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| RED BEAR'S JOURNEY JANUARY/FEBUARY Issue 2007 A Newsletter by Red Bear (Kevin Dubrow LCSW) Jan/Feb 2007* Dedicated to those who seek to be truly ALIVE Dubrow & Associates * 3640 Prairie Ave., Brookfield, IL 60513 * All calls to 708.387.1210 _____________________________________________________________________________ Slowness by Red Bear As the New Year begins, give daemon (your Self and Soul) the gift of slowness. In our culture, speed and busyness becomes a poison with slowness the antidote. Take one morning, one afternoon, one night or one whole day a week being slow. While it is of the utmost simplicity to be slow, you may find it a difficult challenge initially to become slowness. Being slow is not the same as being passive, numb and apathetic. Passivity, numbness and apathy are death and dying. While slowness is the path to being truly alive. Slowness is not an excuse for not living up to responsibilities, but a way to be alert, aware, mindful, energized and active in living up to responsibilities and being alive while doing them. (By the way, staring at screens doesn’t count in being slow and is not about slowness.) Perhaps, it is best to start with breathing slowly. Yes, breathing slowly, softly and smoothly. Do a simple exercise: while sitting or lying down in a quite space with a still body, take 10 very slow, soft, smooth, deep in breathes and out breathes. See how you feel. Now try 20 even slower, softer, smoother and deeper in breathes and out breathes. Congratulations, you have become slow. Remembering to start slowness with your breath is extremely helpful. Take an activity that you usually do at a very hurried pace while multitasking as well as being mental and emotionally harried and try doing it slowly. When I have been asked to teach about Zen, I usually begin by having people take 60 minutes to eat an orange. (One adult told me after doing this she had never tasted anything as good. A teenager told me that it was the best thing he had ever eaten.) I have suggested washing and drying the dishes very slowly; you’d be amazed at what people experience. Try drinking a glass of water or a cup of tea five times slower than you usually do. I have had been couples go on a very “Slow Date”. At many retreats, I have people go on slow walks and, sometimes, on very, very, very slow walks. Parents, I’d advised trying to be a slow parent and being slow with your children. Spouses, try being slow with your spouse. Teachers, try a to have a “slow class’ and teach your students about slowness. Social workers, psychologists, and therapist model, teach and be slow in sharing with those you seek to help. Beyond, slowness with your body and activity, develop a practice of slowness with your thinking and with your emotions. Slowness will help you to stop being reactive in fight and flight modes. Slowness will help you to uncover your true thoughts and true feelings as well as slow ways to best express them. Slowness is amazing in helping empty, heal and transform anger, rage, cynicism, judgment, despair and fear. Slowness lights the path to being alert, aware, mindful and heart-full. Slowness is vital and essential to being AWAKE. Slowness provides a channel for contentment to emerge. Slowness allows the stream of inspiration and river of creativity to flow into your being. Slowness provides a way to mature, develop, learn, grow and expand. Slowness leads to doing and being so much less in many ways that one needs to be less and so much more in ways that more is meaningful. It took me a very long time, to understand the value of slowness and, even a longer time, to be slow. Slowness has been a great gift in my life and I wanted to share that with you. I wish you all the best on your journey to being slow and breathing, thinking, emoting and acting slowly. |
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| One Key
by Red Bear In a book of great wisdom by Hays, Twelve and a Half Keys, it is shared that when one dies they go to the Gates of Heaven. If they have twelve and a half keys, they get in to Heaven. One of the Keys is to give GIFTS not presents. When I read this many years ago it had a profound impact on me. I followed the teachings and began giving GIFTS (not presents); this has become a guiding truth for me. As the Holiday Season flows joyfully or oozes painfully into each of our selective emotional memories, I’d like to share a bit about presents and GIFTS. |
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| At best, a present is something one gives that they feel the other wants. At worst, a present is something given because of obligation.
