The content of this book combines scientific and scholarly contributions with authentic life stories of people entitled “My life turn.” By combining scientific and scholarly text based on theoretical and empirical research with authentic life stories written by university students from regular and external study at three universities in Slovakia and Bohemia, we consider it a step toward enriching theoretical knowledge with people’s lives and, at the same time, enriching people’s lives with theoretical knowledge.
In this book we express our expert opinion on the psychological, social, and educational aspects of adults’ lives today, from the point of view of lifelong developmental psychology, i.e. biodromal psychology, and from the point of view of social adult education. At the center of our attention is the development of people’s ability to live, adult personality development, social education, development of individual potential, social-psychic adaptation of people, self-reflection and self-awareness, projective knowledge methods, self-identification of the person, and other topics.
The preparation of the book has been motivated by a genuine desire to encourage readers to think about themselves and others, and to encourage them to stay true to their unique talent and abilities. For only through their own efforts can people find the answer to the questions: Who am I? Who do I want to be? How do I live and how do I want to live? If they understand their life path, they have a chance to understand other people on their life path. The heart of this book is the authentic life stories of people aged 19 to 45, who are living testimony to many and difficult life turns and personal changes on the path of self-knowledge and self-realization. Just as the Phoenix “rose from the ashes” stronger and more beautiful than before, the life stories in this book also testify that it is worth overcoming difficult life situations, events, and problems, because those who have overcome them have mostly really risen from the ashes. And because of their personal experience, they have become more receptive to themselves and to other people.
The book you hold in your hands is a living testimony to the unrepeatability and uniqueness of every person. People in young adulthood and middle age, the main protagonists of Chapter 2, leave an important message through their own life stories, their sincerity, and their willingness to share their experience. They bring inspiration to sensitive people who want not only to read, but also to understand and to be enriched by these new experiences and act for the benefit of their lives. The book is a scientific text illustrated with authentic examples of biodromal psychology (psychology of the life path), in the form of written self-expression of adults in “My Life Turn.” We wrote and compiled the book so that it is not only innovative in this particular field of knowledge and exploration, but also appealing to a reader through valuable theoretical and applied knowledge. We believe this publication has the chance to become a useful source of knowledge for everyone who is not indifferent either to their own lives, to the lives of other people, or to life on our dear planet Earth.
CONTENT
Message about the book Words to Readers College students on “My life turn.“ Introduction
CHAPTER 1 PSYCHOLOGY OF TODAY’S MAN 1.1 Words to man’s everydayness 1.2 In people is source of mental power and the sense of their life 1.3 The man is Live Soul 1.4 Educational social work and development of human personality 1.5 Self-identification and development of people at present 1.6 Spiritual crisis, human integrity and social education
CHAPTER 2 MY LIFE TURN SELF-EXPRESSION AND SELF-REFLECTION OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS (Psychological Self-diagnostic) 2.1 The metaphor of Being – A man is a child of Heaven and lives on the Earth 2.2 Authentic stories I 2.3 Authentic stories II 2.4 Authentic stories III 2.5 Authentic stories IV 2.6 The responsibility of a man for his life
CHAPTER 3 KNOW YOURSELF USING THE PROJECT METHOD PSYCHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSTICS AND PERSONALITY RESEARCH 3.1 Knowing one’s personality from the drawing of a tree and handwriting (psychographic method and psychological diagnosis) 3.2 Psychological maturity manifested in handwriting (psychographic qualitative personality research ) 3.3 Some features of sociability in the handwriting of teachers and students of psychology (psychographic quantitative research)
CHAPTER 4 MAN’S LIFE PATH IN THE CONTEXT OF BIODROMAL PSYCHOLOGY 4.1 Biodromal psychology – definition of context 4.2 Human personality in biodromal concept 4.3 Biodromal psychological development of a man 4.4 Life path and life events in the context of biodromal psychology 4.5 Life development roles and personality development roles 4.6 Life stages and the role of growth and development of one’s personality in adulthood 4.7 Biodromal psychology in brief
The crucial aspect of life-long learning is neither an economic nor a career aspect, but the development of the personality of a person. Therefore not only is it necessary for a person to learn; learning is a must from cradle to grave. Even in the last moment of earthly life, one has to learn and humbly, obediently fulfil the main role of human life on Earth: becoming a mature person and being a mature person within the limits of one’s own God-given abilities—professionally expressed in one’s genotype and ancestral heritage. That is why we never ask ourselves why we need to learn all our lives, in childhood and youth as well as in adulthood, in older age, and even in old age. It is always necessary to learn because just as we breathe without stopping, we are learning constantly. We learn not only until we die but beyond the grave. Indeed, who is to manage our transition from material existence to the afterlife but us? The knowledge of every human being, when transformed into rational, emotional and moral experience, is original, unique and therefore absolutely non-transferrable. However, knowledge must be internalized, that is, one has to embody what one knows. Knowing is a higher level of human functioning. Knowing is to transform knowledge into life through reason and heart, because a human being is a holistic being who recognizes, knows, acts and at the same time senses and evaluates.
A person must arrive at his or her own wisdom, which he or she can express authentically. One reaches wisdom only through one’s own efforts, through one’s own sensation, through one’s own thinking, through one’s own behavior, through one’s own actions.
What should then be the aim of education? A systemic ability to live, that is, the ability to socialize through the acquisition of social experience; ability to identify socially, psychologically, culturally, spiritually with someone and with something in the social environment; ability to adapt to the social environment of a person; ability to integrate into the social environment as part of social groups and be mentally, socially and spiritually integrated; the ability to discover, know and realize one’s own psychic and social potential, i.e. a gift and talent for life. And also to educate and lead people to make sure they are fully aware of being essentially spiritual beings—and that means one should act and behave accordingly. Only then is there a chance to develop positively, intellectually, emotionally and morally, and become a better person. People are by nature the Spirit expressed by their unique own Soul—the Psychic. The soul is an individualized manifestation of the Spirit. Imagine that a person is a “computer” with a substantial program—and this is the soul—it can be imagined as software given to the person. The body system of a human being can be imagined as hardware given to the person.
We are fully aware that to you, the reader, the thoughts we present here may appear to be mere speculations. But at the same time, how did these “speculations” come to our minds and our hearts? If we know that nothing that happens in life, and nothing that happens in a person, is a coincidence, then everything that happens is legitimate.
Prof. PhDr. Mária Machalová, PhD. About the book
Title: LIFE ’S TURN From Biodromal psychology point of view and The authentic life stories
Authors: MÁRIA MACHALOVÁ (Chapter 1, Chapter 2 - editor, Subchapter 2.1; 2.6, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Message of the book, Words to readers, Introduction, Conclusion, Summary) PETER SENKO (Chapter 2 - editor)
Reviewers: Prof. hab Andrzej Lipczyński Prof. PaedDr. Milan Schavel, PhD. PhDr. Bohuslav Kuzyšin, PhD.
Editor: Doc. ThDr. Ján Husár, PhD. The cover of the book: Doc. ThDr. Ján Husár, PhD.
Publishers: INŠTITÚT VÝCHOVY A ŠPORTU and PROHUMAN.sk Bratislava, Slovak republic
Year of publication: 2018
ISBN 978-80-972795-2-3 EAN 9788097279523