2022

Is it possible to just ‘fake it’ and act like you are applying the Law of Attraction? What do you think? The Law of Attraction is a simple concept: whatever you focus on in your life, and however you feel about things, will send a vibration out to the Universe that the Universe will match in like vibrations and bring back to you what you have been focusing on. Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? Until you begin to apply it and you realize how the logical mind takes over and doesn’t want to focus on what you want. It wants to focus on the worst case scenario or the fear and worry of what you don’t have, but by focusing on the negative, the Universe brings negative back to you through the Law of Attraction. Is the Universe some mean entity that brings you negative? No, the Universe loves you and supports you in everything that you do and is on automatic when it comes to what it brings to you through vibration. Whatever you vibrate out comes back to you in some form… always. So the question is: if you are a negative person who is attempting to switch to the more positive side of life can you trick the LOA by using reverse psychology? Would it work like Tom Sawyer whitewashing the fence? Tom Sawyer didn’t want to paint the fence but he acted as if he loved it so all his friends wanted to join in painting the fence because Tom used reverse psychology. Could you pretend you love something and focus on it when in fact you really feel the lack of what you want? Could you trick the LOA into thinking you were focusing on the joy of the want? Absolutely not. The Universe knows you better than you know yourself. When you act as if you are wealthy but don’t believe it will happen that is exactly what will come back into your life over and over again until you make the decision to change your thoughts and feelings on wealth. You have to change within in order for the Law of Attraction to work in your life the way that you want it to. The Law of Attraction is working all the time in your life. It just may not be exactly how you want it to work. You may be focusing on the lack of what you don’t have or the negative of your life and the Universe is bringing you what you are focusing on no matter what you think. There is no discrimination with the Universe. It is just answering your call that you are sending out. Using reverse psychology will not further your efforts in the Law of Attraction. You have to work on yourself. The more honest work you do within, the more you will break down obstacles that seem to be in your way of getting what you desire. Tricking the Universe will only bring you more trickiness. Dig deep within your own self, change those repetitive mental patterns that you don’t need anymore, and create new thoughts and feelings that will reflect the life that you want. You don’t have to use reverse psychology to get what you want. Just work on who you want to be and the Universe will match your vibration with the Law of Attraction. Source by Beth Mccain

In this article, we’ll be taking a look at the most basic aspects of Design Psychology, first asking a question, and then addressing the various concepts, in abbreviated form. “I wish I had learned all this before we bought our first house 25 years ago, and before we had our children. Not only would our homes be more harmonious, but so would our lives together. It’s amazing to learn how colors, lighting, sounds, and patterns affect us so deeply.” -Angela Pederson, Palm Desert, California What are the basic fundamentals of Design Psychology? Lighting & our psychological responses to light Color & psychology Patterns & reactions Textures & the sense of touch Scale & human response Styles, themes & desirable effects Ethnic traditions & the importance of heritage Furniture & arrangement for human comfort Sounds & repercussions Scents & sentiments Embellishments & emotional undercurrents How can Design Psychology help me? It can help you: Select from the mass confusion of home furnishings. Decorate your home right the FIRST time. Save time, effort, and money. Find out which colors, patterns, furniture, and accessories support happy feelings. Learn about lighting and color psychology, and the underlying emotional effects of your home’s design details. Discover how Mother Nature can guide your home decorating, to create an environment that’s perfect for your emotional needs. What Design Psychology ideas could I use to best create an environment that would support my emotions? Lighting is the crucial design element for happiness. Using Color Psychology without fear supports joyful living. Happy warm colors need cooling balance, in order to maintain harmony. Color, when used as a background, needs to flatter individuals. All of your senses should be considered when creating your Overall Design Plan. There you have it; Design Psychology in a nutshell. The concepts are unique and powerful, and can help you create a home that’s perfect for joyful living. (c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved. Source by Jeanette Joy Fisher

