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Self-Actualization: An Integral Phase of Ethical Character by Wayne Clark, D.Min.
In a fascinating way, Margaret Mahler, et. al. (2000) describe in, The Psychological Birth of the Human Infant Symbiosis and Individuation, the developmental process a person has from birth through the first thirty-six months. Moving away from the normal autism phase to discovering the self within relationship to (an)other (the beginning of object constancy), an individual begins to conceptualize presence and place of relationship(s) through identifying or creating a sense of an internal image (object constancy). Murray Bowen relates this early developmental phase as the birthing place for self-differentiation within the context of the significant other(s) in a person's world. Rene Spitz and Heinz Kohut understand the early developmental period as a process of involving object relationships with age specific tasks and the complex task of internalizing object(s) in order to fully evolve within a balanced sense-of-self identifiable from others. Along the journey of developing into a healthy psychological and physical being, there is another journey taking place that is just as crucial, interwoven into the first, the journey of moral and spiritual development. One may argue the point that this second journey has as much of a genetic origin as does the first.
The parallel trek to physical and psychological development is the journey through a moral and spiritual maze. While physical and psychological development are significantly influenced by genetics and environment; moral and spiritual growth are profoundly influenced by familial, social, and circumstantial conditioning interconnected with emotional, psychological, physical, and spiritual need fulfillment integral to relational systems.
In humanistic psychology, Abraham Maslow formulated a new theory on motivation. According to Maslow, individuals have six kinds of needs: physiological needs, safety needs, belongingness needs, love needs, self-esteem needs, and ultimately, the need for self-actualization. Ironically, these six basic needs can be identified as anchor or pivot points of many biblical narratives underscoring the roots of moral development and ethics.
In Genesis, God places Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden where their physiological needs were appropriately met. With awakening of conscious and early emotions as shame and fear, humans are clothed and the internalization of boundary formation begins. When Cain kills Abel, Cain is disciplined by God, but also protected by God, assuring his safety. Issues related to physical needs and safety needs are in abundance throughout early Biblical narratives. Noah's ark provides shelter as well as being stocked with food for humans and animals alike. A rainbow becomes a symbol for safety. Lot's home becomes a sanctuary for visiting messengers. Out of her meager supplies the widow sits a meal before the Prophet. The Prophet, Elisha, in turn, restores her son's life.
Adam and Eve are endeared to one another in a scene of Maslow's word, belongingness, by the Genesis writer's description of their physical and emotional bonding. Later, the writer recalls the innate need humans have to "call upon the name of God," symbolic of a spiritual yearning to be connected, transcending one's physical being. The need to belong and be part of another and community is weaved deeply into the covenant history God initiates and without, humans are left empty and unfulfilled.
Qualities of Maslow's "love need" on a continuum from emotional dependency to intimacy are expressed in stories such as Esau's pain in the loss of his rightful blessing, Jacob's desire for Rachel, and God's response to Israel's children in slavery.
Maslow's recognition of self-esteem as a basic need takes us to the storyteller's dialogue regarding God's own words in the story of creation, "It was good." The words imply that God is confident with God's own competence. Further, it would seem the work of the Prophets would have been dismal without a good dose of self-esteem as they faced their adversaries and a society who held the collective prophetic community, often times, in suspect.
William Crain (2009) in Theory of Development writes that Maslow, in his research and studies, was most interested in the drive for the fulfillment of the person's highest need, self-actualization. Maslow believed that an individual's needs were arranged in a hierarchical order. In a simplistic way, this hierarchy of needs can be understood by a person's physiological need, such as hunger, needing to be met before the individual fixes the lock on the door, a task that might be related to the need for safety. When an individual's psychological self-discipline is thwarted, processes such as delayed gratification, or impulse control, do not reach levels of age-appropriate maturity and mental exercises such as negative thinking, entitlement, and obsessive thought take on a sense of driven-ness. Need-deficiency is then carried and connected into the next need level. Referring back to the Genesis narrative illustrating this driven-ness, the storyteller says:
"Once when Jacob was cooking some stew, Esau came in from the open country famished. He said to Jacob, 'Quick, let me have some of that red stew! I'm famished!' Jacob replied, 'First sell me your birthright.'"
