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phone: 828-859-9927
fax: 828-859-9960

P. O. Box 155
Tryon, NC 28782
printer friendly Flip Laffoon go back

 

Kitty:
The Principle: The 'do' is the octave: Therefore, if Flip can enter Sessions with me from a conscious 'do', he will get more out of the sessions.
.
My Aim: To separate the Chaff from the Wheat. If Flip is not willing to do the assignments, I am giving, you would end up wasting both your money as well as my time.

Assignments:
3 books, 3 papers
1st: As A Man Thinketh
a: Find at least 5 truths for each chapter.
b: Write, at length, how if he was able to incorporate these truths into his daily life, these truths would save his life?
.

2nd: The Enneagram by Helen Palmer
1. First Read 3 ~ 6 -9
2. Locate and write down every correspondence he can find between himself and these types-
.
3. Read I ~ 4 ~ 2 ~ 8 ~ 5 ~ 7
4. Ask himself how he would have to shape-shift himself in order to play/portray each type?
.
3rd: She : by Robert Johnson
1. Read : -write down all requirements on one page.
2. Write down all weaknesses and mistakes that the psyche makes on another.

Flip needs to have all of these assignments done and ready to hand in before he makes his own first appointment.
Love
Shirra


Flip Laffoon First Assignment: As a Man Thinketh
Truths for "Thought and Character"


1. " A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts," p. 11
a. A concrete example would be any time I have a self-defeating thought right as I begin an audition; if I think I'm not good enough, then I'm not, and other people pick up on that.


2. "Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things," p. 12-13
a. The way I see it, we humans are growths because of something greater than the whole of us, not because of something we ourselves built to produce us; and anything that happens, whether it's a thought or an action, is caused by some stimulus and effects a change to some degree.


3. "Man is made or unmade by himself...,"p.13
a. Again, a perfect example is my attitude towards auditions; I am unmaking myself by that very attitude -no one else is unmaking me.


4. "As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills," p. 14
a. Basically, each man controls his own destiny; I wanted to go to Northwestern, so I wrote two really great essays to complement my grades and test scores and got in.

5. "...the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought: which discovery is totally a matter of application, self- analysis, and experience," p. 15
a. I think the truth here is that if a man can master his own internal consciousness, he will be able to do anything; and he can only become thus with practice, courage, and wisdom.



Truths for "Effect of Thought on Circumstance"


1. "If no useful seeds are put into [a man's mind], then an abundance of useless weed- seeds will/all therein, and will continue to produce their kind," p. 17
a. I think this is saying that knowledge is the key to success; and if one doesn't seek knowledge, he'll never be anything more than a mish-mash of useless non- information.

2. "Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state," p. 18
a. This reminds of the saying, "As within, so without"; if the mental troops are productive and organized, such positive energy will be mirrored and returned in one's environment.

3. "Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err," p. 19
a. Again, we control our own destiny; we end up where we end up because of our thoughts and actions.

4. "Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself," p. 19-20
a. If one can use the outside conditions to his advantage, nothing can stop him.

5. "The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires,-and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own," p. 20-21
a. Our thoughts create the circumstance, not vice-versa; and whatever our thoughts may be, those are the circumstances in which we find ourselves.

6. "Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself," p. 22
a. It's how we use outside circumstances that reveals how strong we really are.


7. "Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are," p. 23
a. It doesn't matter what we want because we will only achieve as much as we are capable; whether that is much or little is totally up to us.

8. "The 'divinity that shapes our ends' is in ourselves; it is our very self. Man is manacled only by himself: thought and action are gaolers of Fate-they imprison, being base; they are also the angels of Freedom-they liberate, being noble. Not what he wishes for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions," p.23-24
a. I look at this as God is within each of us, and how we use that potential power is wholly up to us.

9. "[Fighting against circumstances] means that a man is continually revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart," p. 24
a. You have to take responsibility for the circumstances you are in; otherwise, you become stuck in a cycle of ineffective complaining.

10. "The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set," p. 25
a. If you are willing to look at the worst aspects of yourself and use them effectively, you can accomplish anything.

11. "The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify , to burn out all that is useless and impure," p. 31
a. In nature, fire clears away all of the rotten debris that has built up in an ecosystem and allows everything to start over again; so it is with suffering: to build up our strength and to make us more pure within ourselves.

12. "Blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used; and the poor man only descends into wretchedness when he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed," p. 32
a. Whatever you do comes back to you tenfold.

13. "...during the process of putting himself right, [man] will find that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him," p. 33
a. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

14. "Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance," p. 34
a. Circumstances are the products of what we do on a regular basis -our habits - and habits are the products of repetitive thoughts and the energy we expend to keep them secret.

15. "A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances," p. 36
a. If our thoughts affect our circumstances, this gives us a certain amount of control over how our lives unfold.



Truths for "Effect on Health and the Body"


1. "[The body] obeys the operation of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed," p. 39
a. Our actions are the direct results of our thoughts; whatever thoughts the brain has transmit directly to the necessary organs, and an action is produced.

