Sunday, December 29, 2019

Addiction And Recovery Assignment An Alcoholics...

Addiction and Recovery Assignment: Going To an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting For this addiction assignment I attended meeting run by the oldest Alcoholics Anonymous group in Auburn, Maine. This group, the Auburn Serenity Group, was founded in 1959. I found this information on their page http://www.csoaamaine.org/groups/5/auburnserenity.htm when researching meeting information. I attended on Wednesday night (10/8/14) at St. Philips Church on Turner Road in Auburn. The meeting was chaired by a man named Paul. First, let me start by saying that I really did not want to do this assignment. I had an image in my head depicting what it was going to be like, and it wasn’t pretty. After watching enough TV shows showing AA meetings in†¦show more content†¦Crap, did I get the days wrong, I really needed to get this assignment done! There were probably 30 or more people standing outside in the gloom of the church hall entrance smoking and talking. I quickly sent a text to my classmate who I was supposed to meet, â€Å"Are you here? Are we in the right place?† It had never dawned on me that there would be more than 10 or 15 people in attendance. My classmate and I managed to find each other in church parking lot and made our way through the cloud of smoke and into the building. We entered a large hall filled with people of all ages. There were at least 50 people there; sitting, standing, hugging, talking and laughing. A couple of people were running a raffle in a corner. Coffee brewed in the small kitchen. I grew up catholic and this had the distinct feeling of being a church function. My classmate and I sat in the back and settled in. We didn’t introduce ourselves. Who would we even begin to introduce ourselves to? We were just a face in the crowd. People starting sitting down and at 8PM the meeting started. â€Å"Hi, my name is Paul, and I’m an alcoholic†. To this all replied, â€Å"Hi Paul†. We were all welcomed to the Wednesday nig ht meeting of the Auburn Serenity Group. Some group business was taken care of quickly and we headed into the Serenity Prayer. It was easy to fall into the rhythm of this meeting and I found myself saying the prayer too. After all, this was

