Imagine this!

It’s “just your imagination.” JUST your imagination? Imagination is the single most powerful force in your life! We should not ignore our imagination. Imagination can make you sick, or calm you down or ensure success. Picture this. You walk in to work and someone says, What happened to you? You don’t look so good! Then a little bit later, a coworker says, Are you feeling okay? Suddenly you realize that maybe you aren’t feeling so well. Maybe you’re coming down with something...

Did that ever happen to you?!

Imagination is very powerful, that's why hypnosis is so effective.

You see hypnosis employs the imagination to make changes!

What is hypnosis? Please see my other blog, Verbal Impact. It is all about Hypnosis!

Thank you for reading!

Deft or Daft?

As you know I like monosyllablic words.

Today I am intrigued by deft, and daft.

I think I may have written about daft a few years ago. It seems the British like to use that word.

Daft -- adj. silly, crazy. From Old English (OE). It's related to daffy.

Deft -- adj. apt, able, adept. It may be related to that word...? But it says that deft is from OE (the same word as daft) and adept from Latin. For some reason I came up with all words that begin with "a." This dictionary says skillful, and adroit.

There is a hypnosis presentation tonight at Books-A-Million in Palm Harbor FL. We will have several hypnotists deftly demonstrate hypnotic techniques to help you relax, reduce anxiety, and instill confidence. All of our presenters are deft. Some are even daft. Read about it on my other blog, Verbal Impact.

Please join us at 7PM!

Collaborate or Corroborate?

Collaborate means to work with someone else.

Corroborate means to find additional evidence for something.

I got these confused this week. Not exactly. What I did was use the wrong one.

I have been trying to corroborate the information I found on the benefits of hypnosis therapy for dementia. But I was saying I needed to collaborate this information.

Collaborate -- to work jointly with others, especially in an intellectual endeavor; to cooperate. From Latin.

Corroborate -- to support with evidence or authority, to confirm. From Latin.

Persist

Persistence is the word of the day. My instructor, Dr. Richard Harte, has conducted studies on this and has found that the difference between those who acheive goals and those who don't is ... drumroll please ...



Persistence!



What a surprise!



The fortunate thing is that you can increase motivation and persistence using hypnotism or self-hypnosis.

I will be speaking at the Tarpon Springs Public Library about how to achieve your goals, specifically your New Year's Resolutions on January 3, 2008.

Yes it is almost 2008!!!

Paradigm shift

I think I heard it in a song on the radio. "Paradigm shift" was used to indicate a transition. It's a nice way to say it. I think most people realize how difficult transition can be. I tell my clients, it's not easy to make a change, but people do it every day. For example, It's not easy to quit smoking, but people do it every day. How many people do you know who have quit smoking? It seems everyone knows people who have. So it opens up a discussion of how to make the paradigm shift easier for them to become a fresh air breather. The smokers who come to me become "fresh air breathers." Not "non-smokers."

Confabulation

First, does anyone remember the TV show with David Duchovney, called the X-Files? It was very popular about 11-12 years ago. It was about 2 FBI agents who investigated unexplained phenomena. They even did make a movie...

I remember being outraged when I heard Scully on that show, say, "Everyone knows that subjects under hypnosis are prone to confabulation." This is where the misinformation about hypnosis comes from! Especially from innocent shows like Jimmy Neutron and George and Martha (cartoons).

Let me reveal the truth about confabulation and hypnosis!

I know a retired police officer in NYC who conducted a 6-year study during the late 80's and early 90’s. They also conducted the same study in California at the same time. This person and a few others used forensic hypnosis with witnesses to obtain information about the perpetrators of crimes. They kept track of all information obtained under hypnosis. In 6 years, they found the information to be 52% relevant and 95% accurate. This means the information was helpful in finding or identifying the perpetrator. But also that even if it did not lead to an arrest, it was 95% accurate.

Information which is 95% accurate is called truth, not confabulation. Confabulate means to make up information, and to assume it is true. The dictionary says to replace fact with fantasy in memory. This does happen. Human memory is not perfect. We tend to fill in details that make sense or seem reasonable if we don't exactly remember everything about an event.

The Foresic Hypnotist I have been speaking of, told me it was very important to word the questions in such a way as not to "lead the witness." Ask them to describe the event, and the people present. Don't say, "did the man have facial hair?" This will lead the subject to believe that it was a man, even if they really weren't sure. Maybe they had a mask on and a big overcoat, so the gender was unknown. And asking if there was facial hair, makes it more likely the subject will report a beard or mustache...

Now you know the facts about confabulation and hypnosis. If you see Scully, please let her know.