Sometimes, a present is given to create an impression. Sometimes, a present is given as a payback. Sometimes, a present is given because it is the thing you do because you have done it in the past. In a culture Lasch calls “unbridled savage capitalism” (The Culture of Narcissism), the spending of vast quantities of money on presents is vital and crucial to the whole economic system. Some sectors of the business and corporate world depend on the Christmas Present Buying Season for 60-80% of all revenues. If people stopped massive purchasing of presents during the Christmas Present Buying Season, our economy would fall apart. The Christmas Present Buying Season is the drug that helps fuel the buying, spending and consuming addiction that we have been conditioned and programmed to believe is giving. • A GIFT IS A SHARING OF YOUR SOUL WITH ANOTHER’S SOUL. When one gives a GIFT it may not be what the person wants or needs. I used to give a friend books for his birthday and Winter Solstice each year. I would choose books that my Soul wanted to share with his Soul. Each time, he would ask me to not give him any more books because he wasn’t going to read them. After several times of my giving books, he got angry with me. I told him the books were GIFTS and he could donate them to a library, give them to others or give them to a charity. Years later, he started reading the books and was very grateful. However, even if he never read the books, I would still have given him the GIFTS that my Soul wanted (needed) to share with him. I take great pride in the GIFTS I give. I give GIFTS with great humility. The GIFTS I give represent the sharing of my Soul. I make a vast, vast amount of my gifts. I ponder what Gifts I will give for many weeks and, sometimes, months. I never wait till the last minute or even the last week before I give a GIFT. I seek to have the making or finding of GIFTS meaningful and joyful. I find a meaningful way and time to give my GIFTS. The GIFTS I give must respect and honor my SOUL and be respectful and honoring of the other’s SOUL. I always sign my GIFTS because they come from my SOUL. I always write on the GIFT (or in a card) about how I feel about that human being. If it is a book, I write a meaningful message to them on the inside cover. If it is a GIFT in a picture frame, I write a message to that person on the frame’s back. I seek to make my GIFTS beautiful to share the Beauty of my Soul with the Beauty of their Soul. Through my actions in GIFT giving, I seek to guide one’s I LOVE to learn about giving GIFTS. Sometimes, this feels like a futile, uphill battle given this culture and its conditioning and programming. Sometimes, it makes me angry, frustrated, hurt and sad that people don’t know how or remember how to give GIFTS as well as not knowing how to receive Gifts. However, my heart and SOUL celebrates with great gratitude (MEEGWETCH) the many beautiful, meaningful and Loving GIFTS I am honored to be given and the beautiful, meaningful, loving ways my Gifts are received. I seek to have the KEY of GIFT GIVING that Hays teaches. I seek to teach others through my words and actions to have this ONE KEY too. |
Change by Tom Sitting Wolf Undine If I have a role in other people’s change it is to act as a catalyst I tell them about the roads they can go down I tell then what woods they should visit I tell them about places they have never been I give them a place to rest I provide a place to rethink their resistance to the Winds that awaits them once they leave I can be a mother’s calming voice of nurturance I can be a father’s firm slap of awakening As they visit my home towards their destinations I can offer an example of a seed in the river bed that germinates that grows its stalk that is pushed by currents that finally grows above the water that blooms _____________________________________ Tom Sitting Wolf Undine is a school social worker for two inner city charter schools and provides counseling and therapy for adolescents, their parents and families with Dubrow and Associates. • For help, call 708.387.1210 |
| A School Social Worker
by Tom Sitting Wolf Undine I am going to write this assuming that school social workers should even exist. I really don’t know, given the insanity that is this culture, if any sort of support structure works. So, I will write this as a response to the small circle of reality that happens to dictate my workplace. How would things be different in another culture? I would rather have 30 adults working with 1 teenager than 30 teenagers working with one adult. I would prefer a time when people didn’t think so highly of themselves and were more concerned about wisdom than money. I would also like to live in a time when certain things like being on time, respecting people older than you, and working hard were things that no needed to be asked to do, they just did them. I would like to say that a school social worker is working toward those things. But are they? Does the school were they are working at even want them to do so? What is