"'Look, I am about to die,' Esau said. 'What good is the birthright to me?'"
"But Jacob said, 'Swear to me first.' So he swore an oath to him, selling his birthright to Jacob" (Genesis 25:29-33, New International Version).
Throughout the Genesis narrative of Abraham, Jacob, and Esau stories, Esau's lack of ability to fully integrate the psychological developmental process into the hierarchy of needs is evident. Individual and collective stories of Esau and Jacob remind us of the illusiveness attached to reaching and maintaining the level of self-actualization.
Maslow defined self-actualization as "a concept borrowed from Goldstein (1939), as . . . the actualization of one's potentials, capacities, and talents" (Crain, 2009, 373). Maslow's research, as reported by Crain (2009), suggested that people he identified as achieving self-actualization were by degrees independent of society and "are more spontaneous, free, and natural" (373). Self-actualizers are dedicated to growing their inner sense of well-being and their personal mission in life. They are out-of-the-box thinkers and at the same time, creatively see beauty for the first time over and over in nature, people, and life in general. They can be struck by awe and wonder and have the ability to value people as they are. The downside of Maslow's description is that some people might interpret his description of self-actualizers as mavericks, too self-absorbed, and not playing by the rules. For the purpose of how the movement toward self-actualization helps to define one's degree of moral and ethical character, attentiveness to the growth of one's inner nature by maintaining a sense of childlikeness wonder and awe, appreciation for life, spontaneity to being open, receptive and valuing the presence of the other (another) are qualities of self-actualization that cannot be ignored.
One of the key elements of early Biblical narratives that grows from the history of the covenant with God and humans, is the introduction of the Ten Commandments. One can imagine Moses writing or dictating his memories and pausing when he comes to the first Sinai visit. His mind opens doors that flood his conscious with long ago scenes of the bush that is not consumed by fire, his sandals neatly placed four feet behind him, his hands stretched out as if he is receiving the tablets once again, and then appear to slowly drop a few inches as if they were just being placed in his outstretched hands by the hands of God.
Over the centuries, laws that have governed human behavior across cultures and societies have their roots in the Ten Commandments. Morals are a baseline for ethics as ethical decisions are based on morally relevant action. A strong and consistent moral base keeps ethics from being subject to convenience, multiple choice, or redesigned by power brokers.
In Kohlberg's six stages of moral development, Stage One is identified as "Obedience and Punishment Orientation." William Crain (2009) notes that by instruction and discipline, a child "learns or assumes there are a fixed set of rules that he or she unquestionably must obey" (154). This thought parallels Maslow's understanding of how the free-will, freshness, and spontaneity of the child's inner nature is suppressed "through socializing agents attempting to direct and teach them things" (Crain, 375). Children are to degrees criticized, corrected, and goaded into the right answers, losing the enthusiasm to trust in themselves and their senses. Within this context, morals become less integrated as a sense of true-self and conscious and often more a set of rules to be followed, receiving external approval and acceptance by an internal stern parental image until the next decision related to good/bad, right/wrong comes across the mental screen. In societies and professional associations where morals and ethics are supposed to matter, while responding to human needs and social order, rules and laws often replace an integrative moral consciousness and ethical character. Rules and laws often carry punitive overtones and manipulative undercurrents usually controlled by power brokers, and can encourage underdeveloped moral conscious and ethical character.
Professions as ministry and counseling expressed in the context of Pastoral Counseling, Marriage and Family Therapy, or Pastoral ministry are principle demonstrators of how Maslow's six basic needs parallel moral development and ethical character culminating in self-actualization.