The 6 statuses (stages) that emerge in sequence and reflect abandonment of racism, according to the White Racial Identity Development Model (Helms) are Contact, disintegration, pseudo-independence, immersion-emersion, and autonomy. According to the White Racial Identity Development Model, people at the Contact status of identity development usually have limited contact with people of color, are oblivious to their own whiteness, and are unaware of the implications of racial differences. In the Disintegration status of the White Racial Identity Development Model, Whites experience increasing awareness of their whiteness and of racial inequalities due to increased cross-racial interactions, leading to emotional, psychological, and moral confusion. Whites resolving their conflicts by adopting the position that their race is superior and minorities inferior, all in an attempt to justify existing inequalities, characterize the Reintegration status of the White Racial Identity Development Model. According to the White Racial Identity Development Model, Pseudo-Independence is marked by dissatisfaction with reintegration, leading Whites to re-examine their beliefs about race and racial inequalities. Whites at the Immersion-Emersion status of the White Racial Identity Development Model embrace their whiteness without rejecting minority group members, and they explore feeling proud about their own race without being racist. Autonomy is a status of the White Racial Identity Development Model is marked by the internalization of a non-racist White identity based on an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of White culture, as well as valuing and seeking cross-racial relationships. The Model of Psychological Nigrescence (Cross)- nigrescence means “the process of becoming black” assumes that African-American identity development becomes more authentic as they go through the following 5 stages: pre-encounter, encounter, immersion/emersion, internalization, and internalization/commitment. During the Pre-encounter stage of the Model of Psychological Nigrescence, a person is most likely to believe integration and assimilation will solve racial problems and tend to blame African-Americans themselves for their own problems. The Encounter stage of the Model of Psychological Nigrescence is marked by a personal or social event that temporarily dislodges the person from their worldview, making them more receptive to a new interpretation of their identity. When a person denigrates White people and culture while simultaneously deifying African-America people and culture, they are most likely in the Immersion-Emersion stage, according to the Model of Psychological Nigrescence. The Internalization stage of the Model of Psychological Nigrescence is characterized by ideological flexibility, psychological openness, and self-confidence, and involves a resolution of conflicts between old and new world views.According to the Model of Psychological Nigrescence, a person who translates their newly internalized identity into activities that are meaningful to the group, such as social and political activism, is in the Internalization-Commitment stage. Healthy cultural paranoia is a term used to describe appropriate mistrust and suspiciousness of African-Americans and other minorities toward whites resulting from racism and oppression. In therapy, it may be a cause of nondisclosure. If a white therapist suspects their African-American client’s unwillingness to disclose is due to “healthy cultural paranoia,” the therapist should, according to Ridely, Help the client become consciously aware of their feelings about whites and identify when it is safe to self-disclose. Source by Herb Leibacher

Have you ever thought about what causes a guy to fall in love? Do you wonder why guys never fall in love with you? Would you like to know how to make a guy fall in love with you? Are you ready to take control of your love life? The secret to winning a man’s heart is understanding how men think about love. This introduction to male psychology will help explain what causes a guy to fall in love so you can start working towards making a guy fall in love with you! 1) Friendship lies at the heart of every lasting relationship. Love isn’t simply about physical attraction. Love really isn’t about having something in common with a guy or connecting over common interests either. True love is about being so comfortable with another person that you’re able to be yourself with them. True love is about being able to share your own feelings and about being able to understand his. True love is about appreciating the company of another person under any circumstance, in times of happiness or sorrow, in times of ease or strife. For a man, true love is all about intimate friendship, and so the best way to make a guy fall in love with you is to learn how to be his friend. 