a school social worker? I want to help kids. I want to provide them with one experience where they are nurtured by an adult and feel valued and respected. I want them to see that there is truly something different for them to become as adults rather then being numbed out-zombie- money hungry-ghosts. I want to show them that there are kind, loving, respectful, and honoring men. I want to provide them with the seeds of being meaningful human beings. Maybe they will take these seeds and plant them till a meaningful life blooms. I see the school social worker as having a unique position in a school. I am in schools to provide reaffirmation for teachers that they are human beings. To remind teachers when they lose sight of the truth that kids aren’t just students, but human beings too. I am in schools to stand up for kids and ensure that they are treated fairly and justly as well as treat others fairly and justly. I am in schools to give support to kids who have none. It is bizarre that such a job as a school social worker exists. Shouldn’t this be what every person does for children, teenagers, themselves and the school-as-a-whole; the school as a community human beings all seeking to share and learn. I often wonder if it is honorable to have a vocation trying to do what everyone needs to be doing, but has forgotten to do or even how to do, or is too busy to do, or doesn’t find it valuable to do. Perhaps, this is value of school social work. It allows me to journey, to discover, to be truly who I am, and, maybe, help other human beings because of it. |
| ~Ts’e Na’ashje’e’ ii Dabijini ~ Holy Spider Rock Woman
~at Canyon de Chelly ~ Arizona ~ October 2006 ~ by Red Bear Sign overlooking Spider Rock: The awesome monolith at your feet is Tse’ Na’ashjee ii---Spider Rock. Holy Spider Woman is an important deity in Navaho (Dineh) mythology. It was she who taught the People how to weave. There is purity and strength here. And places sacred to the People. Places strong in the oneness of earth and sky and of all things. “I am indeed its child. Absolutely I am earth’s child.” ---Navaho Song of the Earth That is what the sign says in English Spider Rock Woman: How could humans have it says it in Navaho too—it seems broken their strands of the web of creation more powerful and sacred in Navaho and life? How could humans have stopped weaving the rugs of creation and life each day when Grandfather Sun comes and In an immense canyon surrounded every night when Grandmother Moon comes? by enormous cliff walls in circles for miles and miles stands two sacred towers—my brain Spider Rock Woman: How could humans can’t fathom how they were created, have hurt, damaged and destroyed so much but my Soul opens to them…. of the webs of creation and life that isn’t theirs, but was a gift to be shared by all on the Earth Mother under Father Sky? Spider Rock Woman: This is how you weave Their cities and suburbs---their moneyed rugs. Watch closely as I will eternally witness culture and arrogant civilization---is a thin how you make each sacred rug. Each rug is thread of a tattered veil that is bad medicine the web of life as is each spider’s web. When and isn’t strong enough to weave onto the the People stop weaving rugs the web of life web of creation and life. I weep, laugh and will be broken. and pray for humans who have walked the path of no longer being in the web of creation and life in the future. Spider Rock Woman: I teach women how to weave. So men will learn that woman are the creators of life and makers of the web Spider Rock Woman: Oh hear me People. of life. When men cease to honor and Oh listen to me People. Weave the creation respect women the web of life will be broken. story again each day and night. Weave the web of life each day and night. I will witness what happens as I have done before their were Spider Rock Woman: At night, I travel People and as I will do when People no longer throughout the Four Sacred Mountains. walk the Earth Mother. Soon your thin threads I travel the whole circle web of the Earth Mother. will no longer be able to be woven into the I shake, weep, laugh and pray over what I see. web of creation and life and you will fall into The Great Mystery could never have imagined oblivion. Weave or die. Die or weave. I will the ignorance and stupidity of humans---the remain vigilant seeing what you do with the grandiosity and greed of humans—the meanness gifts you were to share, honor, respect and and hatred of humans—the anguish and despair Love. I will watch as I have done since the of humans. dawn of time when I found my home in the canyon of the Four Sacred Mountains on the Earth Mother under Father Sky. Ts’e Na’ashje’e’ ii Dabijini has spoken. |
| I started putting my rants in my newsletter awhile back at the suggestion of Desert Lizard, my Soul-Mate and wife, who loves my rants. Actually, I rant all the time…several a week. If you like my rants thank Desert Lizard…if not then make up your own rants. Make up your own rants anyway…they are very cleansing, cathartic and fun!
