To see the various blog posts about certain topics, please click on one of the above blue links.
In the margin, you’ll find at every page all kinds of goodies. Have a look.
Below, at the bottom of this Home Page, you may find a Table of Contents with links to all my blog posts in reverse-chronological order. (And as bonus an early picture of Harvey.)
But now first here, two posts, one on reading (and writing) and one on that this is not an official RC site, how you may use it and how to contact me confidentially.
Happy reading!
If You Hate Reading, Read This
Read in a session. Take a rational text like RC or math or physics. Emotional or distress texts are often harder to read. Take your time discharging. It will make that you become good at reading. And fond of it.
If you have enough free attention to listen, you can read. Try to realize what you read.
And it can become fun and a skill you’re good at, by experience and discharge.
You don’t need the distress that makes it hard to read. Chuck it!
Through reading, you will learn so much, so fast!
Begin by reading slowly but precisely. Don’t worry about the speed. That will come with practice. (But if you begin with fast and imprecise reading, you will never really read what it says.)
In the beginning, reading one copy of Present Time took me three months, every three months. I was a slooow reader. But discharge helps! Now, I read it cover to cover in a (busy) week. I still don’t read as fast as insatiable bookworms. But I read. Faster than most people.
I just heard someone say: People don’t read anymore. I can tell you: “people” never read. Harvey would spend morning class time at workshops teaching the newest RC Theory from the latest Present Times. No one complained, “I read that already.” I was the only one on hundreds of counselors who was up-to-date. It helps to prioritize doing sessions on reading.
Outside of sessions, begin reading stuff that you find super-interesting. Stories, novels, comics, about your best hobby, whatever it is. And RC stuff. Texts that fascinate you, that you can’t put down (so to speak). Look for the subject(s) that you like, from writers that you like. Or texts that are simple, easy. Don’t feel too embarrassed to read children’s books. You learn better when it’s fun. (I raised a few voracious readers. They started with simple books they liked – Lord of the R., Harry P.)
There is no law that says that you must read a text from the beginning to the end. Skip difficult stuff (words, sentences, paragraphs, chapters, books). But don’t skip discharging. If it’s a text with pictures or large quotes, look at them first. With a long text, you can first browse the title, the first few words, the ending (whodunit?), maybe a few words in the middle. Look for introductions, names of chapters or captions.
(I’ve read articles and even books backward. First I looked if I liked the ending. I did. Then I read what came just before that. That was OK too. Then ahead of that. The whole thing backward. Why drag yourself through a text if that way it’s fun for you?!)
Maybe you better like reading texts that you know already. Like transcripts of lectures or (news) reports that you have listened to. Or first, have someone read you the text before you try reading it.
Does reading remind you of school? Discharge! Does it remind you that you were called or felt stupid? Discharge! Does it “make” you feel bored? Discharge! Does it “make” you feel forced? Discharge! Don’t just walk away from reading. Discharge and then read some more.
Have a friend do the same program as you and read the same text and then talk about it after you’re finished reading. If you own the copy, make notes in the text, illustrate it, cross out words you dislike – it’s your party!
In the end, you’ll read for relaxation, for pleasure. You’ll stop watching TV. In your free time, you’ll read and do activism. And never look back.
Look at what a long text you’ve read now! Over 600 words!
Don’t just learn reading. Teach others. It’s the best.
RC Teachers
We could call it negligent not to read new Theory or to fail rereading old Theory. But instead of calling a teacher who has a hard time doing so all kinds of names, it will be better to ask them: What takes higher priority than reading Theory? We must assume that the first thought that comes up reveals what distress the teacher rather discharges than reading Theory. That must be pretty urgent stuff. Giving a hand with discharging that, should make it easier to keep our thinking up-to-date.
Writing
Once you mastered reading, you can add learning to write. Through writing, you can teach many people very fast (once they learned reading). And let them profit from the writing styles you read and from your unique thoughts and insights. It’s the best.
Learning to write is even easier than learning to read. Three steps:
1. Write anything you think. Brainstorm. There is no thought unworthy of being jotted down. (“I don’t know what to write” – write that down!) Try not to correct or perfect anything. Later. Writing is like talking: once words are out, some next words got ready to emerge. Don’t frustrate your train of thought with being critical.
