Maturation - Evolution of Consciousness

     "Once one recognizes the selflessness of consciousness, the practice of meditation becomes just a means of getting more familiar with it. The goal, thereafter, is to cease to overlook what is already the case. Paradoxically this still requires discipline, and setting aside time for meditation is indispensable. But the true discipline is to remain committed, throughout the whole of one's life, to waking up from the dream of the self. We need not take anything on faith to do this. In fact, the only alternative is to remain confused about the nature of our minds."

       Sam Harris. "Waking Up. A Guide to Spirituality without Religion." Simon & Schuster, 2014.

Gratitude during Canadian Thanksgiving Day

     "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend."                     Melody Beattie

Dale Chihuly   http://www.chihulygardenandglass.com/

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/melodybeat177949.html#rBmEJwXhzYRja6gX.99

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/melodybeat177949.html#rBmEJwXhzYRja6gX.99

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/melodybeat177949.html#rBmEJwXhzYRja6gX.99

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/melodybeat177949.html#rBmEJwXhzYRja6gX.99

Everyone does their best, under the circumstances - Attachment theory

     "Attachment theory posits that, beginning in infancy, children form highly affective relationships - or attachments - with their primary caregivers that are based on the infant's need for protection, comfort, and nurturance. Attachments vary in their quality in accordance with the type of attachment relationship a child has experienced. ... researchers have delineated different types of attachments: secure, insecure (with subtypes of anxious avoidant & anxious resistant), and disorganized. Children with secure attachments feel that their caregivers are physically & emotionally available to them and generally have better developmental outcomes and lower rates of psychopathology than children with insecure or disorganized attachments. Secure attachments provide a 'secure base' with the caregiver that fosters safe exploration and learning. Insecure attachment results from an infant's or child's attempt to maintain proximity to a caregiver who is emotionally unavailable or only intermittently responsive. Disorganized children or infants are caught between craving proximity and fearing to approach the caregiver. They often exhibit disorganized or contradictory behavior, such as freezing, stilling, or apprehension toward their attachment figures.
     Attachments can influence a child's behaviors and relationships in general. This occurs because beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that form within an affective, primary relationship eventually become internalized as the child's internal working models. These early relational interactions gradually evolve into increasingly complex patterns of affective regulation, self-organization, attitudes, & expectations about the world & relationships. In this way, interactions that emerge out of a dyadic experience become individual traits that can endure even when the environment changes."
       Zilberstein K. Clarifying core characteristics of attachment disorders: a review of current research and theory. Am J Orthopsychiatry 2006; 76(1): 55-64.

Photo: Janolus   www.dpreview.com