Overcoming Depression

As the days get shorter and colder , many people find themselves getting depressed. Marshall Rosenberg explains some causes and cures for the blues. Well worth the 7 minutes it takes to listen:

Overcoming Fears

“If you hear a voice within you say, ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” ~Van Gogh
http://www.full-confidence.com http://full-confidence.blogspot.com/

Painting on the Canvas of Your Life

Art by Ali Spagnola

I’ve been reading Panache Desai’s Discovering Your Soul Signature and wanted to share one of the meditations from the book:

Imagine that your life can be portrayed on a canvas….When you look at this canvas, you’ll see see everything that’s been placed there. And most of it doesn’t originate from you…. As you’ve moved on through life, external labels have been superimposed on the canvas…. People have told us who we are, and this fills the canvas too.

Now start pulling off those labels…. Peel away those limitations. Remove all of those different words that are getting in the way of being a blank canvas…. As you do this, experience the freedom (or perhaps the terror) of the blank canvas.

When an artist approaches a blank canvas, all that is possible is a single brushstroke at a time….
What splashes, splatters, or messes did you erase?

Now what will YOU choose to paint?

(excerpt taken from p. 179-180, 182)

Domestic Violence Victim Speaks Out

For more information:
Jessica DeFranco
203/458-4646
jdefranco <at> rowman <dot> com

 

Domestic Violence Victim Speaks Out

Former abuse victim Alexis Moore helps abuse and cybercrime victims.
Now she shares her secrets in her book Cyber Self-Defense.

To tweet this news, copy and paste: http://bit.ly/1rjG05m to Twitter with #noexcuseforabuse

Everyone wonders why Janay Rice didn’t just leave. Alexis Moore, a former abuse and cyberstalking victim has the answer. “Deep inside many victims blame themselves for the violence, and leaving is no guarantee the abuser won’t track you down and kill you,” says Moore, who endured a nightmare life before founding Survivors in Action (SIA) to help other abuse victims who, like her, often found little help from domestic violence organizations.

Every day Moore is contacted by hundreds of people who need help, but many people are afraid to reach out for help. Concerned about these victims, Moore has written a book that she hopes will help people break free from the cycle of abuse.

Cyber Self-Defense, co-written with Laurie J. Edwards explains how to:

Cyber Self-Defense

⦁    identify possible abusers before getting into relationships

⦁    safely leave bad relationships

⦁    effectively stop cyberbullying, cyberstalking, stalking and other forms of abuse that often occur after leaving

⦁    recover emotionally and financially after being attacked

⦁    combat embarrassing leaks of personal information

⦁    restore a damaged reputation

⦁    protect yourself online

Many abuse victims suffer from PTSD, low self-esteem, and suicidal thoughts. Moore herself even reached the point of suicide, so she understands the emotional pain people face. Cyber Self-Defense offers many techniques for healing the devastating psychological wounds of abuse.

All of the case studies in the book come from Moore’s years as a victim advocate with Survivors In Action. She has helped many victims escape from seemingly impossible situations. Those stories are recounted in Cyber Self-Defense to give people hope that they, too, can break free from even the worst forms of abuse.

Moore’s poignant story has been told on Stalked: Someone’s Watching, and she frequently appears on news programs to offer helpful advice to domestic abuse victims. Her advice has been packaged in an easy-to-read form in Cyber Self-Defense: Expert Advice to Avoid Online Predators, Identity Theft, and Cyberbullying, which she hopes will help the millions who are trapped in this cycle and see no way out.

The book’s publisher, Rowman & Littlefield/Lyon’s Press, released Cyber Self-Defense in October because the Department of Homeland Security has named this month National Cyber Security Awareness Month to increase the public’s understanding of basic cybersecurity practices.

Cyber Self-Defense is packed with information to help businesses, individuals, schools, and organizations who need up-to-date information on preventing cybercrime, cyberharassment, and cyberbullying.

REVIEW COPIES AND INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

###

For review copies and interviews:
Jessica DeFranco
Rowman & Littlefield
203/458-4646

jdefranco <at> rowman <dot> com

About Alexis Moore

Alexis Moore is the founder and president of Survivors in Action and collaborator with state and federal legislators worldwide for Internet legislation. She is considered a lead pundit on cybercrime and has appeared on CNN, Fox, Headline News, and Good Morning America.

About Laurie J. Edwards

Laurie J. Edwards, a freelance author and editor for more than twenty years, has an MA and post-grad training in creative and emotional recovery techniques. She speaks at school, libraries, and conferences around the country.

About Survivors In Action

Survivors In Action (SIA) is a non-profit, all-volunteer victim-advocacy organization based in the United States.

Praise for Alexis Moore:

“Alexis you have singlehandedly changed the landscape for women (and men) survivors and I couldn’t be prouder!” ~Linda Lowen, writer, journalist, radio host, and 2009 Recipient of the EMMA award

“Ms. Moore is dedicated and works diligently to assist in changing legislation. Her commitment to helping victims of crime and her expertise in Internet crimes will be helpful as criminals are increasingly using electronics to monitor and stalk their victims.” ~Betsy Ramsey, author of Stop the Stalker: A Guide for Targets

Living Life to the Fullest

Like this? Learn to build a better life at Good Life Project

~ With thanks to Jonathan Fields

Students Making Sense of the World

Just received word that my combination artwork/6-word bio is being published by Smith Magazine in the book Things Don’t Have to Be Complicated. As a grad student, I was eligible for the competition. I’m amazed at the profound insights from students of all ages. Their wisdom (and accompanying artwork) is well worth the purchase price. You can grab a copy at the Smith website or at iTunes or Amazon.