2. Review what you wrote and be merciless on the quality. You may expand on it (going back to 1!) and remove and change anything. (Any part you like very much but doesn’t work in this text, instead of throwing it out, save it in a special file.) Use spell and grammar checkers. Once you are finished reviewing, you start from the top. Clarify and simplify, anything hard for a reader to understand. Review and review until (and beyond) you hate reading it again. Until you find nothing anymore to improve. (If you’re a recovering perfectionist, you may stop just before it becomes perfect.)
(If the text is very important and you have time, ask friends and family to proofread for you. Some of their criticisms may “prove” that they didn’t read well what is written but that also means the text could be improved there. (Don ‘t discard their help.) If you have the money for it, hire a professional editor, at least for part of the text. Learn from those corrections how you can improve your writing and may stay outside of some of your bad habits and chronics.)
3. Keep reading to give you more ideas about how to write better. But writing is like discharging. The more you’ve done it already, the easier the next time is. So, keep writing.
This is Not an Official RC Website
I want to contribute to RC, help continue Harvey’s work, Harvey’s community.
I hope that my input only strengthens the process of what we are doing in RC.
Click HERE to go to the official RC Website (recommended!)
You will never find in these posts any attempt to create strife, a different community or attacks on people. It’s rather all about thinking about RC.
NB: You cannot spread the blog’s content within RC without permission from the leader of the RC Area or Region and RC group within which you want to spread it (class, support group, workshop, conference) or on RC websites. The Guidelines have good reasons for them and are born from lots of experience.
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If you’ll find something useful in my blog posts, enjoy and remember to return. (If you forgot the site’s name and can’t find this site, just remember to google: <dear harvey jackins> or <notmyname2000000@gmail.com>.) If you click the subscribe button, you get automatically notified when new blog posts are published.
Feel free to copy anything I wrote and if you agree with it call it your own thinking without crediting my blog. Feel free to draw opposite conclusions to mine, change anything from it or just be inspired by it without ever acknowledging my indirect contribution.
I kept it anonymous because I neither want the fame nor the blame. I just want us all, myself included, to think harder – and to implement our own thinking. (If you have an idea who I am, please keep it to yourself. I’m not trying to harm anyone – please don’t violate my anonymity.)
July 12, 2019 will be the 20th anniversary of Harvey’s death. I hope that our work for a better life for us and all humans in the 20th year would do him honor.
Reversely Chronological Table of Contents
Click on the link below to go directly to that blog post.
The oldest blog posts are at the bottom of the list.
Don’t Ignore Restumulation! Use it for Re-emergence!
Your Opposite Backgrounds Don’t Cancel Out!
Decide to Become Active, Not Just Reactive
How to Communicate at the Same Time that the Situation is Dire and that All is Well?
Attention Out – Do You Feel at Least as Good as Before You Took Time?
How Does RC Relate to Other Methods of Taming Humans?
Not Really Caring About Others vs. Mostly Caring About Others
Have You Changed Through Using RC?
Don’t Let Permissiveness Kill Permissiveness
Defeating Perfectionism and Over-Responsibility Recordings
Better Than Loving and Liking are Respecting and Caring Allies
Did Harvey’s Later Adjustment of the Basic Theory Stick Enough?
Real Democracy – No to Suppression and No to Permissiveness!
Recognize and Contradict the Passive Quieting Agreeable Distress!
Please, Stop Playing Therapist! But Counsel Your Leaders!
Regaining Humbleness, What Took us so Long?
What is and How to End Jews’ Oppression? A Reminder
We can Save the Planet – I Promise
Is Rational Sex a Human Need? Without Distress Patterns, Would we Still be Sexual?
How did Human Beings Start out?
Towards a Clearer Vision Onto the Role of Men in Women’s Liberation
Who are Oppressed? Men? Whites? Parents?
Harvey’s Most Basic Discovery Put on Ice no More!
Why Not Spread RC Knowledge via the Internet? Reform and Orthodox RC?
Is it Rational to be Transgender?
Must Discharging Boredom be Difficult?
Speeding up Liberation? The Next Step After Splitting up Into Oppressed Groups is What?
Harvey’s Biggest Innovation Sometimes Ignored
If You Hate Reading, Read This
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A picture of a young Harvey Jackins. (Image from https://www.neilmarcus.com/gallery-1.)
(Neil has nothing to do with this blog and we never met or communicated.)
Dear Harvey 