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New Existentialists

I Still Believe

04/17/2013

I was in Boston this last Sunday and barely made it to the airport in time for my flight…the last one to leave Logan International to Denver. I was literally minutes away from being stranded but thought, on the bright side, if I did get stuck there, I would at least be able to watch some of the Boston Marathon. I did make my flight and was safely at home when the first reports of the bombing came trickling in. I read the stories, stunned and heartbroken, grateful that I made that flight and saddened for those whose lives were shattered with that explosion. I asked myself the same...

Posted at 10:00 AM

New Existentialists

Un-knowing at the Boston Marathon

04/16/2013

Ernesto Spinelli (1997) describes un-knowing, with the hyphenation, “in order to distinguish the term from its more common meaning as that of which we remain unfamiliar” (p. 9). The concept, he says, Refers to that attempt to remain as open as possible to whatever presents itself to our relational experience. As such, it expresses the attempt to treat the seemingly familiar, or that of which we are either aware or informed, as novel, unfixed in meaning, accessible to previously unexamined possibilities. (p. 9) Un-knowing is the term that keeps resonating for me as I, like many...

Posted at 10:00 AM

Rethinking Complexity

Bold Leadership for Humanity in Practice: Embracing Gender Equality – Part 1

04/15/2013

The month of April is a very important one for me and this year marks the 10th anniversary of my birthing. A very important, if not, perhaps my most important life moment that happened to take place on Earth Day. Upon deeper reflection on being bestowed with the gift of motherhood and my role as a mother, I feel both challenged and inspired. One might wonder why. I feel challenged with the responsibility of not only being the best mother that I can and should be to my awesome, beautiful and loving daughter but also in seeking ways to collaborate with others to create conditions so that my...

Posted at 04:55 PM

New Existentialists

A Brief Phenomenological Account of the Shooting Spree

04/15/2013

That gun butt felt so smooth and warm cradled in your palm; Oh your childhood cried out into your head “they mean to do you harm” −Bernie Taupin This brief essay is a section of a larger work entitled "The Thing Called Gun: A Phenomenology of a Shooting Spree." I presented a paper on this topic in November of 1999 after the Columbine Shootings in April of that year. In 2000, I presented the work again but added interpretation of the ongoing shootings as testimony of the places of our increasing degradation—our schools. My premise was (and in many ways...

Posted at 10:00 AM

New Existentialists

Integrity and Congruence: A New Paradigm for Character

04/12/2013

Integrity is a suggestive, inarticulate word: its definition is hard to pin down. For most of my life, I’ve associated the word integrity with “character,” yet another evasive word with multiple meanings. I’ve thought of integrity as suggestive of morality, of the ability to stand up for what’s “right,” to sacrifice one’s self for the greater good. Now that I’m older, I’ve had some experiences that have defied the polarized concept of “right and wrong.” I’ve been in situations that have called me to step forward to...

Posted at 10:00 AM

Rethinking Complexity

Learning to Work and Manage Virtually

04/11/2013

The decision made by the CEO of Yahoo to order all employees working virtually back into the office was an unfortunate indication of how little we have learned about working in a virtual world. Sad, given that people have been doing this for over a half century. I was fortunate to work for a company in the 1970s that was progressive on flexible work hours. It was my first real job and management experience. When the company decided to implement flexible hours, people could arrive at work between 7-10 am and work 8 hours. Most didn’t need to declare in advance when they would arrive. As...

Posted at 02:24 PM

New Existentialists

The Future of Existential Psychology: Varieties of Nostalgia, According to a Tang Poet

04/11/2013

Nostalgia seems to be a universal phenomenon. It is the feeling and sensation that lets you know that a deep cord in your heart is being struck by some cherished memories. While the question of cultural difference in approaches to nostalgia has not been explored in psychology, we can deepen our appreciation of this phenomenon by consulting poets from other cultures. After all, poets should know about matters of the heart; and poets from foreign lands can even shed new light on our existential realities. The poet I turn to is Li Shang-yin (813-858) of the late Tang China. When he turned 50,...

Posted at 10:00 AM

New Existentialists

Spirituality: The Paradox of Knowledge and Experience

04/10/2013

Paul Tillich once said that doubt is not the opposite of faith, but, rather, certainty is the opposite of faith. This paradox of certainty and faith has created a multitude of chasms and splits among Christians over the centuries, but more so over the last 150 plus years. Since the period of enlightenment, and especially in the 19th century, the role of proof and certainty in western Christian dogma has grown extensively. During this time, there has been a much greater emphasis on developing proof that Biblical events are historical. I was struck by this paradox once again while attending an...

Posted at 10:00 AM

New Existentialists

The Emerging Cultural Approach to Existential Psychology: Diversity Language and Symbols

04/09/2013

Existential and humanistic psychology has struggled in is embrace of diversity (see Hoffman, 2012, for an extended discussion of this topic). Yet, there is hope that change is coming. The first vital step was working to gain widespread acceptance that diversity is an important topic worthy of consideration in existential psychology. Increasingly it seems evident that a growing majority of people in existential psychology have accepted this. Next, it is vital that increasing depth be cultivated around this topic. Becoming diverse must be about more than bringing people from different...

Posted at 10:00 AM

Rethinking Complexity

Change, Flex and Intentionality

04/08/2013

In a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy in 1789, Benjamin Franklin stated: “our new Constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” I would add to this quote the fact that change is also certain. In a way, both death and taxes are two states on a long chain of changes that we personally experience. Change is built into the fabric of the universe. With the recent update from NASA from the Planck satellite study, the Big Bang took place 13.8 billion years ago initiating change...

Posted at 10:55 AM