In 1971 through 1973 as I studied Cultural Anthropology, Philosophy and Psychology I found a way to stay alive

Do you live for your parents and friends or do you live for yourself?

This is an important question to ask yourself especially if you are going through a self destructive phase like people often do in their late teens and early 20s.

I found myself very loyal to my parents like they were loyal to me. We were the three musketeers "All for one and one for all" very loyal to each other.

However, I am not them I am me. And discovering the fullness of what this means to me was very painful.

However, when I studied first philosophy (the foundation of all modern Sciences) and then psychology and Cultural Anthropology I began to see how I could find a way and survive and not self destruct.

I began to see that what I was dealing with primarily as a self destructive influence was Shunning

Shunning

Act of social rejection, or emotional distance

 In beginning to understand how many thousands to millions of people around the world die DIRECTLY from Shunning I began to start to make headway in my life towards staying alive.

In 1969 it was a very different time than now in that my generation of Baby Boomers were in psychological Conflict with very repressive parts of the world that we dealt with then. We were anti-Blowing up the world with nukes or other weapons. Older generations had no idea how to cope with us because we were so different than anyone who had come before. We were willing to demonstrate and fight for what we believed in especially using the techniques of peaceful demonstrations like Mahatma Gandhi.

So, people in my church who were very conservative Republicans didn't know what to do with me. I was just too FREE for them to cope with. I loved everyone. I drove in my 1968 Camaro that I bought new (much jealousy) for a 20 year old with a new car. I dated the most beautiful girls in my church. I seemed spoiled to them that I surfed, I skied, I Scuba Dived I was smart, Tall, Handsome and was much desired by the women in my church.

However, the old guard of the church was into Celibacy and this wasn't my goal even though I was always a gentleman. Also, people in my church were upset (because of their celibacy) that my parents had married and had had me in 1948 and were then put in charge of the main Church in Los Angeles when I was 6 years old.

So, this came to a head when I was 21 years old and I separated from the church because of this. Then around the same time my friend who was going to UCLA that was a mountain climbing friend like me and rock climbing person too and a beach person like me too into body surfing and snorkeling and stuff like this got kicked out for having a rock and roll band from our church and for opening for Chicago at the LA Forum (Chicago is a rock group from that era).

 

So, soon both of us were out of our church.

 

So, i went from hundreds or thousands of friends in our church worldwide from the U.S., Europe, Australia and New Zealand to just a few friends who either left the church when I did or who were more tolerant and more progressive themselves and found ways to stay within the church.

 

So, I left the church in 1969 in the fall. So, by 1971 I was attending in San Marcos, CA. Palomar College for a couple of years and I got interested in staying alive by studying first Philosophy with Mt. Sager who was or is still a teacher there who became a mentor to me at that time along with his wife. Then I found a Psychology Today Magazine and started seeing my whole life in a new context I had never considered before. Then I took a course called "The psychology of Growth and Development" which was about creating your own life and reinventing yourself for survival in the 1960s and 1970s which helped me a lot. Then I began dating a girl from this college whose name was Glendi. Then, I became interested in becoming a psychologist to help others who were going through what I was going through but also in 1973 I met my first wife and she got pregnant and so we got married.

 

I found myself happy to be a father and to be married because finally my life made some sense to me whereas before it made no sense to stay alive from about 1969 to 1973. It's true I dated a lot of girls during this time but this didn't make me want to stay alive for me at all. So, I stayed alive for them out of love and respect for them not myself.

 

However, with a son and a marriage I was able to get over myself and move on with my life and start or buy businesses to support my wife and son ongoing after that.

 

But, it all began with taking a philosophy course with Mr. Sager and he and his wife becoming a mentor for me in my life then.

 

So, often studying things like Philosophy, Psychology and Cultural Anthropology can keep you alive when nothing else will

 

By God's Grace