Here’s the blurb for the book:

“What would you say if you had just six words to define your life? That’s the challenge Larry Smith presented to his online community, SMITH Magazine, in 2006. His quest was inspired by the legend that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a novel in just six words. His heartbreaking result: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Giving the form a personal twist, Smith reimagined the six-word novel idea as the Six-Word Memoir, challenging contributors to create a half-dozen words of self-reflection. The constraint, it turned out, fueled rather than inhibited creativity: “Sometimes lonely in a crowded bed.” “My life made my therapist laugh.” “Wasn’t born a redhead — fixed that.” “I still make coffee for two.”

Inspired by Six Words’ popularity in English classes and art classes alike, Smith recently called for submissions for illustrated Six-Word Memoirs, in which he asked students, whether in grade school or grad school, to create a piece of artwork that enhanced their memoirs. The voices in Things Don’t Have to Be Complicated are younger than those of previous memoirists, but no less profound: “Said he loved me, he lied.” “Two girls, both of them me.” “Big dreams, big heart, big mouth.” “I’m a Muslim, not a terrorist.” “Life is better with headphones on.” This book contains dozens more. At its core, the Six-Word Memoir offers a simple way for anyone of any age to try to answer the question that defines us all: Who am I?”

If you wrote a 6-word memoir, what would it say?

What Have You Been Putting Off? 30 Days to a New You

What have you always promised yourself you’d do…SOMEDAY. Sure you’ll learn a new skill, get more exercise, write a book, play an instrument, lose those extra pounds…SOMEDAY. And the more you put it off to SOMEDAY, the less likely it is to happen. How many years have passed since you decided you’d like to do something SOMEDAY, when you have more time, when your life’s less hectic?

Chances are SOMEDAY will never come. So why not take 3 minutes and listen to this inspiring message from Matt Cutts (Ted Talks) on making those dreams come true NOW?

Remember, it only takes 30 days to develop a new habit–one that can stay with you for life. What are you going to go for in the next 30 days?

Virtual Weight Loss

One of the fun things about being a writer is running across fascinating information. In an article on cognitive science, I read that observing others performing an action fires off the exact same neurons in the observer’s brain.

I guess that explains couch potatoes who watch hours of football. They aren’t as lazy as they appear. In their minds they’ve actually played the game. All the same neurons were firing in their brains as were firing in the brains of the players on the field. No wonder viewers are so exhausted at the end of playoff weekend. And it explains why people pay big bucks to go to sports events or stay glued to the TV during the Olympics–they’re actually performing all those feats in their minds.

So that leads to an important question: If neurons do the same work in observers’ brains, couldn’t this idea work well for weight loss and fitness? If I watch hours of exercise videos, will my body soon look like that of the trainers’? Surely someone can figure out the optimum number of hours I’d need to watch to lose, say, twenty pounds. My brain would feel as if I’d done all that strenuous exercise and would trigger the fat-burning processes that go with it. It seems logical that my body would automatically burn the same number of calories as the trainers’ if my mind is doing the same work.

Maybe scientists should put more research into virtual exercise and weight loss. No need to use guinea pigs. I’m sure there’d be plenty of volunteers for those experiments.

Ready to Give Up?

Succeeding in anything can be difficult. Look at all the Olympic hopefuls coming home without medals. If they compare themselves with the winners in their sport, they may feel like losers, but they’re not. Just making it to the Olympics shows how talented they are. They’re still winners, and so are you.

Who are you comparing yourself to? The winners in your field? Your ideal self? The one who does everything right while you never do?

If you’re struggling with discouragement, check out my blog, Feel Like Giving Up? on Downtown YA. And if you’re a writer who wants to throw in the towel, McKenna Darby has some great advice on the Hearts Through History blog in her post Struggling as a Writer? Congratulations!

There I Go Again, Being Rude…

As we’re hustling and bustling to get the last of the holiday shopping done, it’s so easy to get annoyed with slowpokes who block our speed-walking through  a store on our lunch hours or with rude people who push ahead of us in line. But recently I heard a suggestion that totally revolutionized how I feel when that happens.

Whatever label you’ve just given that person who’s upsetting you–irritating, pushy, nasty, inconsiderate–put it into this sentence: There I go again, being…

There I go again, being pushy.

There I go again, being rude.

Wait a minute, you might say. I wasn’t the one who was doing that. Ah, but if you believe, like I do, that we’re all interconnected and that what you see is a reflection of what’s in your heart, then it’s easy to see that you made the choice to see rudeness or unkindness. And I find when I say that, it reminds me that I’ve done the same thing at times.

Perhaps that’s what’s meant by: There, but for the grace of God, go I…

Although some people use that to make themselves feel superior, if you think about it for a moment, you’ll realize you’re saying that any differences between you and the other person are because of grace. You are the same, but someone is looking at your actions through forgiving eyes. Now it’s your turn to do the same.

But the wonderful thing about this sentence is that you can use it when you see acts of kindness, generosity, and love.

There I go again, being generous and thoughtful.

There I go again, being helpful and considerate.

So while you’re shopping, which “you” will you see. I hope you have the special joy and privilege of seeing “you” through the eyes of a child, with all the magic and wonder that entails.