#follies of god

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Photographed by Martin Schoeller for The New Yorker in 2002:

 "I was hired by the New Yorker in 2002 to photograph Robin Williams, and after doing my research what stood out most for me was that he was a very physical comedian. I came up with this idea to photograph him swinging from a chandelier in a grand hotel room. Most publicists shoot down these kinds of wild ideas, so I didn't tell anyone what I was up to, but rigged up a chandelier at the Waldorf Astoria hotel for him to swing from. When Robin got there and saw what was happening, he lifted up his shirt and showed me this enormous scar on his shoulder. He'd just had surgery and couldn't so much as lift his arm. He was so disappointed! He really felt bad about not being able to do it, because he loved the idea and really wanted to help me accomplish my vision. 

Unlike most Hollywood stars, he was unfazed by his success and position. He talked to everyone from stylists to the crew, to the hotel staff. We ended up asking a maid at the hotel to swing from the chandelier instead, and I asked him to just sit there and read a newspaper, which I think in the end was an even funnier, more unexpected picture.

[Follies Of God]

#Follies of God #Martin Schoeller #The New Yorker #Robin Williams #my favorites #photography #portrait #characters #humor

[guy60660]

Follies of god

#follies of god

[bodyalive]

Illustration by Monica Garwood

* * * *

From The New York Times Well newsletter

By Carolyn Todd Feb. 9, 2024

Of the thousands of self-help books on the market, which ones are truly helpful? “It’s uncommon to find a self-help book that feels different,” said Vienna Pharaon, a marriage and family therapist in New York City.

But genuinely useful titles abound. The best of the genre invite reflection or offer practical tools to promote emotional, psychological or spiritual well-being. And there are some that therapists personally turn to or suggest to their patients.

“Almost every therapist I know has a whole list of self-help books to recommend,” said Daniel Tomasulo, a counseling psychologist and the academic director of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University.

When sorting through the self-help stacks, who better to help than mental health professionals? We asked seven to share their picks.

1. "The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World," by the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams

How do we experience joy in the face of personal and collective suffering? The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu spent five days reflecting on their own lives to answer that question, and they compiled their stories and guidance in this 2016 book.

“The Book of Joy” is an opportunity to learn from two spiritual leaders in an intimate, accessible way, said Sona Dimidjian, director of the Renée Crown Wellness Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Through their dialogue, which is punctuated with laughter and tears, the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu teach readers how to cultivate joy and work through difficulties like illness and despair. Dr. Dimidjian recommends the book to “anyone who is feeling overwhelmed by the realities of our world and daily life today,” she said.

2. "The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living," by Russ Harris

This book, first published in 2007, teaches you to accept your negative thoughts and feelings as they arise, instead of resisting or being consumed by them — a refreshing approach known as acceptance and commitment therapy.

Diana Garcia, a South Florida-based therapist, says this easy-to-read primer made her “first fall in love” with ACT. She has clients use the book as a supplement to their sessions and recommends it to friends who are feeling stuck. It teaches you how to keep taking actions that move you in a positive direction regardless of how you’re feeling, she explained.

3. "Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion," by Gregory Boyle

Gregory Boyle is a Jesuit priest who founded Homeboy Industries, a rehabilitation and re-entry program for former gang members. His 2011 book is a collection of real, raw stories about people he worked with and the lessons we can all draw from their experiences.

“Each chapter reads like a Sunday sermon to be savored and meditated upon,” said Jacob Ham, director of the Center for Child Trauma and Resilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. While faith is woven throughout the book, Dr. Ham recommends the title to anyone who feels “that their traumas and all the ways they’ve coped with them have left them broken and unredeemable.”

4. "The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity," by Julia Cameron

This 1992 workbook from Julia Cameron, a teacher and author, is a 12-week guide to recovering your sense of childlike creativity. And it’s not just for artists and writers, said Britt Frank, a trauma specialist in Kansas.

“Of all of the books I have ever used with clients, this one has the most staying power,” she said. “Because everyone is creative, and creativity is medicine.”

For years, Ms. Frank has returned to the book’s tools — like the “morning pages,” a stream-of-consciousness journaling practice. And she uses “The Artist’s Way” when treating clients with issues like depression and addiction. But skimmers beware, Ms. Frank cautioned: “It’s not a book you read. It’s a book you work.”