2. " A sour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts. Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, pride," p.41
a. Every thought we have somehow comes across in our facial expressions; so a person who thinks only beautiful thoughts will have a beautiful face to match, while a person who thinks only cruel thoughts will have a cruel face to match.

3. "...a strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and goodwill and serenity," p.42 a. You are what you think; if you see the world as beautiful, you will become a beautiful person in that world.

4. "On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others by strong and pure thought, and others are carved by passion: who cannot distinguish them?" p. 42
a. It is so true that you can see the wisdom and experiences of a person in their face.

5. "To live continually in thoughts of ill will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confined in a self-made prison-hole. But to think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all-such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor," p. 43
a. To be able to recognize both the positive and negative aspects of the world and creatures in it and choose to cherish the positive is a very powerful and compassionate attribute.



Truths for "Thought and Purpose"

1. "Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment," p. 44 a. If you have a thought that exists only in and of itself, you are accomplishing.

2. " Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction," p. 44
a. If you are aimless, you have no purpose and could just as easily fall prey to destructive activities as constructive activities.

3. "They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self -pityings, all of which are indications of weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins (though by a different route), to failure, unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe," p. 44-45
a. Without a central purpose, you do not work towards anything and can spend all your energy worrying about inconsequential things that can and will eventually consume you.

4. "He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings," p. 45
a. If your thoughts deviate from your central purpose, your energy is being dissipated; and it could become very hard to regain your primary focus. I have definite problems with this.

5. "Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome ), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph " p. 46
a. You learn ten times more from failure than from success; and as much as I tell myself this, I very much fear failure.

6. "Those who are not prepared for apprehension of a great purpose, should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty , no matter how insignificant their task may appear. Only in this way can the thoughts be gathered and focussed, and resolution and energy be developed, which being done, there is nothing which may not be accomplished," p. 46
a. Take each task one at a time so that you learn how to focus your thoughts and energy; as you become more and more accustomed to this, the greater the tasks you can accomplish.

7. "To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully," p. 47
a. Again, failure is the key to success.

8. "Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything, and never can. They always lead to failure," p. 48
a. Ugh, this is the irony of my fear of failure: it causes me not to act, which is a big failure in and of itself.

9. "The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do," p. 48
a. Self-confidence, or a lack thereof, has always been one of my biggest weaknesses.

10. "He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure," p. 48
a. Ifl can get past fear, failure won't frighten me, and I'll be unstoppable!

11. "Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers," p. 49
a. My best scenes in Acting were so incredible because I was very focused on what I needed to do in the scene and knew exactly how to do it.


Truths for "The Thought-Factor in Achievement"


1. " A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity , are his own, and not another man's; they are brought about by himself, and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another," p. 50
a. Each person needs to take responsibility for his own thoughts and actions.

2. "None but himself can alter his condition," p. 51
a. Other people can only affect me ifI let them; ultimately, it's my decision to change my present circumstances.

3. "A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing the suffering which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed," p. 52
a. This seems like the Holy Trinity to me; to view all men equally is a goal to which everyone should aspire.

4. "There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice...," p.53
a. If you do not sacrifice anything, you can never really achieve anything of significance.

5. " Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought," p. 55
a. If you focus all of your thoughts and effort towards a task, you will achieve it.

6. " A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him," p. 55-56
a. The man who has everything can always lose everything.

7. "He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly," p. 56
a. Again, without sacrifice, it isn't really possible to achieve anything of greatness.



Truths for "Visions and Ideals"

1. "The dreamers are the saviours of the world," p. 57
a. Without dreams, nothing would ever be invented, and we would be stuck in a state of total inertia.

2. "Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities which it shall one day see and know," p. 57
a. Again, the dreamers are the inventors who make the future a reality .

3. "Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of the after- world, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish," p. 57
a. WE NEED ART IN OUR LIVES!! I don't know how I could live in a world without art.

4. "Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environments; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built," p. 58
a. Without visions and ideals and everything that is beautiful in the world, we would have nothing towards which to work, nothing of importance to achieve.

5. "Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become," p. 59
a. The initial dream is the key to any achievement and, therefore, any spiritual growth.

6. "The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream," p. 59
a. A dream is a thought; thoughts lead to achievements.

7. "Dreams are the seedlings of realities," p. 59
a. Sooner or later, every dream manifests into a reality.

8. "And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate
toward that which you, secretly, most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. "Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration. ..," p. 61-62
a. Our dreams are the foundations of what we become: if we dream terrible dreams, we become terrible; if we dream great dreams, we become great.

9. "In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. 'Gifts,' powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized," p. 64
a. Effort, the act of doing, is the only thing that produces a result.

10. "The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart- this you will build your life by, this you, will Become," p. 64 a. Again, we become our thoughts and dreams.


Truths for "Serenity"


I. "Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought," p. 65 a. Once you know how your mind works, you understand every thought you have and will not lose control; hence, you never experience stress.

