Summer 2011 and beyond

So we finished our summer whirlwind of classes a couple weeks ago and I have enjoyed the slower afternoons.
We took Developmental Psychology, Bio II, Am Hist I, and First Aid.
Psyche was interesting, Bio was painful and AH was actually fun. First Aid was ok.
We start back on Monday the 29th with Western Lit, Intro to SPED, and Power Walking. Why Power Walking, you might ask. Because Walking would just be silly.

Looking forward to an interesting and eventful Fall semester.

Thursdays class

This coming Thursday we are covering "the existence of god". Notice the little g because we are just discussing the the concept of whether a god is philosophically necessary. I am loving this class. So looking forward to the debate and I am hoping it is an adult conversation and does not turn into a kindergarten class.

comp II -poems

Came across a poem in my lit book and kept thinking about Angel and here it is.

by Friedrich Rückert:

If you love for the sake of beauty, O never love me!

Love the sun, which has bright golden hair.

If you love for the sake of youth, O never love me!

Love the spring, which is reborn each year.

If you love for the sake of wealth, O never love me!

Love the mermaid, whose pearls are rich and clear.

If you love for the sake of love alone, O yes then, love me!

Love me as I love you-forever!

dialetic theory

Tonight we talked about another theory that tries to explain relationships. We have gone everywhere from simple one sentence theories to stepping stone theories to detailed graphs. For me the dialetic relationship theory helps explain relationships so much better. Looking back over the last 18 years and remembering the hardest times we had, I can see how most if not all issues we had came from either the two of us not agreeing on part of the equation or agreeing but not knowing that we agreed. Miscommunication will be my next post after we cover chapter 9.

Interpersonal Relationships

Loved the class, we heard many speeches and then covered chapter 8 which covered relationships: How and why they form. We talked about the 10 stages of a relationship from initiating to terminating. Kendra mentioned that the relationship moves back forth along the 10 stages and John stated that even at terminating stage the relationship can still backtrack and survive or even thrive. That reminded me of how precious my marriage is because we did just that. We were on the verge of the terminating stage and God helped us to rebuild our marriage into what has become the best time of our life. Not perfect but so much better than we ever thought was possible.

Non verbal clues

I need to pay more attention to non-verbal clues when interpreting meaning. None of these are new concepts but to put my mind to work at consciously interpreting their meaning is a relatively new concept. I am starting to see the benefit of actually working at communication instead of just letting it happen. I'm starting to see how all the aspects of communication work together instead of just an ocean of stuff.

Understanding

The other day Angel and I were leaving mom's house and discussing dinner. She wanted Krystals and I didn't. I was driving and so I went to the drive through at Krystals. After getting the food, Angel reminded me that Krystals is not as good when you take it home.

Bottom line: This is a great example of my selective perceptions and how the book talks about meaning and experience which all led to bypassing. Our experience had taught us that Krystals are just better when fresh but I wanted to get home so I perceived that her goal was the same.

I understood her words but I did not understand her meaning. "Getting dinner at Krystals" meant two different things to two different people. People were speaking but communication was not happening. Deciding what the sender means before deciding on an interpretation is something I need to work on.