2) All men want to fall in love with a woman they admire and respect. We’re not talking about beauty or appearance here, we’re talking about ambitions. Guys are naturally ambitious creatures. No man wants to be insignificant. They are driven towards accomplishment, towards achievement, towards success. Men want to win every game they play, and no game is more important for a man than the game of life. Consequentially, men tend fall in love with women who have a passion for success. This doesn’t have to be material success. Your ambition could manifest itself as a desire to raise a wonderful family or a desire to make the most out of life. If you take your own ambitions seriously, a man will draw inspiration from you, and the deep level of admiration associated with inspiration is one of those things that causes a guy to fall in love. 3) Stand behind your principles. Defend what you believe. Although your submission may turn a man on, only respect can cause a guy to fall in love. If you are strong as a woman, men will draw strength from your strength, and the feelings of empowerment you give them will endear you to them more than anything else you can offer. They won’t just look up to your or think of you as their equal, they will think of you as an ideal to aspire to, as someone they need to prove themselves worthy of. It’s a need to be a better man that really causes a man to fall in love, and if you can inspire him toward greatness by setting an example of greatness, you can win his heart forever. Source by Tina L. Jones

On what it means to really “like” something and the types of “likes” or liking. So, you log in to your Facebook or other social media profile and see something. Within seconds you give a “like”. So what is the meaning of these “likes”, the billions of likes that social media seem to have collected? Liking something on social media or the virtual world is primarily different from liking something offline or in a real world. You like something on social media, primarily to share the idea or comment with friends. Liking something in the real world may not have this immediate social connotation because you may go shopping and like a handbag and there is no one else to share it with, so you just buy it to show it to others. In some cases, you may like things but may not buy or like a place that you want to visit in the future. So how do we analyze “liking”? Liking and likes can be divided into several categories including social like. possessive like, aesthetic like, familiarity like, novelty like and agreement like. Social Liking – This is primarily based on your social needs to share something and may overlap with agreement liking or possessive liking. But in this case, the genuine motivation to like something is triggered by the need to share it with friends and relatives. So the likes you click on social media is a social like and you appreciate something because you want to share your opinions, agreement or appreciation for something with others. Social liking can also be a real world experience when you go shopping or dining and share your likes and choices with friends or people with you or online. There is an underlying social need that motivates this type of liking. There may be a group feeling and you may like something that other people in your group or social circle also like it. Possessive Liking – Liking something can create possessiveness about that thing and you may like something and want to possess it. Buying a handbag or a shoe or even trying to date someone because you like him or her is determined by this kind of possessiveness. You feel possessive about a man or a woman and you want to date him or her or even marry. You see a shoe. a bag or a house and you want to possess this object because you cannot let go of your liking for this thing. Our impulsive shopping sprees are often determined by this sort of possessive liking. There is also a tinge of social need involved as you may buy or possess something to show off to your friends. You date a handsome man to make your friends jealous. Although finally possessiveness is primarily marked by personal needs and the need to possess something may have many psychological reasons. So, possessive liking is also more psychologically complex than the other types of liking. Aesthetic Liking – This is liking based on your sense of beauty, choice, preference. Every individual has their sense of what is beautiful and something or someone immensely attractive or beautiful to one person, may not be beautiful to someone else. Aesthetic Liking is when you can appreciate something or someone’s beauty without the need to possess. So, when you can genuinely appreciate a piece of art or clothing or furniture and like it Your aesthetic liking may vary widely from other people’s sense of beauty so aesthetic liking is very personal, although of course a piece of art may be appreciated by several people at the same time, so there is a sense of “collective aesthetic liking” that human beings share. Familiar Liking – This type of liking is associated with nostalgia, Deja vu and similar phenomena. You may like someone because there is a sense of familiarity and they remind you of someone else. Familiarity creates a bond and attachment and liking is associated with attachment. When a house looks familiar, you will be eager to rent or buy it, when a person looks familiar, you will be eager to become her friend. When a place looks familiar, you want to spend more time there. Familiarity creates instant liking although the liking may be fleeting or temporary at times. That is because some people may feel quickly bored with familiarity and need novelty or unique experiences. Novelty Liking – At the opposite end of the spectrum of familiarity is novelty. You like something instantly because it is different, unique or novel in some way. You see a very unique design, it may not appeal to your