My New Book
Dear friends and colleagues
I am pleased to announce the publication of my new book The Amateur’s Guide To Death And Dying: Enhancing The End Of Life.
(Click on the book art below for a synopsis and to purchase the book.)
The Amateur’s Guide To Death And Dying is specifically designed for terminally ill, chronically ill, elder, and dying people from all walks of life. But concerned family and friends, healing and helping professionals, lawyers, clergy, teachers, students, and those grieving a death will also benefit from reading the book.
The Amateur’s Guide To Death And Dying is a workbook that offers readers a unique group/seminar format. Readers participate in a virtual on-the-page support group consisting of ten other participants. Together members of the group help each other liberate themselves from the emotional, cultural, and practical problems that accompany dying in our modern age.
The Amateur’s Guide To Death And Dying helps readers dispel the myth that they are incapable of taking charge during the final season of life. Readers face the prospect of life’s end within a framework of honesty, activity, alliance, support, and humor. And most importantly readers learn these lessons in the art of dying and living from the best possible teachers, other sick, elder, and dying people.
The Amateur’s Guide To Death And Dying engages readers with a multitude of life situations and moral dilemmas that arise as they and their group partners face their mortality head on.
The Amateur’s Guide To Death And Dying offers readers a way to share coping strategies, participate in meaningful dialogue, and take advantage of professional information tailored to their specific needs. Topics include spirituality, sexuality and intimacy, legal concerns, final stages, and assisted dying. The book does not take an advocacy position on any of these topics. It does, however, advocate for the holistic self-determination of sick, elder, and dying people, which can only be achieved when they have adequate information.
Facing your mortality with the kind of support The Amateur’s Guide To Death And Dying offers does not eliminate the pain and poignancy of separation. Rather it involves confidently facing these things and living through them to the end.
This innovative workbook on death and dying is now available on Amazon and in bookstores. I welcome your thoughts, comments, and reviews.
All the best,
Richard
Richard Wagner, Ph.D., ACS
richard@theamateursguide.com
Our website: The AmateursGuide.com
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Highly religious people are less motivated by compassion than are non-believers
Are religious people more moved by compassion than those who described themselves as less religious or non-religious?
A group of scientists at the University of California, Berkeley set out to answer that question and what they found would surprise some: In three experiments, the social scientists found that the less religious were more generous when presented with situations that stimulated their compassion, which the scientists defined as “an emotion felt when people see the suffering of others which then motivates them to help, often at a personal risk or cost.”
Here’s how Berkeley sums up the study in its press release:
“The results challenge a widespread assumption that acts of generosity and charity are largely driven by feelings of empathy and compassion, researchers said. In the study, the link between compassion and generosity was found to be stronger for those who identified as being non-religious or less religious.
“‘Overall, we find that for less religious people, the strength of their emotional connection to another person is critical to whether they will help that person or not,’ said UC Berkeley social psychologist Robb Willer, a co-author of the study. ‘The more religious, on the other hand, may ground their generosity less in emotion, and more in other factors such as doctrine, a communal identity, or reputational concerns.'”
So how did scientists test this? First they looked at survey of 1,300 Americans. That showed that the non-religious were more motivated by emotion to be generous.
Next, they tested it in the lab. In one experiment Americans were shown a neutral video and a “heartrending one.” The participants were given “lab money,” which they could donate after they watched each video.
“The least religious participants appeared to be motivated by the emotionally charged video to give more of their money to a stranger,” the scientists found.
In another study participants were told that a participant before them had given a portion of their reward to them. The participant, scientists told them, were free to reward the person before them by giving them back a portion of the money, which had now doubled.
Those who reported feeling more compassionate and less religious, were also more generous in this experiment.
The findings are published in the latest edition of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
Complete Article HERE!
“VATICAN FALLS” Benefit
Staged Reading of Controversial New Play To Benefit
SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests)
“VATICAN FALLS” by Frank J. Avella (author of “CONSENT”) Directed by Laura Caparrotti (Founding Director of Kairos Italy Theater)
May 15, 2012 at 6:45PM at the National Comedy Theatre
New York, NY (April 3, 2012) Impetus Ensemble is proud to present a special presentation of this ambitious new play set against the backdrop of the Catholic sex abuse scandal.
Based on factual material, “VATICAN FALLS” follows the life of one survivor who struggles with understanding how those closest to him could damage him the deepest. The multi-genre, non-linear play probes the conflicting feelings involved in most sexual abuse situations and dares to confront the truth about the ever-growing scandal and the Church’s complicity in it.
“VATICAN FALLS” was set to have its World Premiere in Rome, Italy, last May but was cancelled the night before opening amidst controversy and claims of death threats. This will mark the first U.S. presentation of the play to an audience since the last workshop in 2010.
Recent headline news reports about the Catholic Church putting legal pressure on SNAP to hand over more than two decades of confidential information has put the group at the forefront of a major battle with Vatican attorneys wishing to silence them once and for all. SNAP is holding steadfast in their efforts to protect the privacy of victims, witnesses–even journalists who have come to them for help in the past. All proceeds from this Benefit will go directly to these brave men and women. We hope to raise awareness about the real facts concerning the scandal and about this very important group that has provided a safe haven for survivors since 1988. SNAP recently filed a lawsuit against the Vatican for crimes against humanity.
“VATICAN FALLS” features: Francesco Andolfi, Carlotta Brentan, Drew Bruck, Matthew Crooks, Carlos Dengler, Joshua Dixon, Lucia Grillo, Kalen J. Hall, Liza Harris, Devon Talbott & Rob Ventre. Stage Directions: Cali Gilman. Musical Director/Arranger: Brad Gardner. Songs written by Claudio Procopio & Frank J. Avella.
The National Comedy Theatre is located at 347 West 36th St. (between 8th & 9th Aves), NYC. Tickets range from $20 to $50. Reservations via: VaticanFalls.com or call 973-715-2356.
Frank J. Avella (Author) recently completed Nemesis, The Mad Ones & Consent, a semifinalist for the O’Neill Playwrights Conference. Consent will be workshopped at the Celebration Theatre in West Hollywood, CA this Fall. Frank is currently working on his 17th full-length play and adapting Consent for the screen. Seven of his works have been produced in NYC (Unhinging, 3 Cains, Michael’s #1 Fan, Lexy, About Christine, The Bubble, Greener); one was produced in Cincinnati (Iris). Frank did his Grad work in Cinema Studies & Dramatic Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is a film journalist for newyorkcool.com and a proud member of the Dramatists Guild.
Laura Caparrotti has a Master Degree in Performing Arts, Cinema and Theatre History from the University “La Sapienza” in Rome. She also studied with Nobel Prize Dario Fo, among others. After ten years of professional theatre in Italy, she relocated to New York, where she continues to direct and/or perform. She is the Founding Artistic Director of the Italian Theater Company in NY Kairos Italy Theater.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
