If you have watched a few episodes of the TV show, "Star Trek," you are familiar with the concept of the Prime Directive, which prohibits members of Starfleet from interfering with the development of civilizations that have not yet acquired the technology for interstellar space travel. The idea behind the directive is that it is impossible for an "advanced" civilization to know what is best for one that is less advanced. Introducing "advanced" technology into a "primitive" culture might have undesirable consequences. Over the years, several episodes of "Star Trek" illustrated the untoward results following violations of the Prime Directive when various Starfleet commanders thought they knew what was best for an extraterrestrial civilization.

With apologies to "Old Christine" (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), we've been having our own new adventures in a variety of ways. First, we have have been working on redesigning the SCS website to make it increasingly "user friendly." The website had developed like the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. We just kept building and adding on, even when the stairways went nowhere, and the ghosts began to accumulate. Although we're not completely finished with the make-over, take a look at our redesign so far (www.scs-matters.com), and let us know what you think.

I have commented previously on the "talking points" that seem to be an increasing substitute for legitimate political debate. A week or so ago, I finally understood what was going on. The "talking points" are actually political Articles of Faith. Most religions express their fundamental beliefs as "Articles of Faith," which typically begin with We believe....

Examples would be something like the following:

May 10, 2010 - Debra Basham's Wonder-filled Wit for Well-being (picnic)

Your making simple changes can produce significant benefits in your life. Standing up at a kitchen counter eating out of a plastic container results in consuming 50% more calories at the next meal than when you eat your food at a table and off a plate, according to an article on nutrition news and trends in the June 2010 Prevention magazine.

Recently I read this quote: "Dining outdoors is a tradition that spans many cultures and has withstood the test of time. A meal eaten under open sky in the company of loved ones is an occasion in its own right."

This week as you enjoy your meals explore these ideas:

Take a moment to smell your food before you bite into it

Drink your water or tea out of a glass or mug that you like the looks of

When you have a choice about what you eat, ask yourself what you are really hungry for

Notice the "energy" of a food or drink before you eat or drink it consciously

Pay attention to the sounds (including your inner dialogue) you can become aware of while you are eating

Light a candle, dim the lights, open the blinds -- explore which lighting has the most beneficial effect on your appetite and mood

Plan a picnic atmosphere for at least one meal per week, at home, at work, or in your vehicle - with a friend if possible

Journal or reflect on your observations with at least one other person

A woman who lived alone would purchase very nice single place settings at garage sales or Goodwill or closeouts. Each day she would lay out a very lovely table just for her. I don't know why she did that, but current research shows that meals consumed on nice dishes are actually more filling and more nutritious than those same foods served on disposables.

In the same way that "man does not live by bread alone," now, you don't have to take heroic measures to get the simple bliss of a picnic, and your developing conscious eating habits can extend health and well-being way beyond just the meals you enjoy eating out-of-doors.

debra@scs-matters.com

www.scs-matters.com

I posted the previous blog entry (Who Needs NLP?) from Franklin, Tennessee. My son, daughter-in-law, and grandson had recently moved there from Troy, Michigan, because my son had accepted a new job at Calsonic, Kansei in Shelbyville. The primary purpose of this trip down to visit was to serve as a "back-up" baby sitter for my grandson in case his sister arrived early. My daughter-in-law is close to term, and they wanted someone available "just in case." Her parents were scheduled to arrive (and did so safely) on 4 May, and I was looking forward to having her mother there when the baby arrived. It had been a long time since I had had any significant responsibility for anyone younger than, say, mid-20's....

Debra and I just finished conducting an NLP "intensive" for practitioner certification. Over the years, we have taught NLP in the intensive format, the weekend format, and a variety of in-between formats. Our goal is to ensure that those who complete the program learn the body of knowledge that defines NLP and demonstrate the attitude and behaviors required to use the knowledge. Part of the learning is cognitive, and part is experiential. The challenge is that NLP contains a large body of knowledge and requires a relatively complex set of behaviors.

As Stephen Colbert might say, "Healing is tonight's word." For one reason or another, "health" and "healing" have become among the most common words in titles of books and articles. A Google search for "healing" came up with "About 3,990,000" hits in 0.21 seconds. And it's safe to assume that Google didn't get them all (and by the time you are reading this, there will undoubtedly be more). But just "healing" doesn't seem to be sufficient. The healing has to be "ultra." And if not "ultra," it has to be "mega" or "cosmic" or "cellular," and some insist on a "quantum" healing. People must be buying the books with such titles and the magazines containing such articles, or there wouldn't be so many of them.

Because of the date, you might be thinking that this blog has something to do with whether you can expect a tax audit. That, however, is not the case. This blog is about the way in which people tend to be certain about things, even when they have no particular evidence that their views are correct. This problem goes way beyond Republicans, Democrats, Tea Partyers, and health reform. Is there a nation on Earth where a majority of the residents do not believe that they are God's chosen people? They can't all be "right," at least in the traditional sense of that word, especially when you consider that most of them also believe that "their" God is the "One True God."

If you're going to count, it's time to be counted. It happens just once every 10 years, and this is the year. I have completed and returned my form, and I've been watching the news stories about the pros and cons of participating in this year's census. The discussions haven't been quite as contentious as those about health care. They have, however, followed the same basic political party divisions, with Democrats being supportive of the census, and Republicans being against this particular form of governmental intrusion in our lives.

 

Have you ever been too close to the trees to see the forest? One of the strange things about perspective is that it is influenced not only by distance, but by speed. When you are really close to the trees, you can't see the forest. If you are too far from the forest, you won't be able to see individual trees. If you've seen pictures of the earth taken from space, you probably couldn't see the city you live in—and even if you could see the city, you wouldn't have been able to see your neighborhood or house. You can get some of that same sense just by zooming in and out while searching for a map location using Google Maps.