sense of aesthetics but it fascinates you and you believe that you like it.Sometimes a scientific experiment may give you by products that you immediately like, although it may be a completely unexpected outcome. So novelty creates curiosity, fascination and you may ultimately like it because of its uniqueness. Agreement Liking – Finally we come to agreement liking and individuals usually like something or someone they agree with. You may agree with a comment or an article completely or feel that the sentiments expressed are something you can relate to, then you will genuinely like what is being said or written. You may agree with the policies of a political candidate and decide to vote for him, because you like him.Agreement liking is actually a more stable form of liking because when you agree with someone on basic points, it creates a kind of stability in your liking for this person. People’s opinions and basic views in life tend to remain unchanged so agreement with another person’s views or opinions would be a stable supportive liking. When you like a group or its cause and decide to join the cause, that is agreement liking. Let me add some concluding words here. Liking is quite different from say, attraction. You may find a person physically attractive, but you may find it difficult to genuinely like that

Michael Jackson’s death is a reminder of the vitality of America’s (and the world’s) cult of celebrity. The intensity of the global public response moves one to ask: why is society so deeply affected by the death of a person who was known for bizarre behavior and questionable judgment? Evolutionary psychology provides a helpful perspective. When evolutionary psychologists observe that a behavior is widespread and common in a particular species, they first seek to find out whether such behavior is “adaptive,” meaning, beneficial from a reproductive point of view. Hero-worship is interesting in this respect because we find versions of it in all societies. Our earliest recorded literature, the Epic of Gilgamesh, was concerned primarily with the lives of two heroes. From Odysseus to Elvis, great performers have evoked veneration. Why? Public performance can be understood as a form of genetic signaling. This is one reason why young animals play. When puppies frolic and run about playfully, they are sending very serious messages to future competitors and future mates about their genetic fitness. A puppy that is especially big or fast in play is communicating with competitors (“you won’t want to mess with me when I grow up”) and future mates (“my genes are the best – you’ll have great kids with me”). It makes sense, therefore, for youngsters to enjoy play (they do) and to be great “show-offs” (they are). In fact, the whole purpose of play, from an evolutionary perspective, is precisely to “show off” our exceptional genetic fitness. As we grow older and mature into sexually active adults, we don’t really stop playing. Instead, our play becomes deadly serious (we begin to call it “work” or “art”), and many of us become even more extreme “show-offs”. We’d better. Our “performances” on the job or in social occasions are the most likely indicators of whether or not we will succeed in the reproductive marketplace. Although there are many ways of displaying genetic fitness, humans appear especially attuned to verbal, musical or athletic performance. Our top politicians, actors, musicians and sports stars receive overwhelming adulation. Verbal and musical displays likely evolved as a form of competitive play meant to signal intelligence. “Playing the dozens” and hip-hop dissing contests probably have roots in human behavior stretching back hundreds of thousands of years. As humans evolved into more intelligent creatures, the pressure of sexual selection put a premium on displays correlated with intelligence. Thus, when musical superstars perform in public, they are inserting an ancient evolutionary key into a special lock in our brains. When the key turns, we receive an exhilarating blast of dopamine, the brain’s own version of cocaine, the ultimate feel-good drug. The fascinating thing about public performance is that it feels good to the performer as well as to the audience. Again, from an evolutionary perspective, this is to be expected. The performer’s brain is being rewarded because evolution has provided a great stimulus (a dopamine fix) for us to show off successfully whenever we can get away with it. Doing so maximizes our chances of attracting a desirable mate. Showing off feels good. Showing off in front of a large audience feels great. The audience also finds its brains rewarded by evolution as well, but for different reasons. Why do we enjoy watching exceptional performances? There are three reasons. First, spectacular performances are in a sense “instructive”. Humans are the most imitative species on earth. Much of our intelligence has to do with our ability to model and mimic adaptive behavior. It makes sense for us to be especially attentive to superior performance of any kind – the more we enjoy it, the closer we will pay attention to it, and the more likely that we will learn something from it. Second, if we feel that we are somehow socially or emotionally linked to the performer, we are encouraged by the increased