Posts by Phaedra

32

NLP, Subliminal Messages and the WT Writing Department

by 00DAD in

a few years ago i became interested in the subject of neuro-linguistic programming (nlp).

while the core concepts of nlp have been largely discredited as new-age pseudo-science, there is no doubt that there is at least some validity to the idea.

words and images remain the key way we communicate.

Phaedra

Definitely loaded language, which is even more effective on highly sensitive people who have the knack for sensing what's being said between the lines.

Interesting discussion!

Phae

151

If you don't believe in God where do you get the strength to cope?

by Miss.Fit in

jw
friends

i know there are some here that are going through some tough times.

some of you do not believe in god.

some are not sure.. i was told recently by a friend to pray to god for help and he would comfort me.. my first impulse is to pray.

Phaedra

I'm enjoying this conversation. Thanks for starting this thread, MissFit, as I have a lot of wonderings around this, too.

Jgnat and LisaRose, do you address your prayers/meditations to anyone in specific? I'm curious how an atheist would handle that.

I'm also wondering if my being raised JW with a codependant relationship with the organization makes me more desiring to seeking an external kind of connection with 'source' than within myself.

It's connection I really seem to be wanting when I pray, eventhough nothing is there.

Is there perhaps another word for 'connection' that might explain the desire?

Always open to new perspectives.

Phae

P.S. Anyone know if there is a way to spellcheck my short posts from the tools selection before I hit submit?

41

Would like all of your imput on this. Please

by Still Totally ADD in

jw
friends

both reopened mind and i are now in our early 60's and it seems our conversations lately have been on putting everything up for sale and buying a rv and travel until we can't anymore.

it has been a dream of ours for along time to see all the site's in the u.s. and canada.

we feel we could make money as we go by selling and teaching using herbs and gardening.

Did you know there are a bunch of discussion forums devoted to this lifestyle? You might want to check them out (if you haven't already). You can learn a lot of great stuff from people already 'living the dream'.

I'd love to sell all my stuff and get up and go travel like that... for at least a year to see how I'd like it.

Yes, you only live once. That puts a lot into perspective.

Send postcards!

Phae

16

My Satantic Smurf Scratch n' Sniff Stickers Story (True!)

by Phaedra in

jw
friends

back in the early 80s when i was around 9 or 10, my slightly-older best jw friend relished telling me all the latest scare stories she heard about the satanic smurfs popping off of wallpaper, cutting babies with sharp objects, and running through kingdom hall corridors swearing.

wide-eyed with no critical thinking skills at.

i listened and believed every single word.

Phaedra

I'm enjoying the responses here! Especially from those of you who were parents at the time.

And blech on my misspelling of Satanic in the title. Where's that speelcheck when you need it?! LOL

Phae

16

My Satantic Smurf Scratch n' Sniff Stickers Story (True!)

by Phaedra in

jw
friends

back in the early 80s when i was around 9 or 10, my slightly-older best jw friend relished telling me all the latest scare stories she heard about the satanic smurfs popping off of wallpaper, cutting babies with sharp objects, and running through kingdom hall corridors swearing.

wide-eyed with no critical thinking skills at.

i listened and believed every single word.

Phaedra

Back in the early 80s when I was around 9 or 10, my slightly-older best JW friend relished telling me all the latest scare stories she heard about the satanic smurfs popping off of wallpaper, cutting babies with sharp objects, and running through kingdom hall corridors swearing. Wide-eyed with no critical thinking skills at. all. I listened and believed every single word. I was fully afraid of the lil' blue demons!

The craze in our 5th grade class at the time was collecting scratch and sniff stickers (remember these? Oh memory lane!) Well, of course there were also popular Smurf stickers, and everyone who was anyone had them all. Well actually, not everyone. In our 5th grade class, two boys were the collection kings because they had all the cool stickers and pooled their collections together.

By pure serendipity, I happened to get ahold of some very hard-to-get stickers and had some they didn't have, but very much wanted, so they invited me to join in their collective collection, become a queen in their sticker empire and enjoy royalty status in our 5th grade classroom. I jumped at the opportunity!

