Stoners of a Painfully Different Ilk

Ironic, isn't it, that the two states in the U.S. that have legalized marijuana are on opposing sides in Super Bowl XLVIII. Regardless of how you feel about "Mary Jane," you should check out Bruce Barcott's feature in the Jan. 31, 2014 issue of "Rolling Stone" magazine. 'Tis indeed thought-provoking. My Jan. 23 community column in "The Fort Collins Coloradoan" may not blow your mind, but I hope it will enlighten nonetheless. Click on the link below to hear what I mean:





"Go, Broncos!"

Small Town Support is the Cure

Children aren't supposed to get the Big C, and yet, they do. Click on the link below to hear how a cool kid in a close-knit Colorado community is coping, as I wrote in my Dec. 26, 2103 monthly column for The Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper:





I hope your Christmas was made merrier than ever, thanks to those you love. Here's to a beautifully bountiful 2014!

Giving Thanks for the Arts

We who call Fort Collins, CO "home" have so much for which to be thankful. Being recognized as a community that supports the arts, and one wherein the arts flourish and nourish, is high on my 2013 Gratitude List. I handpicked an insider to feature in my Thanksgiving Day column in The Coloradoan, and I invite you to click on the 3:23 link below to hear all about it:






Wendy Ishii is amazing, as is the play based on Joan Didion's book. Put it on your must see/read list...trust me, you'll eat it up!

"The Year of Magical Thinking" starts NOW.

Charting a responsible course in government and elsewhere

Why is it so hard to get others to take responsibility and just do what needs to be done when it seems to be the obvious route to a better reality? Click on the link below to hear how Fort Collins resident Dean Miller intends to us in the U.S. rolling along more responsibly by starting at the top as published in my Oct. 24, 2013 column in the Coloradoan newspaper:
                                                                                                                

What is responsibility but our ability to respond to whatever comes our way in the most positive way possible. It certainly makes traffic flow along better and more smoothly.

Read on to see Dean Miller's work, and thank you for checking in on mine.

                                                                                                                C. Dean Miller, Ed. D.

                                                                                                                Emeritus Professor of Psychology

                                                                                                                    Colorado State University

                                                                                                                Fort Collins, CO 80525

April 11, 2013

Mr. Barack Obama

President

United State of America

The White House

Washington, D. C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

                I wish to thank you for your leadership, vision of what we need to become as a nation, and openness to new ideas and change.

                I was second born in 1929 to a family of 10 children in Western Kansas.  My memories of the dust bowl, depression, standing in line for commodities and World War II are still vivid.  My father was a laborer who worked in lead zinc mines until his health broke and he became a truck driver and then a custodian.  He taught me the love and importance of working hard.  I graduated from high school at the age of 16, spent one year on active duty then several years in the reserves. 

                Since I retired from Colorado State University I have continued teaching classes on Aging Well for approximately eight years.  The last four years I have assisted with and participated in classes for people diagnosed with dementia and Alzheimer's.  Growing old is not for sissies.

                I wish to thank you for your leadership, vision of what we need to become as a nation, and openness to new ideas and change.  I have a responsibility to support you and others in the Executive and Legislative Branches of our government.

                I personally believe we both share a desire to greatly improve our country's ability to solve complex and recurring problems.  The enclosed draft of a Bill of Responsibilities reflects my interests in helping to resolve the problems our country faces.

Respectfully Submitted,

C. Dean Miller

Enclosure

cc.  Mrs. Michelle Obama, Senator Mark Udahl; Senator Michael F. Bennett; Representative Cory Gardner; Mr. Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader; John Boehner, Speaker of the House; Governor John Hickenlooper, Mr. Alan Simpson               

Bill of Responsibilities

                As a member of Congress you are to represent all citizens and not just your party or special interests which support you financially or in other ways.

                You have been elected to promote not only the welfare and well being of all citizens but also the well being of all who inhabit the earth.  You are expected to become an expert problem solver who can learn to collaborate and cooperate with leaders of diverse and different historical backgrounds to solve both complex and recurring problems.  You have a moral and ethical responsibility to become an expert problem solver. 

                The first week of each new session of Congress shall be spent learning more about the paradigms that have been developed to successfully solve complex and long standing problems.

                Selecting leaders to head the various committees in both the Senate and House of Representatives can no longer be based on seniority alone.  Evidence of the ability to foster respect, collaboration and solving complex problems needs to be paramount in selecting committee chairpersons and other leaders.  One of the crucial considerations in selecting leaders is to identify individuals who have the experience, ability and maturity to foster interactions which promote development of consensus.

                At the beginning of each new session some time needs to be spent on reviewing the effects and intentions of both "positive" and "negative" framing.  Members of Congress need to be knowledgeable about "framing" which is constructive and "framing" which is destructive.

                Members of Congress are making decisions which channel large amounts of assets to individuals, corporations, and countries.  There is a construct called "enabling".  Enabling is a process that involves attempting to help someone or a business, or a corporation in such a way that the individual, or corporation is enabled to continue the maladaptive practices or behaviors.  The assumption is without the "outside" help the individual, corporation or country would fail.  Enabling is "helping" in such a way that the maladaptive behaviors are reinforced and continue.

                Members of Congress will have to include an assessment of the extent to which "enabling" exists in the help proposed to some entity.

                When ideology trumps science and reason, confusion and conflict will reign. 

C. Dean Miller, Ed. D.

Emeritus Professor of Psychology

    Colorado State University

Fort Collins, CO 80525                                 

Flood forced us to stop

I was listening to NPR early Monday evening when most of Colorado was tuned into the Broncos-Raiders game. A rancher was telling listeners about how his field was under 7-feet of water. This was land cows grazed - or used to. When this Weld County man talked about losing several of his livestock - the herd was forced to tread water for much of the day - well, I did what any cattleman's daughter would do. I cried. Click on the link below to hear some other thoughts about the latest disaster to hit northern Colorado as published in the Sept. 26, 2103 Fort Collins Coloradoan:




I've heard some call this unnatural natural event the Great Flood of 2013. "Great" doesn't quite do it, does it? What happened here, starting on Friday the 13th, is beyond words.

Celebrating angels like Ellie

As wildfires continue to rage throughout the western U.S., northern Coloradans continue the recovery process from the 2012 High Park Fire. What a difference a year a makes! And then again, for those in the literal direct line of fire, it will often seem like yesterday. Here's the story of one survivor named Ellie, as I wrote in the Aug. 22, 2013 Fort Collins Coloradoan:



Oh, Ellie! Methinks I, too, have fallen for you.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer vacationing old-style

I'm revamping my ill feelings toward camping, as I shared with Coloradoan readers in my monthly community column on July 25, 2013. Click on the 3:09 link below to hear all about it:

Sure hope tramping through Europe is next on the list. Wouldn't that be sick, as the youth today would say! Thanks for visiting, and enjoy your summer vacation!