chance that we or our offspring will share in the genetic bounty represented by that performer. Third, the more we ingratiate ourselves with the performer, as by displaying submissive and adoring behavior, the more likely we are to earn the performer’s esteem, and with it, a chance to mate with the performer and endow our offspring with the performer’s superior genes. It seems likely that humans have been programmed by evolution to turn either into rock-stars or groupies (or both). Which path we take depends on our location within the competitive space of our generation’s gene-pool. If we are the best singer or dancer of our generation, we will be tempted to perform: the rewards, both in terms of our brain’s dopamine revels and in the attention of sexually-attractive mates, could be huge. Unfortunately, while it makes sense – from an evolutionary perspective — for members of our species to be attracted to musical genius, it does not necessarily make sense from an individual perspective. Many people have learned this in the most concrete way, by marrying musicians (I did). My eldest son inherited exceptional musical talent, so my genes are happy. My genes were never concerned with my wife’s operatic temper (she’s a mezzo-soprano), that’s been purely my affair. Evolution promises us adorable children; it doesn’t promise us a rose garden. Michael Jackson’s fans have to some extent been tricked by evolution. Watching the Gloved One’s uncanny gyrations and masterful crooning released entire oceans of their cerebral dopamine, but that did not change the fact that their hero was a very weird man. Indeed, Michael Jackson’s life represents the very opposite of wisdom, the opposite of what one should admire or seek to emulate in a role-model. Dopamine-rushes can be addictive, exactly like cocaine. Young Michael’s success as a child prodigy may have destroyed his chances for happiness as an adult. He was never able to improve upon the Peter Pan-like ecstasies he achieved as a child star, so he spent his life in a perpetual attempt to remain a child. This is already very unhealthy at age 20 or age 30.

With a loved one who is clinically ill or a volunteer at a children’s hospital, the feelings may become overwhelming. It is important for both the care giver and the care receiver to remain positive and keep busy. No matter the severity of their condition it could be the perfect time to remember the good times while making new loving memories they can carry with them. They key to this is to find something both interesting and entertaining-scrapbooking is perfect. Here’s where the psychology starts to kick in, doing scrapbooking- or any hobby- creates a sense of transport. This transport to another place can distract from everyday routine and what may be going on. The concentration on something else is said to be as soothing and calming as meditation, deep breathing, and visual imagery. These crafts aren’t compatible with worry, anger, and sorrow. Concentrating on scrapbooking gives a much needed distraction from everyday pressures. For both the care giver and care receiver scrapbooking provides a much needed sense of connection with each other. Scrapbooking rather than just dealing with the illness or simply visiting can help build a relationship that was not already there or strengthen one that was just over looked with all the stress. Taking the time to spend with each other gives incredible closure on both parts, sharing memories and seeing them as they once were. This is a perfect opportunity for those suffering from dementia, recovering from a stroke, bed-bound or in a wheel chair to share and remember their loved ones in a way that can build memory strength and function and use of their hands. This is a memory and motor skill activity in disguise, with laughter and smiles. Since it is important to build these skills back up or to keep them strong, scrapbooking provides both. Scrapbooking also a great opportunity to see the person as you have never seen them before. As you comb through the past, taking the time to share the stories behind each of the photos and mementos while scrapbooking, helps you remember them as they once were and remind them what they are fighting for. Take the opportunity to preserve your favorite memories of your loved ones, together you are creating an album your past to share with future generations. So grab the paper, stamps, and glitter and get to making memories that will change the world for both of you! Preserve the love and tradition with scrapbooking, because at the end of the day that’s what matters. Source by Jessica Pierce