2. " A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought- evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought...," p. 65
a. When you understand everyone, including yourself, is simply the sum of their thoughts, you cease to worry about affecting the actions of others; for you have control only over yourself.

3. ''...as he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene," p. 65-66
a. Understanding the cause and effect relationship would allow you to act in ways that would alleviate worry and stress in favor of serenity .

4. "The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him," p. 66
a. Once you can control yourself, you can control how you act around others and set an example for them.

5. "The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good," p. 66
a. I think people recognize tranquility in others and are drawn to it, and this magnetism gives the tranquil person an enormous amount of influence.

6. "In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep: wake Him. Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power," p. 68
a. Total self-control gives one the ability of Right Thought, which leads to serenity; the attainment of these gives one the power to do anything.


Enneagram Exercise

I chose playing solitaire as my activity to perform while I pantomimed the essences of each type. I started with the 1 ~ 4 ~ 2 ~ 8 ~ 5 ~ 7 form. As a One, I found myself being really careful about the placing of the cards evenly and orderly and making sure that the cards were all organized perfectly. I played the game strictly by the rules and felt a wonderfully warm sense of righteousness when I won without having to break any rules. As a Four, I was somewhat distracted by the game. I would look around the room for other stimuli, I studied one of the cats and imagined myself as the cat and what that would be like, I thought a little about what it would be like to win an Oscar, I imagined myself in a lovely meadow in the springtime. I didn't really care when I lost. As a Two, I was very restless playing the game because I didn't feel like it was at all fulfilling to be playing the game alone. I thought about all the things I could be doing that would be nice for other people, like writing my thank-you notes or doing the dishes or taking the lights of the Christmas tree. I was glad when I lost fairly quickly. As an Eight, I was really focused on beating the game. I started breaking the rules fairly quickly and soon was breaking most of them to beat the game, which I did; and that made me feel quite smug and powerful. As a Five, I didn't really care about winning the game, but I was very focused on seeing how the game unfolded. I thought it very interesting that six of the initial seven face-up cards were of black suits. I found myself seeing the whole spread of the game as I played it, and I didn't miss a placement. I lost but didn't care really. As a Seven, I played the game for a little while; then I got thirsty, so I got a glass of water . Then I saw the new People magazine, so I flipped through it briefly. Then I remembered that I wanted to download some songs from the internet, so I turned the computer on. I didn't even fInish the game. Then I moved on to the 9 ~ 3 ~ 6 form. As a Nine, I went through the motions of playing the game, but my mind wandered off a lot. It would snap back to the game when something intriguing happened, such as the uncovering of an ace, but I mostly went through the mechanics of it. As a Three, I was very intense about the game. I was determined to win the game and in the fastest time. I started off beautifully; but as soon as I saw that I wasn't going to win, I started to cheat. But the cheating didn't work, and I lost. I felt like a total failure; I mean, how sad is it that I can't even win a friggin' game of solitaire?! As a Six, I found myself worried about losing and was pretty cautious about the flipping of every card in the beginning because I wasn't totally sure it was going to be a helpful card. As the game progressed, I started to lose the fear a little bit and wanted to overcome the odds and beat the evil card gods. And I did! I then played one game for the 9 ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9 form. I started out shuffling the cards mechanically; then set the game up perfectly; began it concerned about my thank-you notes; continued it quickly and strongly, just knowing I was going to win; then became suddenly distracted by the pretty hearts on the Nine of Hearts; broadened my focus to encompass all the cards; became afraid that the cards were stacked against me, even though I seemed to be winning; suddenly wanted to download that Pat Benatar song; employed a bit of rule-breaking to ensure victory; and finally wondered how on earth I came to win the game.




Part Two of the Enneagram Excersize


Pantomiming one characteristic from each type varied in difficulty depending on the form I did, and the type. With the 1-> 4 -> 2 -> 8 -> 5 -7 form I went from anger to envy to pride to lust to avarice to gluttony. I found it easiest to pantomime anger and lust because they are explicit emotions that I could easily physicalize them. I had the hardest time with pride and envy because I could not really think of any pbysical action to go with them. With avarice and gluttony, I found myself making sure that everything was in the house and nothing was gone and wanting to consume everything possible in the house. With the 9 ~ 3 ~ 6 form, I went from sloth to deceit to fear. I actually had the most trouble with deceit because it was hard to find a physicality for it; however, sloth and fear were very easy to physicalize. I also found a scarf that I played around with doing the third form of 9 ~ I ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9. This was my favorite because the progression through each of the characteristics was very smooth. Being lazy led to being angry , which led to pride because I wanted not to be lazy , which led to wanting to cover up my prideful laziness, which led to being jealous at the thought of others not being lazy liars, which led to consoling myself with all the things I had, which led to the fear that those things might be taken, which led to wanting to tastee them all while I could, which led to lust of having everything turn me on, which led to laziness again because I was so tired.



To the begining