The intellectual, emotional, and behavioral maturing of a person's sense of right or wrong requires positive models for discerning, appropriately guiding while honoring individual choices, creating an atmosphere within safe boundaries to explore troubling invasive thoughts, regretted decisions, and unhealthy behaviors. Professionals who counsel individuals along this pathway must own the realization that in the hour, in the sermon, in the visit, in the session, they, too, are on similar journeys. A major factor revealing movement toward self-actualization is being able to differentiate self from other and sustain a healthy identity and proper perspectives of each other's purpose and presence.
In her book, An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor (2009) quotes Henry David Thoreau, "Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of too much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something" (107). The secret to succeeding in this advice is not to use morals as external judgmental projectile missiles or ethical principles isolated from conscious. To be good for something is to strive for and work toward an integrated sense of self and well-being. In this sense, pastors, counselors, teachers, and just about anyone become self-actualizers when they truly understand and value self and other. Jesus set the tone when He took the Ten Commandments and summarized them in this way: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:27, NIV).
As Margaret Mahler theorized, the process of individuation is being able to conceptualize a self separate from the other. I would add paralleling this process is the ability to experience basic needs being met and some day coming to realize the significance of how intricately woven together the psychological birth of the self and well-being are with a moral and ethical sense of self.
Crain, William. (2005). Theories of development: Concepts and applications. New York: Pearson/Prentice Hall.
Mahler, Margaret, Fred Pine, & Anni Bergan Mahler. (2000). The psychological birth of the human infant symbiosis and individuation. Jackson, TN: Perseus Distribution.
Taylor, Barbara Brown. (2009). An altar in the world: A geography of faith. New York: Harper/Collins Publishers.


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And what timing. I just got back from Wendy's. Recently, many fast food chains in Canada have taken a different route. Typically, the standard Canadian fast food portion is smaller than the American equivalent. However, I was just asked if I wanted a small, medium, or large meal. I've never been asked that before. Apparently, we've switched to the American sizing system, as my "medium" was the size of our previous large. It was delicious, but now I feel rotten.
Robert once mentioned that college towns, such as mine, are lucky in terms of dining because we have access to so many inexpensive yet satisfying meal options, and plenty of ethnic choices, too. The family-owned takeout spots outweigh the chains in number. My favorite takeout spot in town is a Cambodian restaurant. For $10 CAD, I can get Phanaeng Kai, a spicy chicken curry dish with enough rice to last two meals, and a Coke. The food tastes better, is equally (if not more) filling, and costs the same as the Wendy's meal I just ordered. In terms of production cost, it can't be that much worse than fast food. Most of the dish is just white rice.
I don't think we're necessarily talking about "healthy" foods. I think we're leaning towards health-conscious food. For example, the Mitsitam Cafe Robert speaks of (which I had the pleasure of dining at in January but never had a chance to finish my D.C. trip report) serves cafeteria-style food in several stations based on different American Indian tribes. You can still get a burger at the Great Plains station, but it's made with house ground buffalo and duck, roasted pepper Dijonaise, smoked tomatoes, aged cheddar cheese, and served with Chili spiced fries. Definitely not a healthy meal, but at least your body will thank you for some real nourishment.
As for not enjoying the experience, I mentioned in another thread that people get bothered about minor theming mishaps, like the view of Soarin' from Canada at Epcot, but don't seem to care that they are eating cheeseburgers in a land themed as Egypt. There have been some incredible advancements in rides and shows. Let's see some advancements with food.
Especially since I'm Asian (what... you couldn't tell from my picture????) I always love me some good ol' rice, veggies, and seafood. To me-- that beats a burger any day. Whenever my equally Asian family goes theme parking with me, they always stare at the menus for a loooooooong time. (And it doesn't help that my dad's a pediatrician helping many obese children). Burger? Oily. Fries? Salt and oil. Salad? Aw, it's not so yummy.
I say... take foreign food concepts to parks. Aka... more Italian food! More Asian food! More grilled food. And the good thing about lots of Italian and Asian dishes is... you can make a variety of foods using similar ingredients (not that expensive) and MORE SOUPS!!! I don't see how any soup can be unhealthy or expensive to make.