It seems everyone you meet these days is a self-proclaimed psychologist. From radio talk shows, television interviews, romance novels, weekly magazines, to cliques at work; everybody has an opinion on the latest “mental illness.” I was first introduced to practical psychology when I joined the United States Air Force in 1970. It was expected that Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) would become counselors to their subordinates. Profession military education devoted entire chapters and lectures on non-directive or eclectic counseling techniques. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs was drilled into our heads. We were sternly warned to avoid any mention of religion, but instead to make ample use of psychological techniques. Paul Vitz in his book “Psychology as Religion” attempts to expose psychology for what it really is, i.e., religion. He begins by giving the reader a brief biography on the fathers of the modern psychology movement along with some of their theories. The opening chapter was dry reading but I suppose necessary as a historical backdrop. My interest peaked when I immediately recognized Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow since I was forced to study them for 26 years while in the military. Vitz also discusses Carl Jung, Erich Fromn, and Rollo May as being significant contributors to the movement. Vitz quickly transitions into explaining the concept of self-esteem which he promotes as the center of the entire selfism movement. This became important to me as it seems no matter where you turn, a lack of or poor self-esteem appears to be the cause of every ill known to mankind. For a movement to be so widespread to the point where psychology has been woven into the gospel message, Vitz says that the self-esteem concept has “no clear intellectual origins.” That’s a surprising claim considering the impact selfism has had on academia and the practice of counseling. Vitz states that self-esteem should be understood as an emotional response and not a cause. He says it is a reaction to what we have done and what others have done to us. High self-esteem is a desirable feeling to have (like happiness), but the feeling itself isn’t the cause of anything. In trying to obtain a feeling of self-esteem, the only successful way is to do good to others or accomplish something. In so doing, you’ll get all the self-esteem you want. However, the downside is people begin to pursue happiness as a far greater goal than the goal of obtaining personal holiness. Not only is selfism a self-defeating goal for the Christian, Vitz goes on to make the case that it is also simply bad science and a warped philosophy. The little clinical evidence that does exist is mostly based on empirical observations and doesn’t stand the test of solid scientific problem solving. He exposes flaws in each step of the process, from stating the problem, forming and testing the hypothesis, to testing the conclusion. He also identifies several philosophical contradictions and in some cases, actual misrepresentations. The spread of this bad science and faulty philosophy is believed by the author to have contributed to the destruction of families. Additionally, the entire recovery group mentality convinces the person with “low self-esteem” that their ills are due to trauma inflicted on them in the past. Recovery group therapy strokes the patient with self-pity thereby convincing the clients are victims. Once labeled, the “victim” now assumes the attitude of victimhood. Values clarification has become the model taught in schools and begins with the assumption that man is naturally good. Since the developers of values clarification reject moral teachings, Vitz claims that if responsible adults, i.e., teachers, don’t promote good values then someone else will. Providing a permissive environment supposedly nourishes the child by granting satisfaction for the child’s desires and interests. However, this philosophy is bankrupt because kids will assume the values of irresponsible sources in lieu of responsible ones. This combined with the aforementioned teachings has produced a society of victims where everyone is pointing to blame someone else for their misfortunes. Vitz takes three chapters to present a Christian analysis and criticism of humanistic self-theories. He gives the credit to our educational system for the transformation of our society into a culture of pure selfism. He notes that the New Age movement has many founders, but Abraham Maslow’s theories have been the most influential. Vitz argues his Christian critique within a historical framework and the impact it has had on the evolution of our society. Unfortunately he gives scant attention to biblical references for his position, but does show how the selfism heresy affects teachings on depression, idolatry, and suffering. He closes his work with the observation, “never have so many people been so self-conscious, so aware of the self as something to be expressed…., the self has become an object to itself.” (I think this may make the case that self-esteem has become a new barometric indicator to the question everyone asks, “How are you doing today?”) Overall, Vitz’s book uses a cerebral approach in attempting to prove that self-worship is simply a religion. Biblical counselors looking for material to help their counselees break free of a selfish worldview of life will be disappointed. Then again, Vitz didn’t write his book for that purpose. Moreover, he provides a wealth of information and a refreshing argument against those who say, “You can’t teach religion in public schools.” This leaves the reader with an irony: it’s not a question of should we or should we not teach religion in public schools, but instead, what religion will we teach; selfism or Christianity? Source by Johnny Kicklighter

