Greetings!
You can feel the change in the weather as Fall arrives. Not only is it a time
of seasonal change but a change in the way we live our lives and the way we
look at the world.
In Our Culture on the Couch - Seven Steps to Global Healing,
I discussed the epic struggle now underway between the forces of the "Old
Paradigm" of separation, fragmentation, anger/fear, conflict, violence, and war
and those of the "New Paradigm" of unity, wholeness, transformation, healing,
peace, and Love. If one pays attention to the news these days, it would appear
that the former has gained some ground lately, at least in the public sphere,
what with U.S. Representative Joe Wilson's historic break with the traditional respect accorded the president,
tennis star Serena Williams's harsh and apparently threatening outburst at an umpire,
Kanye West's ruining Taylor Swift's moment of victory and gratitude (although Beyonce's graciousness provided a look at how the New Paradigm would
approach such a dicey situation - kudos Beyonce, that's class). What is happening within each of our
hearts and minds is, despite so much propaganda to the contrary, completely up
to us, however.
As the blooms of summer fade, let us recall that we all have
a responsibility to keep the spirit alive within ourselves and in our
communities. To help stay on the high road, I have included in this issue a
brief excerpt from page 257 of Our Culture on the
Couch that speaks of this Global confrontation unfolding before us
and the question each must answer for himself/herself. Our other article this
month is a follow up to the Michael Jackson article that I sent out over the Summer. I received feedback of all kinds and have shared some of these with you this month!
This time of year we are more susceptible to getting sick as
the pressures of work, school, and the coming holidays can start to build. Eating well, maintaining an exercise
schedule and making sure you get adequate rest is a good start to a healthier
fall and winter season. But
reducing your stress is key to maintaining mental and physical wellness all
year 'round. Stop by my
website at DrMiller.com and discover the many tools there for you to help
reduce stress, increase your health and wellness, and participate in
transforming our world.
Wishing you cozy, colorful, joyful Autumn afternoons!
Warmly,
Emmett Miller, MD
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From: Our
Culture on the Couch, Seven Steps to Global Healing
page 257
Watching the developing big picture, I am reminded
of a Superbowl football game. The line of scrimmage moves
closer to one goal line, and then back in the other direction.
Globalization pushes hard in one direction, powered by those who want
more standardization, regimentation, and suppression of local
culture. The other team, the one of which Mr. Hawken writes, resists,
and pushes hard in the other direction.
The
question remains: Will enough of us decide to join this team in time to prevent runaway climate change, and
the wholesale global collapse of life support systems, including
those that support human life?
CHAPTER 11: STEP 6: CONNECTING: EXPANDING THE
CIRCLE
Every day, an estimated 100 plant and animal
species are lost to deforestation ... A conservative estimate of the
current extinction rate indicates that about 27,000 species a year are
being lost.- National Wildlife Federation
The
question still remains: Will we reverse the trend of
centuries of frenzied self-destruction? Will enough
of us decide to become part of the solution instead of part of
the problem? As former Vice President Al Gore said in the
conclusion of his speech accepting the Nobel Prize:
"The future is knocking
at our door right now. Make no mistake, the next generation will ask
us one of two
questions. Either they will ask: 'What were you
thinking; why didn't you act?' Or they will ask instead: 'How did you
find the moral courage to rise and successfully resolve a crisis that
so many said was impossible to solve?'"
Perhaps our growing appreciation of the facts will
inspire enough of us to appreciate the wisdom of the prayer of St.
Francis:
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much
seek
To be consoled as to console,
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
It is in dying to self that we are born to
eternal life.
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The
Curious Case of Michael Jackson By Emmett Miller MD
As a holistic thinker focusing on systemic healing
principles, I have discovered that creating wholeness, healing and peak
performance in our lives means overcoming the fragmentation that our modern
world presses upon us. Michael Jackson, in many ways, is the "poster child" for
this fragmentation that threatens all of us. Two of the letters I received
following my last article on Michael Jackson
are instructive. One letter dismissed Mr. Jackson as "a drug-using,
child-molesting freak." The other venerated his talent and envisioned him as a
"tortured soul." Which was he, or was he both?
