Susan Schachterle, is author of the 2006 book The Bitch, the Crone, and the Harlot in which she presents a compelling new vision of the possibilities for women at midlife. For both men and women, she believes that we have only scratched the surface of the power and possibility inherent in the human mind and heart. As Director of the Ahimsa Institute, she has spent over two decades assisting individuals and organizations to find and implement their inherent power, wisdom, and joy. She has worked with a wide variety of organizations, including the government of Singapore, Ticino International Women’s Club, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory. She says her work is based on her fierce and unwavering belief that just about everything is possible for just about everyone, once they focus their energy in the most appropriate and powerful direction, and align their internal images, goals, and self-talk. In her work, Susan uses an array of tools, including Thought Field Therapy (TFT) and neurolinguistic programming (NLP), to ensure that her clients can access their own natural excellence in any situation.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
The positive turns on conventionally negative labels are very interesting, especially for “harlot” where corrupted carnality is reconfigured as open-minded exploratory sensuality. Reminds me of how meanings can be flipped between positive and negative in Tarot, simultaneously depending upon and modifying the overall context.
Dr. Dave’s post-interview comments about the life experiences of the head-turningly attractive recalled a series of questions that I have long pondered, usually motivated by contemplation of a female who strikes me as unusually, almost supernaturally, beautiful: While I may be quite sure that almost anyone would judge her attractive, is my estimation of her 99th-percentile gorgeousness universal, or is it a subjective personal preference? Would a random sample survey put her merely at the 75th or 80th percentile? Are there people who actually would be judged nearly unanimously to have an attractiveness quotient in the 95th or higher percentile, based upon face-to-face real life observation, i.e. excluding the enhanced artificial public persona of models and celebrities? How much of what is perceived as exceptional beauty is purely physiological, and how much is personality, spirit, or otherwise the product of non-physiological animation? Would a brain/mind/personality transplant transform the breathtakingly gorgeous to the merely pretty, or vice versa? How does being extraordinarily attractive affect one’s personal development, experience of the world, and expectations and perceptions of other people?
In a series of early Dilbert comic strips, the male staff members in Dilbert’s office are sent to attend a sensitivity training workshop where they are asked to imagine they are women, visualize what their life would be like, and describe what they are experiencing. They respond along the lines of “people smile at me for no reason,” “doors are held open”, “I receive friendly offers of help and special favours”, etc., totally missing the intended point of the exercise and then refusing to terminate the visualization session, “no, I’m never going back!” Obviously a joke, but setting aside the gender component, it does provoke the question — to what extent does this represent a real difference in the life experiences of the “beautiful people” of either gender? How does it affect them?
I would assume some of these questions have been scientifically studied within psychology, but I haven’t so far come across reporting of such.
Phenomenal interview! I esp[ecially liked the way that you encouraged your guest to say more about each question. And I liked that you shared at least one of your own mid-life shifits. You are a very accessible and delightful interviewer. Also, the format of the show is excellent.
I have now listened to all of the shows from #25 to this current issue. I have learned and laughed and cryed and added at least 30 books to the list of things that I will be reading soon. I have created a bookmark folder for Shrink Rap and flagged the many wonderful links that the show notes refer to.
Great work!
Terre Spencer
i must say, it is delightful to be someone who is not conventially pretty. in aging, i seem to feel more excitement at growing wiser than loss at becoming less pretty. thank you for the provoking interview and post-interview comments.