Saturday, December 21, 2019

The Pursuit of Meaning Essay - 1219 Words

In the world we live in today, many cultural views have evolved that now define us as human beings. For example, a commonly seen aspect that holds a significant amount of importance in this society is that the more you have, the happier you’re guaranteed to be. This is portrayed everywhere, as people are viewed scrabbling about, trying to pick up the latest fashion, or newest household look. No matter what the cost, citizens of the United States satisfy themselves by feeding their hunger for ‘more’. People are so caught up in what others think of them that they continue to attempt to calm their craving for acceptance through items. Stop and think for a moment. With the passing of Thanksgiving, another holiday comes to follow: Black Friday.†¦show more content†¦Once this happens, the plea for acceptance comes into play, and the flood gates of vulnerability are opened. People want others to like them, and they want to fit in. Yet, while all of this is happe ning, they are quick to forget the value they once had for themselves, the purpose that once guided their life. When reading an article by Emily Smith on the subject of happiness, a quote read, â€Å"4 out of 10 Americans have not discovered a satisfying life purpose. Forty percent either do not think their lives have a clear sense of purpose or are neutral about whether their lives have purpose†. What does this mean? It’s simply this: Americans are taking on life at the completely wrong side of the spectrum. They’re searching for the wrong things. Although to the modern world acceptance might seem like a sort of fame, it does not guarantee happiness to any extent. In fact, by choosing to pursue an unmeasurable aspect of life, people open themselves up for criticism from others; those who already have the ‘perfect life’. They become vulnerable, and they care too much about what people think in their regard. Most importantly, they have become shamefu l of the life they possess. Think back to the example previously mentioned, Black Friday. Without a reason to express shame, there would be no Black Friday. People would not be out, throwing themselves at perishable objects, just to get ‘ahead’ in life. Additionally, people also would notShow MoreRelatedHUmanitys Pursuit of Meaning1129 Words   |  5 PagesWorking Thesis: Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is a poignant example of the consequences of signification and humanity’s pursuit of meaning, which in this story lead to devastating results. Signification is what offsets the balance of life and we can’t always know the degree of the consequences will be. Essay: As seen in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Victorian society sought to do something impossible, insisting that people can only be defined in terms of one, conscious orRead MoreThe Pursuit Of Meaning By Ravi Zacharias936 Words   |  4 PagesThe Pursuit of Meaning was a two part presentation given by Ravi Zacharias. In this two part series he discusses the pursuit of the meaning of life and how we get to understand this life. In the opening there was a comment taken from later in the presentation that started off the thinking. The statement was â€Å"Cannot have meaning in life until you believe the truth about who you are, who God is, and what man’s destiny is.† Ravi Zacharias stated that there are 4 keys in understanding the meaningRead MoreScience Is The Pursuit Of Value And Meaning Essay1637 Words   |  7 PagesScience and religion have a complicated relationship in modern society. In this paper, I argue that science and religion are non-overlapping; science is the p ursuit of truth in the natural world, and religion is the pursuit of value and meaning. This position is based largely on Stephen Jay Gould’s NOMA, and it seeks to address weak areas of his argument. In order to properly defend this position, I will define science and religion, establish that they’re exclusive to their domains, present an argumentRead MoreThe Pursuit Of Happiness Essay1315 Words   |  6 PagesThe Pursuit of Happiness vs. the Pursuit of Meaning â€Å"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.† As you know these words come from the preamble of the Declaration of Independence, perhaps one of the greatest documents ever written. However, I do have a little problem with the last four words sentence, â€Å"the pursuit of Happiness† becauseRead MoreHuman Nature By Viktor Frankl1035 Words   |  5 Pagesto discover the meaning of one’s existence. This frustration for meaning results in, what Frankl calls, â€Å"noogenic† neurosis, which is the spirit to find meaning. It causes anxiety at a spiritual human level to experience meaninglessness. In his own therapeutic theory, he creates a system that he calls â€Å"logotherapy†, which points to the unconscious seeking the â€Å"will to meaning.† In his early teenage years, Fra nkl had developed the first two basic concepts of logotherapy; (1) meaning is encounteredRead MoreFreedom Rewritten722 Words   |  3 PagesNaomi Wolf’s, â€Å"Freedom is intended as a challenge,† explains The Declaration of Independence in a way that would be more modernized for people that could not grasp what Jefferson was meaning. Wolf also continues to elaborate the challenges Americans personally sacrifice for the sake of freedom. Having said that, the pursuit of happiness mirrors the time period in which we live in. Nowadays you see the laws changing all around us. Currently same-sex marriage is now legal but just a few years ago theyRead MorePursuit of Wealth Essay818 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout history, there has always been a pursuit of wealth; meaning, not just â€Å"money,† but also power, land, freedom, and possessions. Under a moral, trustworthy government this is not a problem, it is when the government is corrupt that issues tend to proceed . The pursuit of wealth has had a mostly positive with some negative effects on the development of civilization up until this point; some examples include the fall of Rome, capitalist and communist economic systems, and the American RevolutionRead MoreA Critique Of Capitalism And The Power Of The Bourgeoisie Class1744 Words   |  7 Pagescitizens, and critiques both liberalist and realist thought in its belief that citizens are more important than both states and international organisations and therefore that Critical theory focalises mainly around knowledge which will promote this pursuit. Liberalism’s main objectives are to promote economic progress through interdependence, and liberal thinking including democracy and international cooperation between nation states. Therefore, one could say that it is impossible for liberalism toRead MoreBeing A Treasure For Every Single Human852 Words   |  4 Pagesof events, this person can lift not only the emotions but also the feelings. The terms to describe these feelings lead us to the second component of happiness. The second topic of happiness is enjoying a good life. This concept involves the pursuit of gratification. Individuals may find gratification by participating in a great conversation, fixing a bike, reading a good book, teaching a child, playing the guitar or accomplishing a difficult task at work (Seligman 1380). People who completeRead MoreThe Issue Of State Farm Essay888 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"arising out of business pursuits† of any insured is excluded. â€Å"The implicit purpose of the exclusion is to remove from a homeowner’s policy a type of coverage which would normally require specialized underwriting, requiring a higher premium.† Springer v. Erie Ins. Exch., 439 Md. 142, 161 (2014). A business pursuit is a pursuit in furtherance of â€Å"a trade profession or occupation.† â€Å"The ‘business pursuits’ exclusion . . . contains two key phrases, ‘arising out of’ and â€Å"business pursuits.’† Id. at 158. The

Thursday, December 12, 2019

The Most Provocative Ads

Question: Discuss about the Most Provocative Ads. Answer: Use of Media to Put up the Advertisement: Summary of the Presentation: Few months back a tourism advertisement had been recognized as a provocative advertisement. The tourism department of the Northern Territory of Australia came up with an advertisement where it abbreviated the words of the advertisement that resulted in something really distasteful and degrading as per the advertisement ethics (Bbc.com 2016). In fact, the government considered to take legal action against this advertisement. The advertisement had been designed as an outdoor advertisement found in hoardings. However, the same advertisement has also been found to present in other forms as well, like an image on the t-shirt. However, the ad got the greatest attention in the social media. The role of social media in making the advertisement viral around Australia and far beyond cannot be neglected. The issue was raised from the slogan itself but the way it was presented with IN THE between CU and NT has created a negative buzz in the market. The same advertisement was quickly found to get spread by the social media like the Facebook and Twitter. On investigation it was found that the Tourism department was well aware about the degrading nature of the advertisement that it has made and that it violates the advertisement ethics (News.com.au 2016). On which the department revealed their advertisement tactics and said that the aim of this advertisement was to attract the youth. The youth would definitely find this advertisement attractive and they would definitely share the same in the social media. The social media users have been found to make it viral and they started making jokes around it (News.com.au 2016). Thus, the intension of the marketers was successful and the advertisement went to the places where it was intended to go. Thus, the media played its role significantly in popularizing this provocative advertisement. References: Bbc.com 2016 Provocative 'tourism ad' stirs mixed feelings in Australia Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-37906596 [Accessed on: 18-4-2017] News.com.au 2016 Love it or hate it, this controversial campaign has shone a spotlight on the Top End Available at: https://www.news.com.au/travel/australian-holidays/northern-territory/love-it-or-hate-it-this-controversial-campaign-has-shone-a-spotlight-on-the-top-end/news-story/42bdb7aeaef8114628192b337fe8772e [Accessed on: 18-4-2017]