5. "Homecoming: Healing Trauma to Reclaim Your Authentic Self, by Thema Bryant

Thema Bryant is a trauma therapist, ordained minister and professor who offers a “distinctive lens on health, hope and healing trauma,” said Ayanna Abrams, a psychologist in Atlanta.

Drawing on her clinical work, spirituality and personal recovery from trauma, Dr. Bryant shares stories, reflections and exercises in this 2022 title. She helps people believe in their capacity to heal, Dr. Abrams explained. Dr. Bryant also avoids the “gimmicky, bypassing or vague” language that so many self-help books lean on, she added.

6. "The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality," by Ryan M. Niemiec and Robert E. McGrath

This 2019 guide helps people recognize, honor and nurture their brightest qualities, Dr. Tomasulo said. The idea of cultivating your “character strengths” comes from positive psychology, which centers on promoting well-being, he explained. “It’s about moving from focusing on ‘what’s wrong’ to ‘what’s strong.’”

People who lean into their character strengths tend to be happier, Dr. Tomasulo said. This book, he explained, is a good pick for “people who are doing OK, but want to have more joy and well-being in their life.”

[Follies of God]

#Follies of God #Self help books #NYTimes #Monica Garwood

[tennwriter]

"I felt, and I still feel, that he was a brilliant actor, a sensitive man, and an utter failure at moving from one place to another as a simple human being. I don't know why. He had so many gifts--perhaps he was burdened by them all. I don't know. Who knows anything? I was appalled at the ease so many displayed in throwing him aside; laughing at him; dismissing him. I wanted always to slap him, and then hold him close to me and beg him to get strong, get smart, get moving." --Katharine Hepburn on Montgomery Clift/Interview with James Grissom/1990/Photo of Hepburn taken by Clift on the set of "Suddenly, Last Summer"  #folliesofgod

#Katharine Hepburn #montgomery clift #tennessee williams #films of the 1950s #suddenly last summer #James Grissom #follies of god

[clarissadalloways]

Imagine my delight when I found this snippet from James Grissom’s Follies of God blog and read what Tennessee Williams himself had to say about Judith Light (and her reply to what he had to say about her), it may one of my fave (indirect) interactions ever tbh

#i was thinking about it a couple weeks back how fab judith would be in a tennessee Williams play #like she would’ve been an absolutely incredible blanche like ……. chills #could also see her being a fabulous maggie #i wish i could’ve seen her stella 😭😭😭😭 #or even if there are photos out there ….. #also love the thought of tennessee williams sitting down to watch one life to live #judith light #tennessee williams #follies of god

[alchemisoul]

"I do not subscribe to the legend of Judy Garland because I lived the reality of Judy Garland. Those who wish to mythologize her and cast her as an icon of sadness are entitled to their odd form of worship, and everything they claim about her is true. Garland was an unbridled genius, and I saw it, and I heard it, and I lived and breathed the same air in the world at the same time she did. Let's not forget her gifts and the giving of them. Let's not sacrifice yet another thing in her name in order to assuage some victimization via art. We have the work: Watch it, study it, love it, use it, be changed by it."

- Tennessee Williams, Interview with James Grissom (1982)

(Promotional shot of Judy Garland circa 1940's)

#judy garland #the wizard of oz #a star is born #meet me in st. louis #tennessee williams #follies of god #playwright #writer #writing #theatre #author #old hollywood #film #black and white #photography #photograph #art #artist #quote #1940s #1940s movies

[parastitch]

"A good teacher never lies, and a good teacher never tells you what you should be or do. A good teacher tells you what you've done, what worked, and leads you toward the full realization of a character written and waiting for full expansion. The gifts do not come from a teacher or a prayer or a regime: the gifts are within you. Always have been, always will be. The hazardous and tricky process is teasing them out, finding comfort in having them exposed, keeping them ready for use. There is a magnificence in every artist. I believe this. I do not say this to flatter, and I do not say to this to many people, but when you find an artist--and there are many and of many degrees--you husband the artist and the talent within. You walk with them. You lead them to a place they can furnish with their gifts. A good teacher does not supply these gifts, but he can and should walk the artist toward the place where they are wanted, needed, and can be used."--Elia Kazan #folliesofgod

#follies of god #teacher #teaching #elia kazan

[shittyutmv]

