Exuberant hereby the Civil Index librorum prohibitorum Park parce que hosting and creating a first-rate conference and white book!

Scroll The goods Profiles

Flight Coactive Classified catalog

Unemployment insurance Interest D Pool

Vigor Provide for Assemblage's Powerpoint Swan song

Doctor Records- HIPAA Isolationism Regulations

6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

An issue for me at this point is the doubt that creeps into my mind regarding my ability.  I believe that God has a purpose for me, and there will come a time where I will do something great.  The doubt enters in regard to the present.  I begin to feel as if, because of my past, I am precluded from doing significant things within the Christian community right now.  The judgment of others and the stigma attached to sin causes me to shrink within my abilities.

I begin to think, "how can I serve God knowing all the sexual behavior and sin in my past".  How can I be used to do anything significant when I have fallen so short of righteousness?  I lose sight of the forgiveness granted through Jesus, and the grace of God which blankets me.  I still envision the long term, the time on down the road, in the far future where I will be called on for a purpose that far exceeds my comprehension.

The doubt that fills the present is the danger.  Removing the doubt is the struggle.  Trusting in God is the answer.

Avoiding dark colors would be a good idea. Summer dresses should neither be thick or dusky. They’ll make your summer miserable. If you aren’t prone to sunburns then lather yourself with some sunscreen and go with an airy sleeveless sundress or a really sexy mini. Floral prints are designs tailor-made for summer. Even toned colors can be made interesting with some dazzling jewelry and footwear. Contrasts have been accepted universally now. Whatever you pick, make sure comfort is primary.

Sam did an incredible job of the stairway and lounge room painting job. I was simply  blown away on Sunday morning. He can amaze me with an occasion treat, but this one overwhelmed me.

Suddenly I can sense the pace picking up, We are nearly 85% done on the Craft Studio. But today's the bedroom clean-up day .. ho boy .. its goinna be choatic, lotza coffee and lotza breaks.  There are dozens of chores on my task list and I have no idea how I am goinna get thru this one. but i will. Besides Sam is absolutely frustrated with the look of the bedroom. We cant even make it to the bathroom in the dark without bumping into some cartons !

I must confess I am a hoarder and this room has been bearing the brunt of my desires !  Over 3 months, the cartons kept stacking up and I couldnt get them in place, either becoz of the exam season or we had scores of visitors or plainly also coz when all was fine, I went lazy ! Incase your wondering why cartons ? Well coz I cant stand things scattered in plastic carry bags, I prefer to pile them up in cartons and keep them in a corner, since we have run out of corners, they now occupy large spaces in the center of the room. I am miserable, should i visit a shrink ???

I will update on the progress.

I have just realized that I have taken new and rather large strides on the path to being weird, argumentative and open to all new things. This includes the frikking piece of octopus Sashimi I had today. One of the reasons that I do not like Japanese cuisine a lot is that I prefer to eat food that is cooked properly, or preferably does not, at the very least, move on my plate. Long story short I was offered the octopus Sashimi and I tried it just because it was something new and different. And I loved it. Thankfully.

As of right now, if anyone on the face of this planet sends me an email, sms or letter saying something to the tune of “You are wrong” or “No” or “No, you dont” or “Does not” then without knowing the person or the reason behind it I will send a reply of “I am not” or “Yes” or “Yes I do” or “Does too” immediately without a second of thought. This is how bad this is. And to top this off my thing with my cousin where he says “Yes” and I say “No” has hit another level. After one year of sms, emails, facebook scraps, IM messages and 5 second phone calls I continue it ad infinitum. What the fuck is wrong with me.

And a weird, interesting yet disturbing fact about me. While I was doing my daily walk/jog/run thing today my right nipple was erect and my shirt was rubbing against it, yes I liked it for some time, but then I think that it the rubbing went too far and now my nipple hurts like hell. Touching it is like burning it with a lighted cigarette. I feel as if I have divulged too much information.

Fuck.

And the guy that I was having phone sex with last night had an amazing voice. But, dude, the whole Urdu thing, not my cup of tea. Please, please, please lets just have sex in English from now on. Oh, and yes, if you call me a girl again, or refer to me in the feminine gender, you will get kicked in your telephonic groin.

