Kelly Tobey's Training Background:
Steps
Along The Path
Growth Tools: by
Kelly Tobey
Listed
are various books, tapes, workshops and
other growth tools.
I have been asked “Kelly what
steps have you taken in your journey of personal and spiritual
growth?” Of course the pat answer is - every moment of my life has
been an experience leading to more growth. While that answer has merit,
it is not very helpful when the question was asked in an attempt to gain
some ideas of tools, that the questioner might want to utilize on their
journey.
So this will be a
list of some of the tools that I have used. Some I valued much more than
others.
I want to be
crystal clear that because something is on this list does not mean I
agree with all the ideas or principals presented through the tool,
whether it is a book, a tape, or a workshop. In fact some of the
material I strongly disagree with. In particular in some workshops I
learned a lot about what not to do as a facilitator or as a person. What
was being presented, and the way it was being presented, seemed quite
flawed in some areas. (Of course that is just my perception. What seems
like a flaw to me can seem like an asset to someone else.)
But just because something is flawed in places does not mean that
there is not valuable gems in the midst. Everything on this list is here
because, whether I saw flaws or not, I also saw some gems in it that
were useful for me in my journey.
In approaching any
of this material I would suggest you use your discernment and your
intuition. Many people present their ideas as if the ideas where firmly
based in some ultimate truth. When anyone presents something this way I
suggest you use even more caution and discernment when approaching their
material.
My sense is that
when we have not made peace with the mysteries and uncertainties of life
we will try to fit the universe into a structure of our own making. And
then call that structure the “truth”. And then try to get as many
people as possible to agree with us in order to shore up our rightness
(righteousness). And then back up our theories with the theories of
others that have gone before us and insisted on their rightness.
I am not suggesting
that ideas about the ways things work are not valuable. It can give
some common ground. Perhaps many theories about life are ultimate
truths, but if I think that with my limited capacity as a human being
that I am grandiose enough to be able to tell for certain what is or is
not an ultimate truth, I would be delusional.
What I do get to do
is discern what works for me in the moment and what seems to be the
closest thing to a functional truth that I can gage for now. But what I
find to be healthy for myself, is to stay open to letting go of any
belief system that I am presently functioning under, so as to make room
for something even more clear or expansive to replace it.
I have experienced
many belief systems and ideas that have at one time moved me forward.
Those same belief systems have held me back when it was time to expand
beyond them but I did not release them. Whenever I have decided that I
know all there is to know about something, I have stopped my possibility
for learning more. When I think I know it all, I cannot even see that
there is more to learn.
My sense is that we
all have our unique journeys to make. I will share some of the steps on
my journey and leave it up to you to discern if any of them will serve
you.
Bodywork: Nutrition / Dancing / Rock Climbing / Massage