Hmmm maybe Ink just needs to be ironed out

ok got it. whats the next step? (context) ink by comyet //+ scrapped ver. under the cut!

blue/swap by popcornpr1nce dream by jokublog core frisk by dokudoki

#dear god they’re ironing the protector of creation #“guards. iron that guy” #“trust me ironing cat piss would probably be horrible” #-folly and maxy respectively when i showed them #because of Course im outfunnied by them #-mod kip #badly drawn utmv #utmv #undertale multiverse #undertale au #ink sans #washing machine saga #SIGHHHH #dream sans #core frisk #swap sans #the stars

[sleepnoises]

i got laid off a bit ago, which is not!! the main point of this post, being laid off is a beautiful american coming of age ritual and i am growing from the experience, etc (i am also sulking so much as you might guess from not talking about it) (but materially i'm currently fine)

the MAIN point of this post is that a tumblr user keeps making posts about their niche hobby, like informational introductory posts, that are popular enough to drift across my dash. and all of the posts are ALWAYS sourced from my tiny former employer. this one guy loves doing unpaid promotion for my ex job so much. AND unfortunately they aren't responding to me thinking negative things at them really loudly!!!

#the thing is that i do also miss my employee discount very much #anyway if anyone wants a decorative hermit for their mansion's folly i am a Vail a ble #i dont believe this person follows me btw. if you're like Oh god did i do that. as i am every time i read a vaguepost

[lady-sapphyre]

Art is a commission by the lovely @/lonelymagpies on Twitter (hence my different username in the watermark)

DIVINE FOLLIES:

Rating: explicit

Categories: F/M

Relationship: God!Gale/(named)Tav

Words: 26,771

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘥?

Four decades hence his divine ascension, the God of Ambition hungered still. Hungered for power, for glory, for worship— and for love.

Scorned by his love, a mere mortal, a slight which the mind does not forget easily, he jumps at the chance to rekindle their love affair and bring her to the heavens.

The only way they can be together still... Or is it?

Aka. Tav [redacts] the godhood out of Gale, but also God!Gale character study

#gale dekarios #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fic #bg3 gale #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav #my prose is purple be warned #my writing #fic: divine follies #god!gale #god Gale #character study

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Photograph: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

* * * *

“You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.

[…]

“I don’t mean it’s easy or assured; there are the stubborn stumps of shame, grief that remains unsolvable after all the years, a bag of stones that goes with one wherever one goes and however the hour may call for dancing and for light feet. But there is, also, the summoning world, the admirable energies of the world, better than anger, better than bitterness and, because more interesting, more alleviating. And there is the thing that one does, the needle one plies, the work, and within that work a chance to take thoughts that are hot and formless and to place them slowly and with meticulous effort into some shapely heat-retaining form, even as the gods, or nature, or the soundless wheels of time have made forms all across the soft, curved universe — that is to say, having chosen to claim my life, I have made for myself, out of work and love, a handsome life.

[…]

“And now my old dog is dead, and another I had after him, and my parents are dead, and that first world, that old house, is sold and lost, and the books I gathered there lost, or sold — but more books bought, and in another place, board by board and stone by stone, like a house, a true life built, and all because I was steadfast about one or two things: loving foxes, and poems, the blank piece of paper, and my own energy — and mostly the shimmering shoulders of the world that shrug carelessly over the fate of any individual that they may, the better, keep the Niles and the Amazons flowing. And that I did not give to anyone the responsibility for my life. It is mine. I made it. And can do what I want to with it. Live it. Give it back, someday, without bitterness, to the wild and weedy dunes.”

—Mary Oliver, “Staying Alive”

h/t The Marginalian

[via Follies Of God]

#Follies of God #The Marginalian #Mary Oliver #aging #life itself #Kevork Djansezian

[guy60660]

Marlon Brando | Anthony Quinn | Sam Shaw | Follies of god

#follies of god #sam shaw #artist #vintage #marlon brando #Anthony quinn

[ideologyofone]

WE ARE FINALLY ABOUT TO LEARN WHAT THIS MEANS TODAYS THE DAY

#god I remember this tweet when follies premiered so vividly #and it got deleted SO FAST #you just had to be there #Lindsay Smallbu has been cruising for a bruising for over a year now #and I am now her cruise director and my name is captain bruising #toh spoilers #the owl house #raine whispers #eda clawthorne #raeda #watching and dreaming #toh finale