When painting your home for resale, choosing the right colors can make a huge difference in your paycheck at closing. For instance, did you know that the exterior color of houses selling most quickly is a certain shade of yellow, but that choosing the wrong shade of yellow can kill a sale? You’ll find many brochures in paint stores, showing various combinations of exterior paint colors. But most people don’t realize that most of those combinations actually include three colors, and not just two. Limiting your exterior paint scheme to just two colors also limits your income potential. For a fast sale, think fun colors and go for a third, or even a fourth, exterior color. Think “Disneyland Main Street,” where every shop is painted in glorious multi-colors. Adding more colors will also add definition to the various architectural details of your home. Use gloss or semi-gloss paint on wood trim. The Psychology of Exterior Colors When choosing exterior colors, take the sales price of your home into account. Certain colors, especially muted, complex shades, attract wealthy or highly-educated buyers, whereas buyers with less income or less education generally prefer simpler colors. A complex color contains tints of gray or brown, and usually requires more than one word to describe, such as “sage green,” as opposed to “green.” On the other hand, simple colors are straightforward and pure. Generally, houses in the lower price range sell faster and for higher prices when painted in simple colors like yellow or tan, accented by white, blue, or green trim. The Psychology of Interior Colors Using colored, rather than bland, white walls will increase your profit potential. Lynette Jennings tested the perception of room size and color, and discovered that a room painted white appeared only appeared larger to a few people when compared to an identical room painted in color – and the perceived difference was only about six inches! Most people also look better when surrounded by color, and feel happier, and since buyers pick houses that make them feel happy, that knowledge can put dollars in your pocket at closing! Entryways should bring the exterior colors into the house. Repeating shades of the exterior throughout your home will make the entire home seem to be in harmony. Living and family rooms painted in a slightly lighter shade of the exterior color will ensure that you’ve picked a color your buyers like, because if they didn’t like your exterior colors, they wouldn’t have bothered to look inside. If they loved the exterior colors, they’ll love the interior, too. When choosing interior colors, consider the use of each room. For instance, kitchen and dining areas that are painted in “food colors,” such as coffee browns, celery greens, and scrambled egg yellows, feel natural. Since, deeper shades of color imply intimacy and serenity, I like to paint master bedrooms a medium shade of green or blue for warm selling seasons, and rouge red for cooler weather. Other bedrooms can be painted in creamy tones of green, blue, or a pale shell pink. (See the chapter on the Psychology of Color in my book “Joy to the Home: Secrets of Interior Design Psychology” for further information.) Selling Season Always consider your selling season (the time of year you’ll be marketing your home) and climate when choosing colors. Estimate the amount of time you’ll need to get your home ready for sale, and then add on extra days for unexpected delays. Use cool colors, such as blues, greens, and grays, to sell during spring and summer, and warm colors, such as yellows, reds, and maroons, when selling in the fall and winter. Color Intensity My husband and I usually use lighter colors when painting the exteriors of our investment dollhouses, because it makes them appear larger. On the other hand, our cabin in the woods looks richer when painted a darker color. When we decided to have it painted, I considered the usual cabin colors of dark brown and barn red, but fell in love with Olympic’s gorgeous “Gooseberry” plum color. When getting ready to paint your house, look at the colors of neighboring houses and choose colors that harmonize, yet stand out from the crowd. Colors that clash badly with other houses will detract from the overall neighborhood. At the beginning of the article, I told you that homes with yellow exteriors sell the quickest. But which shade of yellow sells best? First, the yellows to avoid: yellows with green undertones look sickly to most buyers, and yellows with orange undertones give buyers an impression of cheapness. The best-selling yellow exterior color is actually a pale, sunny yellow, especially when complimented with one or more carefully-chosen accent colors. For instance, a semi-gloss white trim will give your home a clean and fresh look, and adding a third color, such as green, can make your home even more attractive to prospective buyers. Colors affect human beings in many ways, and by using the principles of Color Psychology, you can make your home stand out from the competition, sell more quickly, and at a higher price. (c) Copyright 2014, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved. Source by Jeanette Joy Fisher