Excuse me. I really feel that I need to have a shrink so that I can be cool as well. And, if there was one, I would be calling him/her right now since I think that is a very major requirement at this moment.

Today the successful Loss Prevention executive needs to balance the portfolio of risks their companies face.  This may include safety, risk management, information security, brand protection, shrinkage reduction and supply chain security.  As our world has evolved so has the role of the LP executive.

Increasingly we see the most successful executives are able to have a broad focus, great people skills and the ability to learn as our wold changes.

While their has been an incredible focus on ORC as of late, we have not forgot about the portfolio of risks that are also present.

Internal Theft is and has been a major factor of shrink.  Most retailers  today employ, pre employment screening testing, background checks, new hire shrink reduction training, daily shrink awareness, state of the art exception reporting, and cameras integrated into the exception systems.  With all of these protective measures we still as an industry have not effectively eliminated the internal theft problem.

Is this a cost of doing business and the best that we can hope for is to identify and react quicker?  I suggest that we must continue to work on methods to reduce associate dishonesty.  I believe effectively leveraging all of the tools mentioned above into a smart pos system, so that potential dishonesty is addresses in the most proactive of manners may be one way to make some significant improvement in this area.

Think about merging your exception systems real time with your pos.  When an associate is in process of conducting a high risk transaction, you advise them that this is a high risk transaction that will require management review if they proceed.  It allows them to proceed, (so honest associates have nothing to worry about and your transaction is not slowed down).  Yet a dishonest associates realizes that the entire transaction will now be reviewed by Loss Prevention.

This is of course just one concept that some are working with already today. Share your thoughts with me.

visit- www.stopretailcrime.com

Legislation to Combat Organized Retail Crime Introduced
MarketWatch - USA
"This is a serious crime issue with real health and safety implications," said Paul Jones, vice president for asset protection. "Without a secure supply ...
See all stories on this topic

Q&A: Organized Retail Crime -- What Retailers

 Need To Know

July 16, 2008

Click Here To Download:
•Q&A: Organized Retail Crime — What Retailers Need To Know

With Paul Jones, vice president of asset protection for the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and Retail Solutions Online

According to Mr. Jones organized retail crime (ORC) is a growing epidemic that has cost retailers tens of billions of dollars each year, and that's just part of the problem. More important is the public health risks that ORC poses. Legitimate retailers spend millions of dollars to ensure that products such as over-the-counter medicines, infant formula, perfume, and diabetic test strips are stored and shipped appropriately. I have yet to find an organized crime ring that takes any such precautions. In fact, we have seen these sensitive items being housed and shipped in deplorable conditions. If diabetic test strips, for example, are not stored appropriately, they may provide false readings, putting diabetics, who are reliant on constant blood sugar monitoring, in great peril.

As such, I strongly recommend that consumers only purchase these products from legitimate established retailers who can validate the chain of custody of their products. This is the only way to ensure that the product is not spoiled, tainted, or otherwise at risk.

Click Here To Download:
•Q&A: Organized Retail Crime — What Retailers Need To Know

LEGISLATION TO COMBAT ORGANIZED RETAIL CRIME INTRODUCED
RILA applauds the “Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008”

Arlington, VA (July 15, 2008) — The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) applauds Congressmen Brad Ellsworth (D-IN) and Jim Jordon (R-OH) for their introduction of the “Organized Retail Crime Act 0f 2008.” The proposed legislation addresses the growing problem of organized retail crime (ORC).

ORC involves sophisticated crime rings that typically steal and stockpile huge quantities of merchandise in a targeted area. They then resell the stolen merchandise through flea markets, swap meets, pawn shops and, increasingly, on Internet auction sites. In many cases, these crime rings use the profits to fund other criminal enterprises.

“RILA strongly supports the introduction of the Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008,” said Allen Thompson, vice president of global supply chain. “This bi-partisan bill will provide law enforcement officials the tools they need to curtail ORC and protect consumers from unknowingly purchasing fraudulent or unsafe consumer goods.”