The first writer fragmented and rejected Michael as less than
human. The other saw him as a potentially whole person who was destroyed by the
Old Paradigm thinking of his environment. In today's world the soul vampires
descend in droves on anything of beauty - and those who stand above the rest
attract lightning. Our culture destroys what it worships (think Elvis, Janis,
Diana).
Michael Jackson was "larger than life," yet we can all
identify with him (whether we like it or not, if we're honest with ourselves).
Stealing the show from his older brothers at the age of six, then going on to
be the first "crossover" superstar, his celebrity enabled his isolation and
gradual destruction.
Unless you have lived a charmed life, you have been "screwed,
used, or abused" by people who claimed (and even believed) they loved you, or
at least had your best interests at heart? Parents, friends, teachers, coaches,
army sergeants, bosses, doctors, religious leaders, politicians and the list
goes on ...
All of us have experienced fragmentary episodes in our lives,
but few on the scale Michael did.
The skill he displayed on stage came at a terrible price.
Watch as he describes to interviewer Martin Bashir how viciously his father
whipped him with belts, iron cords, and other implements if he missed a dance
step in the endless rehearsals he was subjected to.
Attempts to
Restore Wholeness
There is something within that always strives for wholeness.
He became a superstar, but lost his childhood, and thus never got a chance to
grow up. His childhood had been stolen from him, and it is probable that, in an
attempt to resurrect it, he built Neverland and said, "I am Peter Pan."
And Peter Pan had his lost boys to keep him company. He used
his success in a failed attempt to buy his childhood back - and bought himself
a passel of trouble instead.
The wholeness of his being and his talent was shattered by
the voracious culture around him. His childhood, his privacy, his health, his
money were all ripped away from him. Despite all his talent and success, he was
unable to live an integrated life.
Quite the opposite, he disintegrated. Literally, you could
see it in his face.
For every friend seeking to help him integrate the parts of
his life (like Deepak Chopra who refused to give him drugs he didn't need),
there were hundreds of those who just wanted a piece of him. The result was his
gradual fragmentation.
Fragmented people are vulnerable to exploitation - and
addiction.
Like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson appears
to have been betrayed by unethical doctors. The very people who swore an oath
to do no harm actually enabled Michael's addiction.
Instead of our world nurturing the wholeness of that which is
good, loving, talented, and valuable, it does the opposite. Just as Michael
failed to receive the parenting and psychiatric treatment he needed, we are all
abused by not only our medical system, but by our politicians, lawyers, media,
and so many other of the institutions that could, with the presence of wise
guidance, enrich our lives.
Yes, it is true, in one sense, in his desire to overcome his
crippling insomnia, Michael Jackson killed himself - but he was aided and
abetted by his doctors, "handlers" and everyone else who wanted to get money from
him or make money off him by exploiting his talent.
Michael
Jackson Died For Our Sins
In another sense, Michael died for our cultural sins. Our
culture takes from those who have value, instead of taking care
of them. It is a common theme that you and I can see so vividly in our own lives
and experience.
One of the stories I share in Our Culture on the Couch involves two men sitting at the stern of a badly leaking rowboat,
watching two other men in the bow trying in vain to bail out the water. One of
them turns to the other and says, "I'm sure glad that hole is not in our end of the boat."
Perhaps the lesson we can learn from Michael's sad story is
that we are all in the same boat, and that until we recognize the scope of the
problem, how it affects us, and how we are complicit in this abusive culture,
the increasing fragmentation of our lives, personally and collectively, will
continue at an accelerating rate.
Indeed, unless we change our direction, we will end up where
we're headed! Then who will we blame?
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Join me in celebrating the release of my new book Our Culture On The Couch, Seven Steps to Global Healing
I'll be giving a presentation and will read excerpts from the book followed by a Q&A session and book signing. I'll be offering a special discount on the book to those at the event. This is a free event and open to the public.