The movie Fight Club was one of those unique films that help define a generation. The movie was preceded by the novel from Chuck Palahniuk, who created such a stir with the book and later the movie that people began to treat Chuck himself like Tyler Durden, often offering to “take care of” people at his request. So what was it about his movie that struck such a cord with people? Many were simply engaged by the movies entertaining elements, but upon deeper examination the movie had a much deeper meaning that this analysis will attempt to explore. Although we start with the idea of an analysis of Tyler Durden, his alter-ego, referred to in the movie as “Jack” is also highly relevant to this discussion. The narrator “Jack” begins the movie with a raging case of insomnia that is brought on by existential crisis. Much like the character of Meursault in Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger, who commented that “life had begun stalking him” Jack has reached a point in his life that is also utterly devoid of meaning as evidenced by his quote, “this is your life and its ending one minute at a time.” Finally Jack seems to embrace the Buddhist idea that meaning in life can be achieved by actively meditating on one’s own death. He joins a number of survivor’s groups where he can see people at the very end of life, and this seems to bring him a great deal of peace. Perhaps a part of him is taking solace in the fact that fate has been cruel to others while it continues to spare him, and this gives him a sense of peace where he can finally get some sleep. Everything changes when Jack meets Marla who is suffering through a similar existential crisis. Marla, although every bit as lost as Jack, does not have a place in mainstream consumer America and is essentially a bottom feeder in society. All the same, Marla and Jack are kindred souls, and there is an immediate attraction that Jack is unable to act on, until his subconscious creates Tyler Durden. So Jack’s spilt into Tyler can be partially explained by looking at the fundamentals of dissociation. This occurs when someone’s thoughts become too uncomfortable to consciously process, and they go into another state as a psychological defense against these painful feelings. The question therefore becomes what was so uncomfortable in Jack’s life that he needed to create an alter ego? The answer can be found in looking at our greater American society and how consumerism creates a sense of the empty self. In Adam Curtis’s documentary entitled The Century of the Self, the roots of American consumerism are explored by following the trail of Sigmund Freud’s nephew named Edward Bernays. Bernays had studied his uncle’s works extensively, and became convinced that people could be manipulated into buying products based on their instinctual drives towards aggressiveness and sexuality. To back up a second, Freud posited that our subconscious is made up of three separate functions known as the id, ego, and superego. The superego takes the function of what we consider to be the “conscience” which urges us towards moral and just behavior. The id on the other hand is our drive towards destruction and sexuality which Freud thought was inherent in human nature. The ego acts as a kind of referee between these two forces to create a balance where people can successfully function in line with the rules of the society. Freud believed we were all inherently aggressive and that the id is the dominant force in our lives, and is only curtailed by society’s conventions. In Civilization and its Discontents, Freud stated “men are not gentle creatures, who want to be loved, who at the most can defend themselves if they are attacked; they are, on the contrary, creatures among whose instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of aggressiveness. As a result, their neighbor is for them not only a potential helper or sexual object, but also someone who tempts them to satisfy their aggressiveness on him, to exploit his capacity for work without compensation, to use him sexually without his consent, to seize his possessions, to humiliate him, to cause him pain, to torture and to kill him.” So to return to Edward Bernays, he felt his uncle’s ideas could be used to exploit the American public into buying things they didn’t need if he could make them feel that these things would make them more sexually powerful or perceived as more aggressive. Consider Tyler’s comment; “God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need” in this regard. A part of Jack has begun to understand that constantly acquiring furniture and other things for his condo is a meaningless pursuit totally devoid of purpose and fulfillment, and he feels a strong impulse to act on this feeling. Much of Jack’s dissociation has to do with this empty sense of self that he realizes he has for years been filling up by buying things, i.e. “What kind of dining set defines me as a person?” Tyler also makes a comment that, “We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no great war, no great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war, and our great depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars. But we won’t. We’re slowly learning that fact, and we’re very, very pissed off.” Jack has begun to reject the consumerism he has become a kind of slave to, also evidenced by his comment that “the things you own end up owning you.” Tyler’s comment has a great deal of validity and can be historically supported. Prior to industrialization in this