[tennwriter]

"I don't know what to tell you. A statement is easy, and here it is: Be yourself. Try to matter. Be a good friend. Love freely, even if you are likely--almost guaranteed--to be hurt, betrayed. Do what you were created to do. You'll know what this is, because it is what you keep creeping up to, peering at, dreaming of. Do it. If you don't, you'll be punching clocks and eating time doing precisely what you shouldn't, and you'll become mean and you'll seek to punish any and all who appear the slightest bit happy, the slightest bit comfortable in their own skin, the slightest bit smart. Cruelty is a drug, as well, and it's all around us. Don't imbibe."Try to matter. Try to care. And never be afraid to admit that you just don't know, you just don't fucking know how you're going to make it. That's when the help--the human and the divine help--shows up." --Tennessee Williams/Interview with James Grissom/1982/Photo by Richard Avedon

#tennessee williams #Richard Avedon #American Writers #southern writers #follies of god #James Grissom

[broadwaydivastournament]

DONNA MURPHY IN FOLLIES, I REPEAT DONNA MURPHY IN FOLLIES

On June 20th, 2024, Transport Group will stage a one-night-only concert at Carnegie Hall. The cast will feature our beloved Divas in unannounced roles, including Donna Murphy, Katie Finneran, Karen Ziemba, and Carolee Carmello.

Full cast: Julie Benko, Mikaela Bennett, Michael Berresse, Alexandra Billings, Klea Blackhurst, Harolyn Blackwell, Stephen Bogardus, Norbert Leo Butz, Len Cariou, Carolee Carmello, Jim Caruso, Nikki Renée Daniels, Christine Ebersole, Katie Finneran, Santino Fontana, Alexander Gemignani, Miguel Gil, Olivia Elease Hardy, Erika Henningsen, Grey Henson, Fernell Hogan, Jennifer Holliday, Rachel Bay Jones, Isabel Keating, Adriane Lenox, Norm Lewis, Ryan McCartan, Donna Murphy, Thom Sesma, Barbara Walsh, Nina White, Jacob Keith Watson, and Karen Ziemba.

#broadway news #donna murphy #katie finneran #karen ziemba #carolee carmello #follies #sondheim #i am physically shaking this is all i've ever wanted oh my god oh my god i can't believe it #follies is my favorite sondheim and i love everyone in this cast i'm going to die

[alchemisoul]

"I wasn't raised in a religious household: We were taught to be kind and honest and diligent. To be fair; to recognize that everyone was equal. My father had spent time in a Utopian society, and those beliefs were in our home, and they shaped our lives."

"I envied people who had rituals and regimens. I had rituals and regimens in dance class, with homework, but when I would appear in Christmas pageants at school, I didn't know what a lot of it meant. I so wanted to begin a novena, whatever that was, and pray for thirty or forty days, waiting for an answer or an outcome, but I didn't have a rosary or a book explaining the prayers to me, so I sort of made one up for myself. I would pray to, I don't know, the earth and the air and the souls of great artists, and ask for strength to be kind for thirty days. I would vow to not say anything unkind or critical of anyone, and I would walk away from anyone who chose to be mean. Oh, I was so severe! I stuck to it."

"I think it might have become embedded within me, which is what these rituals are for, right? I ask the spirits and the air to help me be kind. I work very hard not to be critical. I am utterly silent about suggestions unless someone very pointedly asks me for them, or if I'm in a classroom and I need to help someone. I'm on a novena, you see, always, and the only rosary I own is the one you gave me, that Tennessee [Williams] gave to you, which is crafted from wood and is from Israel, which I think, sweetly, Tennessee chose because he knew my father was Jewish, and that I must be Jewish, and perhaps he believed a rosary from Israel would not lead to my hands bursting into flame holding this Christian tool. But I keep it with me all the time, and I am still on the long novena to be kind."

- Marian Seldes, Interview with James Grissom (2001)

(Image: Seldes in Ondine, 1954)

#marian seldes #tennessee williams #follies of god #pagan hollywood #old hollywood #ritual #rituals #novena #film #black and white #photography #philosophy #quote #james grissom #art #artist #prayer #Ondine #are you kind