Confabulation -- 1. an informal chat. 2. a false memory. From Latin, to talk together, from fabulari, story, conversation.

The mystery of relaxation

I’m intrigued by common words. They are like mysteries to me. I had several conversations about different methods of relaxation yesterday.
Where does the word relaxation come from? I suspect Latin. Yesss!!! “Re” means back and “lax” means loosen, and “ation” means state of.
Meditation? Probably Latin. Right again! The Latin word “meditari” means to consider, reflect.
Hypnosis? I know this is from Greek, “hypnos,” meaning sleep. I think there might even have been a minor Greek god named “Hypnos.”

The Power of Attraction

"Resistance is futile."

My moods are determined by the news on the radio, by the songs I hear, and by the miserable people around me. There’s nothing I can do about it.

Or is there? Can I control the songs I hear… and turn off the news… and look for the positive people? Can I choose my words more carefully, knowing how powerful they are? Can I read something inspirational every morning? Can I make sure I look for things to laugh at instead of things to complain about? There are plenty of both around. Which are we going to concentrate on? Which are we going to attract? We always seem to find evidence for whatever we are concentrating on…..

That’s why I listen to positive affirmations and do self-hypnosis everyday…

For more info on this subject, see www.EnlightenedHypnosis.com

Weight loss

Who wants to lose weight? I think I gained back those 5 (or 6 or maybe 12) pounds I lost last August, eating turkey, stuffing, homemade pumpkin pies, and all those Christmas cookies! My weakness is homemade baked goodies. I better quit making pies!

Time to get out my healthy eating tape and dust off my positive affirmations for building muscle and showing off a thin waist. I make my own self-hypnosis tapes from time to time. They have helped me achieve many of my goals, like losing the fear of public speaking, staying on a weight-loss program, enhancing my creativity, and increasing confidence.

The self-hypnosis tape helps me to stay motivated even when I can't really see the results. I know the scale has to change eventually if I keep eating healthily and exercising vigorously. Giving up and getting discouraged only ensures failure. It's not easy to lose weight, but people do it every week, one day at a time. It's persistence that matters, so let me go play that tape right now!

Imagination

It’s “just your imagination.” JUST your imagination? Imagination is the single most powerful force in your life! We should not ignore our imagination. Imagination can make you sick, or calm you down or ensure success. Picture this. You walk in to work and someone says, What happened to you? You don’t look so good! Then a little bit later, a coworker says, Are you feeling okay? Suddenly you realize that maybe you aren’t feeling so well. Maybe you’re coming down with something...

More about this at www.enlightenedhypnosis.com...

Introduction

This is the philolog's blog! I am a philolog -- a lover of words and wisdom! From the Greek. Sounds like "feel a log," emphasis on the first syllable. I truly love words, the way they sound, the way they look, and the impact they have on people. I believe the pen is mightier than the sword. I just want to write about words that I like. I want to share them with others like secrets. But they aren't secrets. The dictionary is full of them! I love dictionaries. I may not have used one in a while, but I think that will change now. There are just so many interesting words.

Philolog is a variation of philologue and philologist. Related to Philosophy. There are 2 PHs in that word that sound like F. It's good that I'm studying Greek. There is no F in the Greek alphabet, however, there is a symbol with the same sound. It's called "fee." Someday I'll be sophisticated enough to include a picture of fee in my blog. Thanks for bearing with me.

I used to do the Word Power quiz in the Reader's Digest when I was in elementary school. My teachers noticed I had an excellent vocabulary. I think if you don't use it, you lose it. My 8 year-old son's favorite book is the Children's Dictionary he got a few years ago for Christmas. He has asked me just to read that book to him at bedtime. He will pick out a picture and ask me to read the definition. He hasn't done that in a while. Maybe I'll pick it up again. We're reading Mary Poppins and it has some unfamiliar words in it. Like perambulator. Who here knows what a perambulator is? It's a British term for stroller. I don't know if I've ever heard the word before, it's not very common these days, but seeing ambul in there, I recognized as walking (ambling), and figured it out from the context. We used to have to do that in my elementary school. I wonder if they do that anymore.

In this blog I hope to enliven your vocabulary, and maybe make you think. I might even inspire someone to pick up a dictionary! I really just want to share my love of words. I may include some poems or phrases that particularly sing to me. Words are my tools. I am a hypnosis consultant. I use words to help others change their behavior. It’s fascinating. Sometimes I’m quite clever. The right word can really make a difference. I will write more about this soon. Thanks for listening. And please feel free to give feedback. Nothing is this blog should be peremptory.

That’s a great word! There are 2 for today: philolog and peremptory (precluding further debate).