Because of widely varying state laws and the lack of a clear federal criminal statute addressing ORC, gangs who move from store to store stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise are often only subject to minor misdemeanor charges.

HR 6491 would criminalize the theft and subsequent sale of retail goods and services. Organized retail crime costs consumers and businesses tens of billions of dollars every year. This criminal activity impacts consumers, retailers, and state and local governments. The proposed legislation would address this issue by amending the federal criminal code to make activities involved in furthering organized retail crime illegal. In addition, the bill would also criminalize facilitation of this activity and impose specific duties on online marketplaces to limit illegal activity occurring online involving organized retail crime.

Further, consumers who purchase health and beauty items from flea markets and online auction sites are at serious risk of harm. Items such as Baby formula and diabetic test strips, favorite targets of ORC criminals, can be damaged when not handled carefully and could result in harm to unknowing buyers.

“This is a serious crime issue with real health and safety implications,” said Paul Jones, vice president for asset protection. “Without a secure supply chain and the anonymity of sellers, consumers could easily be exposed to harmful products that have been potentially tampered with.”

For their safety, RILA encourages consumers to rely on traditional retail sources when making these purchases.

“RILA applauds Representatives Ellsworth and Jordon for their leadership on this important issue and their commitment to protecting the health and safety of consumers. We encourage Congress to act quickly to give law enforcement the tools it needs to aggressively prosecute these criminals and protect innocent consumers from unsafe or damaged goods,” Thompson concluded.

###

The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) promotes consumer choice and economic freedom through public policy and industry operational excellence. Its members include retailers, product manufacturers, and service suppliers--which together provide millions of jobs and operate more than 100,000 stores, manufacturing facilities and distribution centers domestically and abroad.

  ]]> http://thecountryshrink.wordpress.com/?p=105 Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:55:49 +0000 thecountryshrink http://thecountryshrink.wordpress.com/?p=105 You may be able to 'be your own shrink to some extent.'  I'll tell you why I call myself a shrink.  It's probably different than most.  I look at my role as 'shrinking' the significance of the negatives in a person's life.  In psychotherapy, this is done in two ways.  The first is releasing the emotion attached to negative experiences (Freud called this catharsis), and the second way is by adding as many positive things as possible to a person's life.

Almost anyone can do the second thing, and I'll tell you why it is so important.  When you add something positive to your life, you 'shrink' the significance of the negatives.  The reason is that your life is no longer made up of 'all negatives,' but also now includes positives.  This may be something very enjoyable that you can do.  This may be something that brings you satisfaction and fulfillment.  It may be your religious beliefs.  Regardless of what it is, you want to add positives to your life.  It gives you something to look forward to when times are bad, and allows you to 'shrink' the significance of the negatives.

Now, you can't completely 'be your own shrink,' but you can do the 'shrinking' that I talked about earlier.  You can shrink the negatives by comparison, but for help with shrinking the negatives, you may need a professional to help you do that.

The support for the project is enormous and we are about to do something that has never been done.

Subscribe now as once we begin at the end of July, it will move quickly and intensely.  More information soon but get ready as it's going to be an amazing ride.

Thanks so much

Talk soon

They should also be looking into the problem of antipsychotics prescribed for the elderly.

                                                      Shrink

From: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/services/newspaper/printedition/sunday/lake/orl-lbard0608jul06,0,6989543.story

Gray Matters

Bard Lindeman | Special To The Sentinel

July 6, 2008

You're sick. You need a doctor. Maybe you're headed toward a hospital. Trust me, now you need someone else by your side: an advocate!

An advocate is a "health partner"-- someone knowledgeable and feisty, someone to ask questions and not settle for incomplete or insincere answers.

Why, you properly ask, do I need an advocate? Three reasons, for openers.

*Every year, 1.5 million patients suffer from what the health-care system deems "medication errors." In plain language, some dope (well-meaning or otherwise) gives unsuspecting patients the wrong medicine. (Source: 2006 Institute of Medicine report.)

*According to evaluators at the Institute of Medicine, "preventable medical errors" result in the deaths of 44,000 to 98,000 patients every year. (Source: 1999 Institute of Medicine report.)