PUBLIC SPACE RANT by Red Bear Two words: PUBLIC SPACE. For the vast amount of ignorant oblivious people and the vast amount of arrogant narcissistic people in our culture, I will define PUBLIC SPACE. Public space is space that one shares with others. Let’s look carefully at this….therefore, public space is NOT the same as one’s toilet or bedroom or kitchen or living room…. that is private space. This seems quite simple. This seems quite clear. But oh no, to so so so so many idiots and morons they treat public space as their private space. Now why anyone would want to dishonor, disrespect, degrade and demean their private space is beyond me, but that is their concern. It becomes my concern, and all of our concerns, when creeps, idiots, arrogant and grandiose people decide that they can do whatever crap they wish in public space that they are suppose to share. I wish I had a magic ray gun that could instantly destroy cell phone, lap tops, boom boxes and other technological noise makers adored by this ADD 21st century that pollute public space; ok, maybe I’d slip once in awhile (or more) and zap those using their noise makers in obnoxious, loud, offensive and mean spirited manners in public space. I’d also like to remind a vast amount of people that they are NOT IMPORTANT and don’t need to communicate every thought and feeling the second they have it in megaphone voices to someone else in public…someone who probably isn’t listening anyway because they are loudly blabbing their own transitory and momentary thoughts and feelings. Since most people think on a very shallow, trivial if not profane level in our culture, there is even less reason to have to loudly vomit it to someone immediately. For decades I have shared that littering should be a felony and now I am almost driven to reversing my long standing truth that capital punishment is wrong and murder in order to allow litterers to receive capital punishment. (Not really, capital punishment is wrong.) When you are in a restaurant, believe it or not, no one is interested in hearing your booming voice blowing out meaningless words or your fake hyena laughter to show others you are having such a good time when you are really very depressed and despairing, or numb and dead. Look around you in a restaurant and perhaps you’ll notice that there are other people besides you there. I have great empathy and compassion for parents being a parent of three daughters for the past 24 years. However, if your kid is screaming, raving, weeping profusely, raging, having a temper tantrum or destroying everything in sight, you need to remove the child from public space. Parents who scream, rave, weep profusely, rage and have a temper tantrum in a public response to their child need a very long time out with this time out being far from public space. Insane people telling me that their religion must be mine or I will be severely punished by their all loving God should NOT be allowed in public space unless they get at least a Masters in World Religions and a Ph.D. in theology before they began yelling their insanities in public space. People who take up two parking spaces with their car need to be beheaded or short of that have their driver’s license taken away for several decades. On the subject of driving, road rage is NOT a good hobby, leisure time activity or career path. Whenever you are driving, you are in public space unless you own the road and then why don’t you just drive up and down screaming and threatening just on your private road. And what about people who need several minutes to make a right turn and a couple of hours to make a left turn…maybe all these people were jet pilots and they still think they are driving a jumbo jet. When did every square inch of public space become a giant advertisement? We are inundated and bombarded with endless, continual ads in every public space. Join me in boycotting every product that advertises till this ad pollution is brought under control. Pretty soon we will all be required to look as ridiculous, stupid and moronic as NASCAR drivers who have ads on their underwear, between their toes and fingers and under their eyelids. I am not a big fan of waiting in line, but when you are waiting in line you are in public space. Screaming, ranting and complaining like your body parts are on fire does NOT make the line move quicker and is polluting public space. What happened to common decency in public space? What happened to caring about others in public space? What happened to sensitivity, empathy and compassion in public space? Who stopped teaching about public space? Who stopped role modeling about public space? Friends who are teachers say their schools often resemble prison riots on a regular basis and passing periods in their schools war zones. How about when you cough, sneeze or yawn, you cover your mouth? More and more people are spraying crap into the public space from their orifices very day. I enjoy public displays of affection, but practically having sex in public space is wrong; seeing 12 year olds sucking and crawling over each other like leeches is not a pretty sight in public. Where are the parents? Do you notice in every rant I write, I ask where are the parents? Is this a red thread or what? No matter how brilliant some jerk decides they are there is no reason for them to be talking so loud it is like they are shouting into a microphone at an evangelical tent show. It seems to me the reason morons and idiots don’t know how to behave in public space is based on several basic truths: (1) a