So, with our collective pool of stinky stickers, we decided that the fairest way of sharing our treasure trove was that each of us got to "hold" onto the collection on assigned days and take it home overnight and on weekends.

When my first weekend came up and I was thrilled to take the collection home. Well, except for knowing there were lots of scratch n' sniff Smurf stickers in the collection... that made me uneasy, but I was willing to take the chance.

Let me tell you... the entire weekend I had fear and dread inside me everytime I looked over at the collection sitting on my dresser. I was certain that those smurfs were going to come out of the sticker pages and torment me somehow. The anxiety I felt all weekend about the smurf stickers overshadowed any joy or pleasure I derived out of having the treasured collection.

I didn't tell my parents. I just sat all weekend with this big secret staring at me, hoping I wouln't be attacked by satan because I had silly scratch and sniff stickers with smurfs on them in my bedroom. I was afraid of printed ink on paper!

I ended up getting through the weekend without incident (just my anxious overactive imagination) and promply took the collection back to school. When I saw my two fellow classmate collectors I told them that I wanted out of the group and that they could keep my stickers. I was immediately releived to cast out the demons.

In retrospect, what a waste. And a great anecdote of how JW urban legends were indeed spread and seeding fear into the little hearts and minds of trusting children.

When I got married 10 years later, my JW husband told me some of the same recycled smurf stories ~ and still believed them. By that point I pretty much started getting wise to viewing those stories as gossipy legends that had no basis in any real experience.

Now I definitely know better. :) Imagine that.

Anyone else collect those stickers when they were little?

Phae

37

How many things did you toss out in the name of Jehoover

by love2Bworldly in

i had a flash back yesterday.

my non jw husband and i went to disneyland and bought my young daughter a set of 7 dwarf toys.

after a few months i felt guilty and threw them away, thinking they were demonized.

Phaedra

Lots of music... books... holiday cards from non-jws...

Phae

20

Do you intend to die?

by new hope and happiness in

as far as i know, all of us are going to die.

our hope, our stories, and the fantazy of " good people" telling tales of heaven, or a new system, or future reassembling of our consciousness is not likely?

do you still cling to it?.

Phaedra

Do you intend to die?

It's not my intention, but I'm hardwired for it and have accepted the inevitability.

That was a very hard pill after being taught that I could possibly live forever without ever dying.

Now I toggle between thinking nothing is a miracle and everything is a miracle. Depends on my mood and what crazy stuff is going on in the world.

Before I go... I would like to make a meaningful contribution and impact. That' from the 'everything' side.

Phae

9

My first birthday party.

by sp74bb in

jw
friends

different kind of feelings.. i've been living with my new partner 10 months and his family has adopted me as a new son.

i'm sad not having my family here with me but love, kindness and feelings from my new family fill all i have lost.. a nice chocolate cake, a present (a new watch), many greetings and wishes from friends, a nice dinner with my boyfriend.. who said this was wrong?.

Phaedra

Well, Happy Birthday!

phae

29

Online Higher Education

by SonoftheTrinity in

since the faithful and discreet slave class now opposes higher education because it allegedly brings with it 'bad association', i wonder what their take is on online education.

let's remember that distance education was pioneered by fundamentalist saudi arabia and apartheid south africa for the very reasons that the jehovah's witnesses criticize higher education.

my wife is one of the faithful and i fear for our kids future, that they will see no point in keeping their grades up.

Phaedra

Times and technology have changed. Distance learning and online collaboration are things that will only increase as time moves forward.

Someday, the idea of someone spending a lot of time and resources going to a building to sit in a classroom to listen to a lecture or work at a computer will be long in the past. We live in awesome, progressive times.

Phae

6

you writers might be interested in this

by Hortensia in

http://www.alcs.co.uk/about-us//news/news/what-are-words-worth-now-not-much.aspx.

according to research from alcs, professional writers earn about $18k per year.

i don't think i ever earned that much.

Phaedra

for the love of the craft...

I've enjoyed writing in the past as a reflective, creative practice and outlet for my humor. Haven't done much in the last couple of years for pleasure, but maybe someday I'll pick it up again.

Phae