I think variety is the most important thing. The reason I love Epcot so much is because of the world showcase. One of my favorites there is Restaurant Akershus. Norweigan food, I never knew I was a fan until I went there. If only all parks had this much variety.
In a sense, many parks do have variety, but it is only in the restaurants and not at the food stands. For example, if you have the time to eat at Islands of Adventure, you can sit down at Mythos and have a great meal that is both flavorful and healthy. Last time I was there, my wife and I both ordered the ceviche which was a chef's special that day. My wife and I loved it! And my wife is from Peru, so she knows her ceviche. If we didn't have the time (or the money) to sit at Mythos, what would our options have been? Probably the usual. Pizza, burgers, fries, chicken tenders. I think the stands could use a bit of variety to help spice things up.
Restaurants are tricky business, they have a fairly slim profit margin, and it's not always easy for them to be real moneymakers. Because of that, quality of ingredients (better cuts of meat, fresh veggies, etc) sometimes takes a backseat to the bottom line. In fact, it's one of the first things subject to cost cutting when times get tight. Drawing the balance between quality and financial viability isn't the easiest thing, but with consumers, quality tends to wins out over price if they are able to keep the price reasonable. A good first step would be improving the quality of ingredients.
I think the second step for many parks would be to open up more sit down restaurants. Food stands serve grease, fat, and sugar because it's quick, easy, and cheap. Opening up more places where the food is prepared instead of pulled out of a plastic bag is a start. There's a bit of a "feeding trough/school cafeteria" mentality with a lot of these places because they have to deal with crowd control. When thousands of people break for lunch at the same time, it's a tough task to feed them quickly. Also, many guests are perfectly fine with grabbing the cheeseburger basket or a hot dog for lunch, and may balk at a sit down place that's a little pricier. Staffing more of these restaurants may be tricky for some seasonal parks, but there are plenty of culinary arts majors in college. There are plenty of people in the park (I'm one of them) that would gladly sit down to breakfast, lunch, or dinner with wait service, and pay a little more for a freshly cooked, well prepared dish. Look at it this way, many leave the park and go out to dinner at Outback, TGI Fridays, etc. Why wouldn't they stay in the park and have a meal in a restaurant of similar type and price?
Again, a lot of those decisions are purely financial. It costs more to operate such a restaurant; hence there is an element of risk that profit won't be maximized. Seasonal parks only have a few months to make their money and they have bills to pay. If people are gobbling up the junk at food stands, then why take the financial risk? It's a case of "corporate responsibility vs. personal responsibility", even though that choice doesn't always include a wide variety within the park gates. Ultimately, it's the consumer that determines what is successful and what isn't, and if they wish to eat their way into oblivion, they are going to find somewhere to do it.
Something interesting that I would want to know if I'm in management. How many people leave the park for lunch, or go out to dinner at a restaurant after their visit? If that number is high, the parks are missing out on money and guest satisfaction. If the number isn't high, than people seem to be happy with what they have. I'm sure the data would vary by park, region, and culture, but I would be very surprised if that number wasn't high in many of the seasonal parks.
I often go to the parks for an escape from D2D life and that includes my D2D diet. I really look forward to that Dole whip pineapple float or a good old funnel cake at MK.
Everything in moderation! If the "full figured" traveler would get to the parks more and do some 10 mile daily treks they would probably lose a couple inches off the old waistline...I'm just saying.
But yeah, I get your point! I would like to see a fruit cart at every theme park first!

subset: commoncrawl


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text: New MEPA Regulations Should Speed Process By: Eric T. Berkman June 15, 1998 Many Matters Will Quicken Or Be Exempted Subscribe Login Email Address: Password: Already a paid subscriber but not registered for online access yet? For instructions on how to get premium web access, click here.Forgot your password? Share this:EmailPrintFacebookLinkedInTwitterGoogle +1 1:00 am Mon, June 15, 1998 Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Eric T. Berkman


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Join 500,000+ Artists
Its' free and it takes less than 10 seconds!
