority complex and hurting others is the way that they achieve righteousness in the world. Somehow, I think it is even worse when these individuals label themselves as “inspired and enlightened" individuals. For in retrospect, these individuals are anything but. Now, it may be secondary to karmic energies and their past experiences, but that does not mean that an individual is not able to change.

We have the ability to help individuals that see themselves as victims, or see themselves as aggressors achieve a degree of enlightenment about their pathology. In the DSM-4-TR (in psychiatry speak), there are several types of personality disorders, which are delineated into three separate classes. The first is cluster a, the second is cluster B and the third is cluster C. Per wit, we label these three categories as "mad", "bad” and "sad". Really, we are seeing a disparity and conflict between the cluster B and cluster C categories. Cluster B are the individuals who are antisocial, borderline and narcissistic in presentation and delivery to a point where it becomes pathological. These individuals as such would see individuals with cluster C as easy "pray" because cluster C individuals are those who are fearful and needing of love and attention. In the world of psychiatry, we denote these individuals to be dependent personality disorders or obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.

As such, we see that it would be very likely that there creates conflicts between Mars and Venus, or cluster B and cluster C respectively. I believe, that it is made worse when we are not individuals that are in touch with our spirituality, but in touch with our societal driven objectives. Really, is it possible for an individual to change their stripes? Yes. I believe it is definitely possible through a combination of prayer, play and healthy living. A high degree of mental fortitude in order to realize exactly where an individual is and be comfortable with that individual in the mirror is a first place to start. Having the strength and willingness and insight to realize that there is something wrong will allow an individual to take the expressions of concern from another individual, rooted in love to be able to realize there is a problem. Love is an intelligent concern for others, and as such when an individual takes of their time and health and thoughts to be able to express a concern, that is love. True love is very rare, and unfortunately we do not realize it until it is either gone or damaged. I myself am guilty of this sin.

However, it does not mean that we cannot touch the spiritual side and appreciate really who we are. That is, that we are spiritual beings having a human existence. The gods are not crazy, and we have been placed on this earth in order to realize that there is more than what is sold on the 6 o'clock news, or the 14x 30-second commercials, which occur through the 6 o'clock news. It is information overload.

My gentle readers, look to those people who truly love you and say the things that are hats you do not want to hear. It is rooted in love and concern and the desire for you to be a stronger individual. Love is not mean. Love is not hateful. Love does not boast. Love does not make itself to be better than the other. Love does not use titles. Love is a simple expression of human kindness expressing an intelligent concern for others, that ultimately if we can touch the simplest things through prayer, play and seeing things through the lens as if we were a child again, then you may have a chance to be yourself, often.

~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure  April 2013

Living the Evidence-Informed Self: Those Silent Moments (Part 1)

Greetings my gentle readers to another week's installment of the "Be Yourself, Often" blog. As always this is a time when we can sit and in quiet meditative mindful reflection look at the week that was and realize the impact of the decisions that we have made. For in order to achieve prescribing and dispensing of Spiritual HOPE, then we need to know our root belief systems. We need to be informed of the evidence that presents itself to us, and how we interpret that information through our five senses, but also our sixth sense, which is our very accurate extra sensory perception. As we know HOPE is an acronym that stands for holistic health, outcome driven objectives, personalized care and empowerment.

This week we will extend our thoughts from the root cause analysis discussion of last week and add in the filter of what we see and how we see it. This is a time of empowerment when we can actually in collaboration with our higher power and meditative moments; influence in a positive way our future. In the same way as individuals will go to school for 20 years to achieve an objective, why do we not have the ability, desire, passion and drive to take even a half hour from our day and achieve positive outcomes question how hard is it to enroll in the school of the spirit?

My gentle readers, you are already a student in the School of the Spirit, whether or not you realized this fact. This is potentially a very inspiring and liberating opportunity, or may be extremely scary depending on your perspective. What this means is you are able to achieve an open dialogue with your teacher, who is your higher power.

Unlike school, this Higher Power has the ability to create miracles. All of the colors, sounds, tastes, life and living you have the ability to link to this master. Having that realization will positively influence your ability to filter the evidence in front of you.

Although I have used the term “evidence” multiple times in this blog, what does it mean? Inherently, one is driven to thoughts of police drama television shows. Really, it is not much different than that. Evidence is everything that is all about you and around you. An open and inquiring mind then filters this information through the lens of their belief system.

Your belief system is how you determine if something [such as evidence] is relevant to this particular case. And really, is this case not your life? And to add even further thoughts regarding karmic energies, are these not implications on life and lives yet unlived? Always having a bad day? What is your role in it? How bad is it really? Do you could task your files?

All of this really comes down to the basic concept that if you believe something is or will be bad then it will be so. You are evaluating the evidence as it relates to the case of your life. Having the mental and spiritual fortitude to examine the evidence is a wonderful place to start! Live and love life in the way it is and has been designed, which is full of moments and miracles!

How can this life be wrong or when there are so many miracles and gifts that exist within it? If we embrace our life as a gift in the present, rooted in mindfulness, then we should be able to truly be yourself, often.


~~~ Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure   March 2013