How a collage is a diagnostic tool

 

the field of admirer-admired collage“What does it matter how many lovers you have if none of them gives you the universe?” French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan posed that question. I invite you to put it at the top of your list of hot topics to meditate on. In doing so, I trust you won’t use it as an excuse to disparage your companions for their inadequacies. Rather, I hope it will mobilize you to supercharge your intimate alliances; to deepen your awareness of the synergistic beauty you could create together; to heighten your ability to be given the universe by those whose fates are interwoven with yours.

In the current live course, from Upset to Communication we have come to the last of the four non-elevated fields of communication, Admirer-admired. My horoscope, above, for the coming week reflects that.

One of my students has already sent me her collage. It has given me a glimpse into her internal conversations that is deeper than I have ever seen… and I have known her for almost six years now.

Collages, where you go through pictures in magazines, or memes on the internet, are the best way to reveal to yourself your relationship, opinion, attitude about the world, about others, about yourself, about effort, ambition, etc.

Making collages has two parts:
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Do you have a core identity? Something that will not change? Something that can lead you to greatness?

Some countries need to manufacture a history for their people. Other countries created one by following a credo, an ethic, that is personally binding.

Father Geoffrey invented a history for England.

The question we’ll look at: can you invent greatness for another… Can a great path that doesn’t oblige have any positive influence on the person, or instead it will give them wrongful pride… “I am better than you” nationalist or racial superiority?

Let me examine the difference between the different stories of different peoples, so I can explain the difference between the individuals who hail from different cultures.

I am going to bumble my way through this… so expect this article to be a little chunky… I apologize ahead of time. No disrespect meant… Honest.

OK…

I’ll go about it the scenic way. Continue reading “Do you have a core identity? Something that will not change? Something that can lead you to greatness?”

An Atlantic article: What does ISIS really want?

1920What ISIS Really Wants

from the Atlantic

The Islamic State is no mere collection of psychopaths. It is a religious group with carefully considered beliefs, among them that it is a key agent of the coming apocalypse. Here’s what that means for its strategy—and for how to stop it.

What is the Islamic State?

Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. “We have not defeated the idea,” he said. “We do not even understand the idea.” In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as “not Islamic” and as al-Qaeda’s “jayvee team,” statements that reflected confusion about the group, and may have contributed to significant strategic errors.

What to Do About ISIS?

Continue reading “An Atlantic article: What does ISIS really want?”