Evocateur – Page 13 – a blog by John P. Schuster

The Biggest Gainer

February 21, 2011 John Schuster Self development

There is a popular show about the biggest weight loser—a psycho-drama of will and exercise, in which the viewer participates in the participants’ struggles and efforts. It concerns repairing our lives through a new attitude toward, not just food and our bodies, but our lives and our purpose and our worth. If I created a reality show it would be “The Biggest Gainer.” It would follow the real-life dilemmas of people, not fighting their weight,[…]

Either it is a both/and moment,
or it is not?

February 14, 2011 John Schuster Self development

Sometimes language fails us. And sometimes it points precisely and beautifully to the very paradox that we must ride out in order to enlarge our view of the world. Is this a both/and moment for you, or not? ‘Cause it either is or isn’t, isn’t it? Image above Some rights reserved by chelmsfordblue

I am in charge—NOT!

February 7, 2011 John Schuster Leadership, Self development

At times, we need to be in charge and be decisive. At other times, and just as often, we need to ride it out and surrender. Life is a series of lessons on discerning which strategy to employ at any particular time, for any particular dilemma. Our culture favors being in charge, of course. And this works for about half the time, and especially in the ascendant part of adulthood. Then, there is the other[…]

Question for the day

January 31, 2011 John Schuster Self development

Question for the day: have you said too many yeses or too many nos in your life? Have you bought-in too much to our commercial culture, or have you gone too far the other way? And it may depend on what issue, of course. Carl Jung said it this way: Man can suffer only a certain amount of culture without injury. By “too much culture” he doesn’t mean too much Beethoven or Picasso. Jung is[…]

“How have I contributed?” vs blame and denial

January 24, 2011 John Schuster Self development

When the gunman in Arizona took lives and attacked Gabby Giffords, it was inevitable that the political arguments would ensue. Imagine if a union member had shot an elected Tea Party official; the right would likely have blamed the left. We all know what the argument is now, with use of cross hairs and the atmosphere of contempt being questioned, and individual blamelessness being declared. No matter the issue these days, when a wrong happens,[…]

Have you hugged a paradox recently?

September 29, 2010 John Schuster Self development

We need more wondering and less pontificating. One problem with the media today: almost zero dialogue and listening. PBS’s Charlie Rose looks like he wants to learn something and Larry King (bye Larry) seemed genuinely curious. So many of the rest are about talking points, or making fun of worthy opponents’ worst ideas. What is the level of your thinking recently? Have you gotten confused by the social experiment called democracy−how can we have individual[…]

Your Past Holds Some Secrets to Your Purpose

July 22, 2010 John Schuster Self development

The question of life purpose was in the air for the last several years. Now, in a recession, when people are questioning the hard push on careers that have stalled, or where already shaky loyalty to the company has been further damaged with drastic cost-cutting moves, purpose and meaning is still much in the air. “Purposes reveal themselves in many ways, often showing up as an insult to our ego and the very thing that[…]

Let’s Embrace a Post-greed Era

July 22, 2010 John Schuster Sustainability

I will never forget this conversation. I was on a tennis court in northern Indiana with a friend of the family, back about 1990, when the arguments for the flawlessness of free markets over the stupidity of government were being won across the globe. Communism was collapsing and we all thought the markets were the best bet going. This friend, racket in hand, looked at me and gave me his basic formulation of the choice[…]