Hello, CA. I'm 17, and only just recently decided to completely dive into improving seriously.
Current Major sources of inspiration come from the SIXMOREVODKA studio, Feng Zhu, and Ian McQue.
I hope to update regularly. All critique is appreciated.
Last edited by Sopu; August 12th, 2012 at 05:51 PM.
I need to set more time aside for drawing. First two are from pocket-sized moleskine. Decided to move on from the David sketch. Eyes are frustrating.
Update. Nude lady and some 60-second Posemaniacs. I've begun doing them daily, trying to grasp the forms.
Good start with the studies. Keep it up!
Sketchbook | Website |
Great start! That owl is stunning
Jealousssss For 17 you show a lot of technique. Moreeeee!
Sketchbook: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...4232&p=3764731
Portfolio Help: http://www.conceptart.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=274228
Thanks, guys. Here's some more Posemaniacs and a drawing I did in my pocket Moleskine. Not very satisfied with the former, seems to me like I have to do a good amount of them (around 40 60-second poses) before I'm able to make them flow well.
Posemaniacs, sketch of a statue of Dante Alighieri, and a bit of Hogarth.
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SpringOfSea's Sketchbook


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The Hon Tony Burke MP
Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
Uluru wins top tourism award
Media release
18 February 2013
The iconic Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park has taken out the top prize at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards, being named the country's best major tourist attraction.
Environment Minister Tony Burke today congratulated the park's traditional owners, board and staff on their win.
"Uluru is, in so many ways, the spiritual red heart of Australia – everyone should visit it at least once," Mr Burke said.
"Uluru has been recognised, environmentally and culturally, as one of the most precious places on the planet with its listing on the World Heritage List.
"You can't help but be awed by the sheer visual power and spirituality of Uluru and Kata-Tjuta. As the judges found, the world-class tourism experiences on offer at this outstanding World Heritage attraction are testament to the active management by generations of Aboriginal traditional owners.
"I have seen the hard work of traditional owners and park staff to look after this place for all Australians. The breadth of their work is incredible, covering everything from cultural tours and dot painting workshops in the Cultural Centre, to maintaining rock art and sacred sites, keeping visitors safe and looking after the stunning landscapes, plants and animals of the park.
"Just one of these animals is the mala or the rufous-hare wallaby. This little creature is sacred to Uluru's traditional owners – the mala or rufous-hare wallaby people are their creation ancestors. Today mala are extinct in the wild, but the park is helping keep the species alive, successfully breeding them in a feral-proof paddock – a tremendous effort to save a threatened species and to keep alive traditional cultural ties.
"I know I'm not alone in my passion for Uluru. More than 250,000 people visit the park each year, many of them from overseas, delivering economic benefits back to the communities of Central Australia. From the many and varied jobs at Ayers Rock Resort, to tourists spending on hotel rooms, local artworks, souvenirs, groceries and petrol, Uluru is a place that gives back a lot to Australia.
"I'd also like to congratulate one of Kakadu's key Aboriginal tour operators Gagudju Dreaming who took out the prize for best major tour or transport operator for their stunning Yellow Water Cruises. The award is recognition of the quality product being delivered by Aboriginal tourism businesses and Kakadu's role as a major visitor destination."
Uluru traditional owner and board member Sammy Wilson collected the major tourist attraction award on behalf of everyone who looks after the park, speaking passionately in his traditional language of Pitjantjatjara and in English.
"This is everybody's award. It says 'we're here' to Australia, we're from the centre of Australia, and we thank everybody from Australia for this award," Mr Wilson said.
"We're working together, the Australian Government, the park, the board, the people, we're all working together to welcome visitors to come and see us, see what we're doing, sharing our place with people from around the world."
For more information visit www.environment.gov.au/parks/uluru/index.html


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*Color & Style representation may vary by monitor. Not responsible for typographical or pictorial errors. Product availability varies by store and online. Some in-store purchases require special order and markdown styles cannot be special ordered. Contact your local store for details.