very exaggerated sense of ego importance with arrogance and grandiosity thrown in, (2) an inability to realize other people exist in the world, (3) very poor upbringing, (4) they watch a lot of bad music videos, TV, and movies and/or play a lot of video games, (5) they are morons and idiots and (6) all of the above. The intellectual and psychological underpinning would fall under the rubric of either (1) poor self-object relations, (2) degrees of narcissistic disorders, or (3) moron-idiot disorder. Perhaps there should be a new psychiatric diagnosis called INABILITY TO SHARE PUBLIC SPACE DISORDER then some monstrous, greedy pharmaceutical corporation could make a drug for it and make globs and globs of money. I suggest starting in preschool and going through postdoctoral fellowships there be required classes in sharing public space based on decency, honor, respect, sensitivity and compassion. If you don’t pass each class, you don’t graduate or least can’t drive or vote; though taking away voting wont effect a majority of people. I suggest that every American have to write an annual essay on how to share public space with decency, honor, respect, sensitivity and compassion; now this would require every American knowing how to write which wouldn’t be a bad idea either. If an essay didn’t get a passing grade, the person would have to be on homebound detention with only good books to read and no technological devices; this would promote reading, which would be a good idea too. Please refer to last month’s rant about MOVIES; otherwise, I’d have write about how movie theaters have become a cesspool of noise and obnoxious behaviors and take up your valuable time. Finally, a last note, my phone is private space as is my mailbox. Remember my magic ray gun? Well, I’d like to use my magic ray gun to zap every unwarranted telephone solicitor (especially the insane satellite dish calls and all the bogus prize winning calls) and junk mail sender. In conclusion, public space is shared space that requires respectful behavior….isn’t it ridiculous that this has to be stated? __________________________________________________________________________ With apologies to Tom Robbins (all your novels will always be sacred oracles of truth and wisdom to me and ones that have been a great Light on my journey), I just finished the best book I have ever read (and I’ve read, oh, over a thousand…no jest). I don’t think the book is in print, but many copies are available from bookstores or on-line sites. Run, don’t walk, and read TEX AND MOLLY IN THE AFTERLIFE by Richard Grant. I tried to read this book three times and couldn’t get into it. Thanks (Meegwetch) Desert Lizard who read the book twice in a row and “made” me read it. What a gift to have a Soul-Mate that is you! After I read it, we discussed the book for hours. I was amazed, delighted, laughing and oohing and aahing as I read the book. I cried with joy and sorrow as the novel ended, but, in my psyche and Soul, I don’t see this book as ever ending for me. Give your Self and Soul the GIFT of reading this novel!!!! __________________________________________________________________________ Canyon de Chelly ~ from the Four Corners ~ by Red Bear Each rock face a story telling of creation Told in stillness that moves in winds of silence Old, elder, ancient sounds come from within in an ancestral language long forgotten yet the Voice can’t be denied by the ears of bones in the ruins of the heart the dwelling place of that which is Sacred where dawns and sunsets rise and fall eternally Grandfather Sun, the Magician of Light, engages Grandmother Moon, the Healer of Dark, embraces The human visitor is invited to enter each rock wall to die in each cave to be reborn in each crevice This is my first time in this place yet this space is Home more so than my house address Here I am overwhelmed yet content in awe yet peaceful taken by forces that must remain a mystery not spoken though if one listens there is a holy whisper abounding Here nowhere to go nobody and no body to be rings true as does time being a Circle How wondrous that my brain doesn’t work here as it isn’t needed as the Canyon obliviates the ego and its pennyworth personas Amazingly there is but one color here maybe two or three colors till the explosion of sight with more hues then there are numbers Amazingly there is a purity of silence till the explosion of hearing with more deep sounds then can be explained My head is totally still yet moves and moves to take in this Canyon till my stiff necks begs rest I play a game with this Canyon a game that pleads to be a sacred ritual and a holy ceremony as I seek to take each rock and the whole Canyon inside of me as if it could all fit and somehow it does This game is a vital, crucial necessity an essential undertaking ‘cause when I return to my daily life in the modern civilized culture that devours minds and Souls oh how I will need these rocks this Canyon inside of me to be within me to guide me to teach me to heal me to be me __________________________________________________________________________ Canyon de Chelly Tour by Red Bear To have a vivid imagination at 53 is no easy feat To allow your imagination to run amok at 53 is absurd and ridiculous So as I travel through Canyon de Chelly it must be my vivid imagination running amok how ridiculous and absurd I see so many bear faces—bears and bear spirits—in the rocks so many birds—eagles---deities—kachinas—energies—vibrations—Spirits I hear sounds from the rocks---voices---voices in the wind--- voices