Judith Kaye's Life Lessons

Some words of wisdom from the NYS Chief Justice.

April 16, 2007

Active-Negative Personality: How the personality of greatness even with its pitfalls should be celebrated.

Alienation: From a psychitaric term to a societal problem needing treatment.

Believe: When you believe you can do great things.

Canned Reality: A discussion of video games, and television, and their effects on society.

Dealing with Depression: A look beyond medicine for truth.

Exploring and Questioning Madness: Andrew questions what it means to be 'mad' or insane, and how such a categorization both benefits and hurts society.

Feeling Good: What it means to have feelings as humans.

Flashbacks: A look at memories that get stirred up and force us to see today in yesterday's light.

Individual Making Friends: The importance of giving part of the self up to be a good friend.

Legitimate Feelings: How mass-society forces us to have certain kinds of feelings.

Man and His Political Acts: Radical behaviorialism and the class based vote.

Narcissism: Be a self advocate, but remember humanity.

Narrow Minded: We need to think beyond our narrow perspectives.

New Toy Feeling: What it feels like for an adult to get a new toy to play with...

Not My Choosing: So much of our lives are not under our control.

On 'Loners' and the Solitary Life Style: Why so called loners and those who choose to live a solitary life-style are not disfunctional or evil.

Our Own Worst Enemy: Personal reflection on what it means to be an individual and my experience of the world around me.

Passionate Words: Short poem about passion versus anger.

Politics of Self-Reflection: A look at writing and self-reflection and the challenges it poses.

Pyromania: Some thoughts on the love of fire and arsonists.

Redefining Ourselves Beyond Labels: Too often we deny ourselves flexibility by binding ourselves to labels.

Revenge Never Works: One upping another person will never make things better, only worst.

Routine: A Great Danger: We routinely do many things in our lives, without considering the potential abuse that routine creates.

Schizophrenia and Society: A look at how we define this social construct.

Smile a Little Smile: Our faces reveal a lot about how we see our world.

Social Context of Writing: Why our own words seem so foreign over time.

Social Control Breaksdown: Why society can't always protect itself from the individual.

Sublimation: A Way to Truth and Freedom: Reasons why we should try to appease our unsocial desires instead of repressing them.

The 'R.D. Laing Problem': Andrew looks at phenomenology, our notion of experience, and how we see each other and ourselves.

The Colorful World of the Web: Thoughts on the use of color in websites and how it's careful application can promote a desired message.

Thoughts on Autism: Autism is a difficult communications disorder.

Understanding Behavior: How the interaction of environment, experience, and the autonomous individual define interaction.

What Does Anger Mean Today?: A look at 'public' anger as a legitimate reaction to a sometimes disfunctional political society.

What Does Courage Mean Today?: A look at the contemporary meaning of courage in a society that shuns it.

What Does Hate Mean Today?: Some thoughts on hate and political action.

What is a Nervous Breakdown?: How such psychological stresses can be transforming experiences.

Why Go to Psychotherapy?: Psychotherapy help you find yourself as an individual.

Why I am Crazy: Some lists explaining how I view the world, and mocking the social control notion of psychology.

Judith Kaye's Life Lessons

Judith Kaye is the Chief Justice of the New York State Court of Appeals, the court of last resort in the New York justice system. She was ever so gracious to come and speak to the 2007 NYS Assembly Internship class about a month ago.

She had five important life lessons to share with the Intern class:

1) Sometimes a little adversity can be a life lesson.

2) Every now its good to go back to square one and find out what is meaningful to you.

3) When you reach a cross roads – take it.

4) Never doubt how a small group of thoughtful people can change the world.

5) When enlisted in a good cause – never turn back.

Those ideas are not all original, but they can be very meaningful in the context of a life. It was very gracious of her to take some time out of her busy schedule and speak to us, and give us such wisdom. Thank you Judith Kaye!

Backyard
From the Vromans Nose Series. Added 6/3/08.