*A New York Times headline: "Doctors Say Medication Is Overused In Dementia." Indeed, with drug advertising directed at the lay audience, doctors come under pressure to prescribe -- and they do. Hapless Alzheimer's patients, and others, are needlessly given potent drugs that achieve little or no good.

Consider sales of newer antipsychotics (Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa) totaled $13.1 billion last year, up from just $4 billion in 2000. The Times explains that with nursing-home residents, "It's much easier to use sedatives and anti-psychotics, despite harmful side effects."

An advocate asks, "Does my mother (the patient) truly need this drug? What are the side effects? How long will she be taking it? What is the cost? Is there no other recommended therapy?"

Time for a confession:

In what now seems another lifetime, the mother of my three children checked into a suburban Chicago hospital for exploratory surgery. Eight days later, Adele Mullen Lindeman, age 40, was dead of a virulent infection, while her contrite surgeon said, "This never should have happened." I agreed, wholeheartedly.

Today, 37 years thereafter, the middle child is a board-certified internist and emergency-room specialist, while I remain a staunch supporter of patient advocacy. Moreover, I am medical science's enthusiastic booster, and, as well, its persistent and loud critic. I'm not alone.

In the current issue of the National Family Caregivers Association newsletter, Ilene Corina tells of the death of her infant son. This death led Corina to become a patient-advocacy champion.

"No matter what people say," she explains, "the lines of communication are still not open. . . . The advocate's role must be to raise the level of communication with the medical team."

The focus of Ms. Corina's organization, PULSE, is to teach people to become effective advocates, accepting how both you and the doctor are "on the same side." Moreover, the advocate needs to recognize that "it's possible to be respectful, yet still forceful."

One more thing. Advocacy is an issue not only with doctors and hospitals. Nursing homes, watching over some 1.4 million residents, belong inside the great circle of influence.

I asked knowledgeable Elma Holder, founder of the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, what she would do if her mother became a resident.

"I'd move in myself," she answered. "I'd take the bed next to hers . . . and watch out for her 24 hours a day."

To learn more about advocacy, please go to www.patientsafetyadvocate.org and www.the familycaregiver.org and click on "Caregiving Resources.

GRAY NOTES: Our quote of the week: "Trying to plan for the future without a sense of the past is like trying to plant cut flowers." Historian Daniel Boorstin said it (Parade) . . . Fact: Alzheimer's medicines are a market valued at $3 billion a year worldwide and the figure could triple in the next 10 years. (Wall Street Journal) . . . A year ago Americans bought nearly $30 billion worth of anti-aging products. (Mother Jones) . . . Headlines that work: "Achieving Wellness, Whatever That Is." (The New York Times) . . . Finally, Ilene Corina says, "Advocacy is about opening doors and understanding our responsibility in a complex system."

Write Bard Lindeman at 5428 Oxbow Road, Stone Mountain, GA 30087-1228 or e-mail bardlindeman@bellsouth.net.

i'll spend some time taking pictures of the buttons, and i'll start listing it all as i can tomorrow around 8a.m.! 

Honey...

I really think it's time that Billy sees a therapist.

i love making these shrinky dink rings, but DANG, that melted plastic is HOT.  someone needs to invent some thin type of gloves that are teflon coated or something for making these rings.  someone get on that for me, 'k?  thankx.

i wanted to sell these in my etsy shop, but they're so fragile and break after a wearing or two, so i don't wanna risk someone being unhappy.  i might make some for craft-show time - just a little something fun to have.  for now, i'll make them for myself and wear them til they break and move on.  i especially love the scalloped edges, different from the ones i've seen on etsy and flickr! 

i've been playing with new colors of ink and different stamps, too.  stay tuned for so much more!

The plan is, according to Kotaku, for Sony to update the PlayStation 3's graphics chip to a new 65nm model by Q4 this year.

The new graphics chip will be smaller, cooler and cheaper to produce than the current model, so Sony is understandably keen to make the move as soon as possible as the PlayStation 3 is still seen by many as prohibitively expensive compared to the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360.