in the trees---voices in the leaves---voices in the water--- voices in the Earth---voices in the Sky My companions on the tour seem unaffected for over six hours My Soul-Mate seems the only one touched as she is in her own space Our Navaho guide is a nice man trying to be funny and entertaining thoroughly modern as he busily drives the 1950s Korean made 6 wheel drive vehicle through unmarked terrain I ask about medicine and he gives a polite answer returning to his work which he feels fortunate to have as there is much financial poverty here and more sadly perhaps as much spiritual poverty The next day overlooking the Canyon de Chelly with Spider Rock being the Center of the Universe again my vivid imagination runs amok So much energy—so many vibrations---so many voices so much stillness—so much silence---so much movement so many sounds---so many Spirits The language I’ve been taught can’t capture what I’m experiencing It isn’t my imagination that is running amok It is coming from somewhere much older and deeper There are messages here being sent through my intuition that is heard within me that opens me up that won’t allow me to ever be closed __________________________________________________________________________ The Yang and Yin of Parenting by Red Bear The mother or father on a parental journey seeks to balance the Yang and Yin of Parenting. This is a challenging balancing act. It requires the parent to be alert, aware, AWAKE, mindful and heart-full in each present moment of interacting and sharing with their children. The Yang of Parenting involves STRUCTURE. Every parent must seek to set a firm, consistent, fair, evolving structure that recognizes the needs, abilities, strengths, weaknesses and limitations of each child as well as their own. With a firm, consistent and fair structure, the child gets a clear message from their parent. Surely, a message they will, at times, rebel against and, overall, learn from. Of course, there is a time for flexibility within the Yang Structure of Parenting. However, too much lee way and the structure is a joke that falls apart when conflicts, problems and issues arise….and they will. When there is a lack of a firm and fair structure that is consistently maintained and enforced, there is disarray and disorder that leads to undue stress, tension and anxiety for the parent and child as well as for the entire family (and especially for the marriage). Further when a firm, consistent and fair structure is missing, the parent-child relationship can go into a fast fall into depression, despair, anger, rage and abuse. However, a too rigid, harsh and punitive structure also leads to stress, tension, and anxiety then to depression, despair, anger, rage and abuse. Despite what the parenting “experts” and the self-help “magic” solution books proclaim, there is NO one structure that will work with every child. (Is it not true that the only expert on parenting either have no children or is an expert for others as parents and as a parent themselves is not an expert?) There needs to be a structure set that is constantly changing and growing throughout the life cycle of the child, parent, marriage and family. Marriages MUST work together to provide a firm, consistent and fair evolving structure; unfortunately, it rare for marriages to work together on Yang Structure in parenting which leads to rampant problems for the child, the marriage, the family and each parent as an individual. A Yang Structure in Parenting must be strong and just not rigid and harsh. A Yang Structure in Parenting must consistently enforce consequences without being punitive and mean. A Yang Structure in Parenting seeks to never use humiliation, shame, guilt or degradation. A Yang Structure in Parenting seeks to provide a clear path for the child to live by that is based on good morals, values, ethics, truth, meaning, wisdom, kindness and Love. The Yin of Parenting goes beyond structure and being the financial provider, chauffeur, disciplinarian, traffic cop, judge and rules enforcer. The Yin of Parenting is flowing, rooted and grounded in nourishing and nurturing the child throughout the life cycle as a human being…. as a humane being. The Yin of Parenting involves keeping communication flowing in the best and worst of time; this involves true hearing and listening as well as truthful speaking. The Yin of Parenting focuses on the child’s mind and behavior, but, more significantly, on the child’s heart and Soul. The Yin of Parenting is parenting that is open, soft, receptive, compassionate, kind, empathetic and Loving. With the Yin of Parenting, the parent seeks to have a true relationship with their child. Parents can NOT become a peer friend to their child as this is a huge error that leads to many, many problems and issues. However, the Yin of Parenting guides the parent to being an elder who can also be a buddy and a friend. With humility and pride, my daughters and I have built a Yin buddy and friend relationship where I am 53 years old and they are 16, 22, and 24 years old. This is also true with my stepdaughters who ate 16 and 14 years old. It takes a lot of work and, sometimes, falls apart then has to be rebuilt…over and over again. Getting caught up in the terrible, horrible game of parenting being mostly or solely focused on the child’s outer success and the child getting ready for future financial independence blocks, thwarts and negates the Yin of Parenting. Parenting focused on outer outcome, objectives and goals can’t enter the space of Yin Parenting. In the