That philosophy, in brief, is that real change comes from within the individual through spiritual means. External forces may facilitate temporary change, but real lasting change comes from an internal desire that works on the person. The reconciliation between internal desire and external change occurs through self-expression. In self-expression, through writing, art, music, and conversation, a person’s internal thoughts are filtered and become more clear. In this process, behavior changes naturally.

With that in mind, there is much to be done. I need help. I need people who can write from the heart to talk about their experiences with change and how it relates to the Inner Vessel Philosophy.

I have compiled a list of the topics on which I need articles. I have places for articles from any faith- or spirituality-based creed. If it’s about something you’ve faced and you have or are trying to deal with it internally, I’d like to see what you’ve got. If you don’t think of yourself as a polished writer, I will help you.

The following list is not meant to be exclusive. If what you have in mind isn’t on the list, contact me anyway. There are separate sites for LDS and non-denominational. Some articles that are intended for LDS will be cross-posted.

When writing about religious institutions, don’t drag us into disputes you may have with them. We aren’t here to tear any church or religion down. Instead, talk about the people rather than the institution. It’s a difficult line, so if you aren’t sure, ask.

Use this Contact Us link to query.

Wishlist:

• Sexual addiction
• Pornography addiction
• Chemical addiction
• Compulsive overeating
• Other addictions
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Other mental illness
• Disabilities
  • Living with a disability
  • How you have been treated by others
  • Reviews of how establishments (businesses, government, institutions) conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Family strife
• Custody
• Divorce
• Reviews of Self-help books
• Coping with tragedy

I hope to hear from someone.

Our philosophy is that problems are solved by a change within and that change within begins and ends with self-expression. With that in mind, we create and maintain web sites that are related to this philosophy.

Jesus said:

…cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. - Matthew 23:26

This is the epitome of our philosophy. Inside our own minds, our beliefs and internal scripts are unrefined and often unhealthy. When we take those thoughts and internal scripts and express them, the very act of self-expression changes them on the way out of our depths to the light.

Washing those ideas that come from our depths after they come out is only a superficial cleaning. When we change ourselves inside, through self-expression, our behavior naturally follows. It is impossible for a person to make lasting changes with only external motivation.

For example, when I started to realize that I was living a sedentary lifestyle that would result in my early demise, I knew that I had to start exercising and eating better. My problem was, I didn’t like to exercise. Yet, I knew I must so I joined a gym and succeeding in making myself go there regularly.

I could get that to happen with a lot of effort, but I never really liked it, so I would always fall off and then work to motivate myself again. This cycle repeated itself over and over and I could not make a lot of progress in losing weight.

Then, I hit upon something that worked for me. I realized that I would never maintain a consistent exercise program as long as I internally hated exercise. I had to find a way to not just tolerate, not just like, but truly love to exercise. So I sat myself down and started talking to myself. I talked to others too. I talked about why I hated exercise and made plans for finding some exercises and some exercise venues I could feel good about.

I also made a list of what I did like about going to the gym. I focused on that. I also decided that I loved dancing, not ballroom or Jazzercise. Just, free form, shake my groove thang, dancing. Another thing I have always loved is getting up early. I’m a decided morning person. 3:00 AM is not uncommon for me to be awake and thinking about what I could do while everyone else slept.

So, I started getting up every morning at 3:15AM, putting on exercise clothes, and going out to my garage. I had a boom box out there, stuck in a CD, and started groovin’ to the music. I wondered now and then whether anyone could hear me in there. There were windows and I would probably have died of embarassment if someone ever saw me, but I just kept doing that. By the time I had danced an hour, it was about time for the gym to open, so I would go there, lift some weights, and then have myself a good long soak in the hot tub. Exercise became a joy. I had changed from the inside.

Now, getting up early and exercising is an easy thing. It’s easy because I’m fundamentally a different person than I was before. That’s the Inner Vessel Philosophy.

On this flagship site, we offer news and information about what is going on at our other web sites. Feel free to comment here, but if please visit the relevant site if you want to comment on the topics we cover.