The Christmas Family
Christmas is a stressful time. Presents, food, social activities.
Most significantly, it is a time for family.
And that is not always easy.
This blog explores what can make Christmas a difficult time in family life.
The roles that we have in families become heightened at Christmas time and can cause tension.
The 2011 film Arthur Christmas is a good guide for seeing this tension in a very exaggerated context.
Love: The Struggle of Every Man
The drive for financial security is ingrained in the male personality. This drive is well-meaning. It is there biologically so that men will overcome pain to provide for those they love.
Unfortunately, the drive for financial security can overpower the motive of love and become self-serving.
The film The Family Man dramatises this struggle. A successful man on Wall Street sees the life he could have had with a loving family.
The film is appropriately set at Christmas time. A time when the stress between family and material wealth is at its peak.
Do we need another hero?
Heros; do they play a constructive role for us today or are they just wasteful distractions?
When you consider the prevalence of heroes through out time we have to acknowledge there seems to be an inherent need for them in our psyche.
Do they provide us with an inspiration to overcome our own obstacles? Are they a role model for us to achieve greatness in our own lives? Do they provide hope when all else seems lost?
Nurture your Inner Child
Relieving childhood fun does not mean you become a child again. It does not mean you abandon all adult responsibility and common sense.
Reliving childhood fun does mean you are alowing yourself to remember what was good in your youth. You are recharging your batteries to deal with your adult realities.
there can also be healing in remembering that your youth was not all bad.
Indiana Jones and the Idol of Eternal Youth
When is old too old? The perceptions of the last Harison ford Indiana Jones film were that Ford was too old to play the role. According to our cherished memories, yes, he was.
But why can’t we let our heroes grow old?
Do we hold to a belief of eternal youth that is offended when we see our action heroes become slow and weak?
Surely we can believe, as Indy did, that there’s life in the old dog still?
When Humanity goes Ape
Has humanity evolved from being the hero to becoming the vilan in recent years? In my view the planet of the Apes films reflect that it is now appropriate to say they have.
Has our perception of ourselves as a race become more muddied and negative over the decades. If so Apes films still present a view of humanity that is hopeful.
Good Will Hunting
A discussion of how the film Good Will Hunting represents the work of counseeling. How does it effect your motivation to consider counselling for yourself?
Does Good Will Hunting present a positive or negative view of how counselling works?