”Let us look at a new expression of the feminine.  Unlike Aphrodite, who was born from the sea, Psyche was born when a dewdrop fell on the land.  This change from the ocean of Aphrodite to the land of Psyche is a progression from the early oceanic feminine quality to a new form which is more human-like.  From oceanic proportions we move to a smaller more comprehensible scale.
     Psyche’s nature is so magnificent, so innocent, so unworldly, so virginal that she is worshipped; but she is not courted.  This is an utterly lonely experience and poor Psyche can find no husband.
     In this sense, there is a Psyche in every woman, and it is an intensely lonely experience for her.  Every woman is, in part, a king’s daughter, too lovely, too perfect, too deep for the ordinary world.  When a woman finds herself lonely and not understood, when she finds that people are good to her but stay just a little distance away, she has found the Psyche nature in her own person.  This is a painful experience and women are often aware of it without knowing its origin.  To be caught in this aspect of the feminine character is to remain untouched and unrelated.
     All manner of nonsense goes on when a woman tries to bring her Psyche nature into the everyday give-and-take of relationship.  If the Psyche nature is a large part of a woman, she has a painful task on her hands.  She bursts into tears and says, “But nobody understands me.”  And it is true!  Every woman has this quality within her; it makes no difference what her station in life may be.  If you see this quality and can touch it in a woman, the great beauty and divinity of a Psyche can be made conscious in her and a noble evolution begins.” 

Mirror neurons have been implicated in consciousness and in autism.  They allow you to watch another human do something and learn from their behavior without you actually having to do that behavior.  They’re located primarily in the prefrontal cortex.  Many species have them.

(Source: jollityfarm, via ikenbot)

Carl Honore praises slowness

Journalist Carl Honore believes the Western world’s emphasis on speed erodes health, productivity and quality of life. But there’s a backlash brewing, as everyday people start putting the brakes on their all-too-modern lives.