Kaz Hirai also indicated in the meeting that Sony is looking to reduce the total number of components in the PlayStation 3, as well as introduce some more new and exciting titles for the console - but specifics are a little lacking.

Hopefully the move to a new graphics processor will go smoother than similar moves made by Microsoft to update to smaller chips, which resulted in months of speculation, rumour and disappointment before the new models arrived.

Do you have a PlayStation 3? How would you change it if you could? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

I alla fall... Jag träffade min shrink sista gången innan hennes semester förra torsdagen och på något sätt hamnade vi på ett superviktigt "spår" som hänger med sedan barnsben, om och om igen. Hur vet jag inte. Än i varje fall.

Till och med jag fattade att jag satte igång något viktigt att ta till vara på i samma sekund som jag sa det, och som var så uppenbart att det är fånigt. Att jag inte förstått den enkla principen menar jag. Det handlar i stort om att jag förflyttar oerhört starka känslomässiga reaktioner inom mig och applicerar dem på personer som är viktiga för mig och händelser kring dem som jag ser framför mig kommer att hända "på riktigt" medan jag förlamat betraktar händelseutvecklingen som jag inte har en aning om hur jag ska stoppa eller om det var jag själv som satte igång alltihopa. Det är realistiska grejer om sånd där som faktiskt händer, därför är det så skrämmande.

Jag upplever det här i förtid och då är det ju inte så konstigt att jag tar ut det i förskott heller. Tyvärr blir jag så energilös på kuppen att jag kliver ned i den där svarta avgrunden totalt i samma sekund det händer och det färgar av sig på hela min värld. 

Sen den där timmen som blev 2½  i torsdags får jag allt svårare att andas. Jag orkar knappt lyfta armarna, de känns blytunga. Jag är på helspänn, tolkar varenda händelse omkring mig som ett hot mot min mentala hälsa. Att ungarna har sommarlov och vill vara ute och partaja som vilka normala tonåringar som helst får mig att gå i taket varenda gång de berättar om sina planer och bara grina av trötthet och gnäll - i förtid. Och efteråt. Det känns som att jag fått "kronisk snuva". Och känner mig alldeles nervös och skakis. Jag är inte allergisk eller nåt, utan jag tror faktiskt att jag har hamnat i ett långtidstillstånd av en slags panikattack light på nåt vis.

Nu kan inte sluta tänka på vare sig det jag känner rent fysiskt eller det faktum att jag förstår att jag använder min nutid till att följa mitt svingamla mönster som är det sista jag behöver för att kunna bli hel. Och jag vet inte HUR jag ska känna, bete mig eller övervinna det här utan att bli knäppare än jag är just nu.

Hela min värld verkar rämna och därför blev jag tvungen att försöka ta reda på mer om det här med hur psykoterapi egentligen fungerar, trots att jag redan läst på om det förut och hittade en som jag tror är en jättebra bok som heter Självkänsla på djupet av Marta Cullberg Weston. Hon beskriver psykoterapetiska processer så tydligt att jag börjar fatta alltmer att jag nog är mycket mottaglig att sätta i gång att ta itu med de här tunga bitarna inom mig. Och jag är så satans glad för att jag litar på min shrink!

Tyvärr kommer det att dröja en hel månad innan jag träffar henne igen och just nu funderar jag över om jag kommer att klara sommaren utan att bryta ihop känslomässigt även fysiskt om någon fattar hur jag menar, utan hjälp av just henne. Jag brukar ju kunna stänga av i värsta fall, men det verkar inte fungera just nu så jag beter mig allmänt spattigt mot min omgivning och börjar bli allt mer impulsiv i mitt tankesätt och allt mer okonkret eller vad det heter.  Och alltmer syrefattig för den delen också,  eftersom jag håller andan mest hela tiden. Sen några dar har jag vaknat med huvudvärk (brukar jag inte ha) och om kvällarna har jag fått börja umgås med mina självfälleceller i en hjärna som har börjar kännas brännhet av den här känslomässiga stressen.