best, truest meaning of the word, parenting is CHAOS. In the Chaos of parenting, the child’s life, the marriage, the family and the lives of the parents as individual adults, there is a constant, evolving journey to balance the Yang and Yin of Parenting. Sometimes, it seems impossible and, other times, it flows wondrously. The Vision is to balance the Yang and Yin of Parenting. __________________________________________________________________________ Since 1980, Kevin Red Bear Dubrow LCSW has offered programs, seminars, workshops and talks on parenting on a wide variety of themes and topics. He has offered his own programs as well as being a workshop presenter to parents and support staffs at schools: he has been a keynote speaker at Parent Universities. Although he is NOT a parenting expert (well, he was a parenting expert until he started being a parent 24+ years ago), he offers truth, meaning, wisdom and Love he has learned from his journey as a parent and working with parents for over 30 years. Red Bear also offers workshops on over 40 topic/themes. He offers mentorship for adults (parents and marriages too), young adults and adolescents. Call 708.387.1210. __________________________________________________________________________ WINTER SOLSTICE by Red Bear ~ At this year’s Winter Solstice Gathering, everyone brought delicious, beautiful food that we joyfully share together. This year we had four hours (wow!) of entertainment…there was singing, dancing, skits, readings and comedy. What amazing talent and what joy! After the entertainment, while ringing bells, we headed outside to an evergreen tree to place ornaments upon it. We each shared something we needed to empty this Winter and a Vision for Spring rebirthing. I also shared this poem. ~ Winter Solstice The shortest day of the year Reminding us that life is a fleeting gift To be cherished and celebrated To be respected and honored with gratitude and humility Winter Solstice brings on the Season of Endings Reminding us of all we have received and given All we have joyfully lost All the losses we grieve and mourn All we must let go of, surrender, empty So we can be reborn in Spring Winter Solstice is the Season of the North, the inner world Reminding us that our lives are but the bearer of our Self and Soul It is our Self and Soul that brings us to Aliveness Winter Solstice is a time for People to Gather around the warm communal fires Reminding us in true community---in true sangha--- there is the pain of conflict to learn from and the warmth of connection and Love to rejoice with Winter Solstice is a the Womb time of the future New Birth of Spring Yet has a Beauty all is own Reminding us There is beauty below us There is beauty above us There is beauty surrounding us There is beauty within us There is a womb to birth beauty within us As we have trust and faith Winter’s Dying will be the harbinger of Spring rebirthing Winter Solstice is a time of Grandmother’s Winter Moon and Grandfather’s Winter Sun is a time the Ancients and Ancestors are very close, very close to us is a time to be in, of, with the 7 Directions and the One Reminding us, reminding us, remindings us |
ENTERING THE ORACLE: AN I CHING JOURNEY Guided by Red Bear ~ Red Bear’s Office Saturday, March 3rd, 2007, 3 pm - Midnight Jungian Night 2007 Adventures in Self & Soul Workshops in honor of Morton Mintz Cost: $160 includes materials, workshop, dinner, refreshments and ???? NOTE: ONLY 12 People can attend. Deadline to register is 1/31/07 For more information or to register: Call 708.387.1210 or e-mail at redbear@redbearsjourney.com ___________________________________________________________________________ Sacred Intuition Visionquest Sedona arizona May 16-20, 2007 ~ Guides: Red Bear & Desert Lizard ~ See future newsletters on this Website for further information and how to register. A limited number of questors will go on this amazing experience. __________________________________________________________________________ Your feedback, questions, thoughts, feelings, senses or intuitions about this newsletter or anything on the website is always appreciated. Call 708.387.1210. Write (which I still do a lot and greatly prefer to anything but in person communication) Red Bear, Dubrow & Associates, 3640 Prairie Avenue, Brookfield, IL 60513. E-mail at redbear@redbearsjourney.com. Your kind support of the mentoring, therapy, training, workshops, retreats and more that make up my vocation is always very much appreciated with profound gratitude (Meegwetch). If you haven’t, take a SLOW stroll on the website to see what I do and BE. Namaste’, Red Bear __________________________________________________________________________ Spring 2007 Intensive Training Seminar May 4th, 2007 * 8:30am to 3pm Jungian Wisdom in Working With Teenagers: An Approach for Depthful Change and Growth ~ Workshop leader and Manual written by Kevin Red Bear Dubrow LCSW ~ Registration material will be in the March 2007 Red Bear’s Journey Newsletter (will be posted on this website) or call 708.387.1210 for early registration information. Note: A maximum of eight people can attend this workshop to maximize learning and sharing. School social workers, counselors, psychologists, special education educators and helping professional in other settings are all welcome. The workshop will be valuable for those new to Jungian wisdom and those who want to deepen their understanding and practice with Jungian wisdom. • This workshop is also available to be offered at your school or agency. Call 708.387.1210. |