The birds, the bees, and the fear of sex 8 November 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Sexuality , No Comments I can still vividly remember the place where my father took me aside, some time in 1976, for the obligatory ‘birds and bees’ talk that all teenagers faced back then. It was a […]
Hessa – my first experience of porn 6 November 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Pornography , No Comments I can see the place now, the place I had my first experience of porn. A terraced hillside in southern Switzerland, right down in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. The hillside once grew grapes, which […]
How to develop your ‘inner observer’ 28 October 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: How-to & step-by-step , No Comments By definition, unconscious shame is invisible. The first step towards releasing it is developing the capacity to observe it—awakening our inner Observer, sometimes also known as our inner Witness. What, or who, is our […]
What is generational trauma? 26 October 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Cornerstones , Generational trauma , 1 Comment Generational trauma is unresolved trauma and shame genetically inherited from your mother or father through epigenetic inheritance. It surfaces as disempowering feelings and behaviours that make no sense in the context of the life of the […]
Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell – a rock opera on patriarchy 29 September 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Arts , Patriarchy , No Comments Some years ago I wrote how Pink Floyd’s 1979 epic double album The Wall was a complex 26-song cycle about patriarchy and its institutionalised sexual shame. I don’t know […]
If you’re failing at success, then succeed at failure 28 September 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Emotional principles , No Comments I’ve read some dumb-ass motivational statements in my time. One of my favourites is: “To succeed, simply outlast failure.” It sounds wonderfully and deceptively simple. Just keep going. You’ll get there. Failure […]
Unporn – a new take on sexual shame 21 September 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Shame , No Comments “Our world is becoming increasingly visual. Yet, when it comes to the visual expression around sexual subjects, we’re limited to medical diagrams and porn.” So writes Mikael Cho, Founder/CEO of the excellent free stock photo […]
You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps 18 September 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Emotional principles , No Comments I am standing at the lip of a chasm. I would like to tell you that my back faces the chasm—that I have just crossed it. But no, the chasm stands before […]
Everything you desire lies outside your comfort zone 30 June 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Emotional principles , No Comments I know. It’s not what you wanted to hear. We all have desires, and we all like to think that they are almost within reach. Yet some of our desires simply stay almost […]
Life isn’t fair – but it is impartial 23 June 2018 Posted by: Michael H Hallett Category: Emotional principles , No Comments A man crouches in a field of glowing grass. His head is bowed, his face concealed by a wide-brimmed hat. Is he having a moment of blissful, peaceful community with nature—or is he […]