Och ändå - mitt i allt är jag så lycklig över att det händer! Äntligen börjar muren rämna, fan att det skulle bli så svårt för mig att komma igång med att bli terapiad på allvar... å så går shrinken på semester i samma stund det klickar till. Shit!

---------------------------------
Läs även andra bloggares intressanta åsikter om psykoterapi, shrink, tankefällor, känslor, stress, panik, ångest

Last night I went to an event my friend Blagica put on called the Diva series. Had a great time meeting new people and listening to "The fireman and the Shrink" talk about sex and dating. I also finally met Kristen Nicole of Mashable and she rocks just like everyone said. :)

Free drinks, fun ladies AND they had the coolest shwag!

Check out this video I made of me exploring my beauty assistant by Sephora.

[viddler id=9f7f6703&h=370&w=437]

Pictures I took at the event here.

It was slightly passable at the start, listening to the female trainer(who was young) talk about improving your revision habits. It was kinda useful with several methods of tackling revision and topics, I had enough attention to steer through the so-called motivational session. But when it reached the midway of the session, they switched trainers(to this guy who had experience) and topics started to get more deep. He was blabbing away about life and how it was so precious, and life and death, and stories about people who lost their lives and all that. His first impression was poor for me because he spoke about the good life and meeting some of his rich and famous friends, which I translated as a snob who earns a lot and is trying to impart his success formula to us. Pity.

The session was a lousy act put up by the trainers. First things first, they're psychologists, which I despise A LOT. I felt uncomfortable with the second trainer most, he was experienced and was analysing our body language and I did not like people doing that, with the fact that it was also without permission. There was a point in time during the session where we were all joking around and in a split second he started screaming at us. About how he could have done better things, how he was trying to improve our lives, how he was still in jet lag from his arrival from USA, how lucky we were, how he wanted his dead friends back etc. etc. I wanted to shove a chair down his throat and tell him that if he wanted to improve my life, he could give back my 13 hours wasted on listening to him. The best thing was, it was such an abrupt moment I could tell straightaway it was put up, 80% of it.

Immediately after that scolding, he turned all depressed and moist, telling us to cover our eyes and imagine how we were in a dark room, a door opens and we met our parents, and we chat a little with each other, and how our parents were then sucked into a vortex of nothingness, and how we were running through a corridor of locked doors and we entered a room and how dusty that room was, and how there was a mirror and we see the most important person in our lives(which surprisingly was ourselves) and we chatted a bit and the end. By the end of that portion of the session, everyone around the room was sobbing, sniffing and tissues were handed around and I did not even shed a single tear. But that trainer who told us this fantastic story above spoke in a dramatic manner of melancholy that I had to give a thumbs up for his act. Drama queen.

So that was the highlight of yesterday's programme, not to mention the worst 13 hours wasted. That particular trainer kept on stressing on how lucky he was on experiencing death beside him, and that we were all lucky folks and steered our lives on a whole new direction. Besides the whole read it and weep moment, meals provided were vile.

Ya know, motivational speakers/psychologists should undergo a drama workshop to improve their acting skills.

I saw him creep. I saw him venture. Right into my domain for another adventure. This time I need to confront him and let him know what I think. If it scares the shit outta him, he can go see a shrink.

"The Hatter, I presume! Please to meet you... hope you guess my name!"

"Just my imagination running wild again. Nothing more than shadows in sight, nothing else seen in this twilight."

"Well your observation is good I must say, and though we've met on many an occasion, this probably is our first conversation."

"Now to myself I'm talking and into the shadows I'm walking..."

"HAHAHA! Maybe you should say, 'Now to the shadow I'm talking and into myself I'm walking,' as that would not only make more sense but you would appear to be smarter!"

After that moment, I saw his mouth agape like a clown in a circus. Before he could reply the lenses began to focus.

"Are you feeling alright Hatter?" asked someone.

Damn! The show is over. Good going! Hatter my friend. You and I missed life again.

We started off discussing the dreams in my previous post. She was most excited about the dream involving my entire tooth loss. Basically it is an indication that my mind has accepted change, and change was afoot. All three dreams involved my mother, and all involved only myself and the women in my life.