When: Wednesday, December 18th 6-8pm Where: The Copper Top Lounge, Grass Valley
First Thursday of every month 11am-12pm
PST OpenMindRadio.com
Emmett Miller, MD is a physician, author, poet, musician, and master
storyteller, whose multicultural heritage has given him a unique
social, medical, and spiritual perspective. One of the pioneers of
Mind/Body Medicine, HEALING TIMES with Dr. Emmett Miller explores
Mind/Body Health and how to reclaim our inherent personal wisdom
integrating scientific knowledge and techniques of modern medicine.
Author of Deep Healing and Our Culture on the Couch, Seven Steps to
Global Healing, Dr. Miller's mission is to help us heal ourselves so
that we can in turn, heal our planet.
November Program Information: This month's interview on Healing Times Radio is a "Don't miss"! Dr. Miller's guest in November is Jim Channon, whose creation, the US Army's fabled First Earth Battalion, is the subject of a new film The Men Who Stare At Goats, opening in theaters everywhere on November 6th, 2009.
May
14th - 16th, 2010 Esalen Institute Big Sur, CA
What if it
is true that there is a wise leader inside of each of us, and that all our
problems result from our disconnection from this inner source of wisdom, power,
and Love? What if you could take one step forward and enter a new world, where
there is congruity between what you most deeply want and the actions you take?
In this highly experiential workshop we will apply the New Paradigm (Miller,
Our Culture on the Couch, 2009) of Distributed Leadership. Through deep
introspection you will touch your essence, inner wisdom, values, gifts, and
talents, and awaken the leader within. Next we will explore the unique gift of
our times, the opportunity for Humanity to replace hierarchical models of
control and dominance with distributed leadership models based on justice,
equality, and respect.
Our goal is
to heal ourselves and heal our planet. (Recommended but not required: Our
Culture on the Couch (ebook or softcover) and Awakening the Leader Within available on CD or
for download.
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Announcement and Free Offer!
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Video Highlights
A very interesting and enjoyable
video - an attempt to answer the question, "How would God answer some of the
most pressing questions of our lives?""The Interview With God"
What Do Doctors Say?
At a time when everybody seems to
have an opinion about health care, it might be interesting to listen to what
physicians have to say. Health care used to be a matter between a doctor and a
patient, and sometimes the patient's family. Then Wall Street stepped in and
things began to change - for the worse. Soon the physician was not the primary
factor in dealing with the patient, the decision as to how the medical
interaction would take place and what treatments could be considered, and which
specialist would be chosen for the job. The doctor became just a cog in the
financial/political wheel. Then, as patient-centered approaches became more
popular, the purveyors of supplements, vitamins, and such began to attack
doctors - it became conventional wisdom that doctors don't know and don't care:
that was the best way to sell products, even those with little or no value.
Now, as we are in the middle of the healthcare debate, we hear precious little
from our doctors, some of whom are truly committed men and women who have seen
the American style of medicine up close and personal. Here is what I believe is a valuable perspective from caring doctors.
And lest we
lose our sense of humor, we can all take pride in the fact that our healthcare
system has been found to now be as completely rotten as some would have you
believe - especially those that would claim it is the worst in the world. The
rankings of the World Health Organization's impartial rankings are in! Time to celebrate with a little music, no? BTW, it is OK to chuckle even as you shake
your head:
The Economic Crisis:
Nowadays it seems like everyone feels like they
know how to solve our economic crisis, and especially the collapse of housing
markets across the country. Yet when it happened everyone seemed quite shocked.
Leave it to the court jesters to be the only ones who seemed to see the handwriting
on the wall. What if we had listened . . . It seems that greed knows no
limit. Watch as these two
comedians forecast our current crisis in a most clever way. It is important to
realize that the bailouts have not solved the problem - the real solution must
await our willingness to address the deeper issues, the systemic dysfunction.
This bit was done in Feb 2008.
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Hot Links
Jimmy Carter Quits Baptists
After trying for years to get the church to change
from within, President Carter made the following statement regarding the rights
of women. Gradually there are changes taking place, and more people are
speaking out in favor of the New Paradigm
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Contact Us[email protected]PO Box 803 Nevada City CA 95959Phone: 530-478-1807Fax: 530- 478-0160
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