One of the essentials in the blueprint process highlighted that my biological mother is and was not ideal. It is basically an indication that the mind is processing the change from considering my biological mother my major influence, and slowly switching to the divine mother Susan was really excited about this too.

In the chair this session, we focused on meditation, using Vipassanā, or introspection. The technique she uses requires that one learns how to focus on external and internal 'objects' such as the sound of the clock, the birds outside, the sound of ones own breathing - that kind of thing. It is a technique she uses specifically to draw attention away from the mind's incessant voice which detracts from ones higher self. It is a technique I am focusing on, as I still see the internal voice as being one of my major obstacles to the healing process.

At one point, i was asked to visualise the emotion of fear and stress within me. It became a very clear image of an inverted triangle within my chest. It is a yellowish diseased colour, and is covered in festering sores. Gross I know - but yeah, that's how I perceive it.

Another exercise we did was the Secret Garden, and it is something I can recommend to anyone wanting to gain something extra out of meditation.

I was prompted to imagine my secret garden - a place that is the perfect garden that I would be able to escape to to relax and meditate. Every detail was prompted - plants, temperature, weather, shade, sunlight, benches, flowers, paving etc. Once established in my mind, I was prompted to explore and find the thing that wasn't right - something perhaps ugly and out of place. For me, it was the grass - there was no grass, it was as if there wasn't enough watering done, and the grass had died, which was just completely out of synch with the rest of this beautiful place. Once I had found the flaw, I was prompted to summons help in whatever form, to fix the problem. Susan suggested angels, because I have a special affinity to any image that contains angels - male angels. I tried, but unexpectedly, Disney's Peter Pan arrived. He alighted in my garden and simply assured me that he would look after the grass. Without any further ado, he produced a watering can, and began spreading fairy dust around over the sand. Lush green soft grass began to sprout, and my garden was becoming the perfect place that I imagined.

The next step, was to imagine a bubble surrounding the scene, like placing the garden and the helper into one of those little snow globe things that you get at tourist shops. Then to imagine breathing the whole scen into the body, deep into the area just above the solar plexus. Once there, the bubble is prompted to explode into millions of tiny replica's, and spread around the rest of the body.

It was an amazing experience, and a technique I try to replicate before sleeping.

I left in a feel good mode, not sure whether I had benefited from the session. However, the days that followed saw intense feelings of well-being coming through during the oddest times of the day - on the loo, making dinner, writing e-mails.

And there were dreams again of course:

The Museum

I am attending a tour of a museum of some sort, possible as part of a school outing. The lady is going through a display of war heroes, pointing out various individuals with a long pointy stick.

The ‘individuals’ are like mounted trophies. She starts from the oldest. Each trophy seems to be the head and shoulders of the actual person, preserved by taxidermy. Some are quite gross, having being removed from the battle field, and not altogether there.

Each individual is from a different war, starting from the Great Civil War (not sure what or when that was lol). He is Lancelot Charles Henry Hope the 1^st – I realise it is my great grandfather (This is my real grandfathers name). Then there is the second and the third. (My real grandfather was a war hero of sorts, having being a decorated RAF pilot).

She moved down generations and gave some explanation about each. I wasn’t really listening, because I suddenly realized that I was also on display… and three generations after me. From this point, I was just totally distracted, and never really heard anything she was saying by the time she got to me, or my future generations

The Time Machine

I discover a way to bounce into the past, as if I am on a swing, and can swing back and forth. I think I am dreaming, because it is impossible to do that right?

Everytime I go into the past, I see my high school, but don’t recognize who these people are. Maybe not even my past, and not even sure what the time frame is that I am entering. As an experiment, I draw a picture of a face on a piece of paper, and when I bounce through, I let it float to the ground. (I am always elevated above).

Back in the present, I am at a party, lots of people I don’t know. Some guy is looking at me weirdly. I think he is trying to pick me up, so I make eye contact a few times. He is drinking on his own, and eventually gets up and walk over to me. He reaches in his pocket, and takes out the picture that I drew, it is old and faded. He shoves it in my face, and has this serious aggressive look about him. And he just says “I KNOW”.

I wake up sweating. Real horror movie stuff.