Giving Joyfully: Alternatives to Black Friday & Reducing the Stress of the Perfect Gift!

With all the stories in the news today, Black Friday, expressing the ends to which people will go towards getting that “good deal,” let’s take a serious look at the facts:

• Gas money spent, at well over $3 a gallon: wasting resources.
• Getting up in the middle of the night: wasting your resting time.
• Standing in lines: wasting your emotional well being.
• Risking danger: just a total waste to put your life at risk.
• Over spending: in this economy we can’t afford to make impulse buys, a waste of your money.

Solutions?

When making holiday gifting decisions, think first!

• Think about your family and friends, the most precious resource. Save gas and stay home with them, enjoy the time you have to spend with them. Bring back the memories, or make new ones.
• Think about the holiday itself. You’ve just spent a wonderful day (Thanksgiving) preparing and eating a meal gathered among those you love giving thanks for your many blessings. Let that experience flow over the coming days instead of rushing into another holiday.
• Think about yourself. The emotional stress of the holidays can be debilitating to some. Vow to make this year different. Simple shifts in your daily process can make a big difference in how you are emotionally. Take the time to be good to YOU first, then think about gift giving. The greatest gift is the gift of your love.
• Think about your bank account. Black Friday deals are not a “deal” if you can’t afford them.

Suggestions!

• Start right here at ImaginePublicity!

We represent several authors, and we all know that books make great gifts! With authors like Diane Fanning, Dennis McDougal, Dennis Griffin, Burl Barer, Dirk Wales, Susan Murphy Milano, Gayle Crabtree, Dawn Schiller, Jillian Maas Backman, April Claxton, Pamela Chapman, Dr. Laurie Roth, Lavinia Masters, Danielle Pierre, Sheryl McCollum, Sandra L. Brown, Ward Foley, Robert McDowell and Vito Colucci, Jr., there are books galore to choose from! And watch for a new book coming out from Lisa Michels, along with new feature columns by Donna Gore, Legal Analyst, Holly Hughes, and Susie Kroll!

• Donate your gift dollars to worthwhile charities whose efforts last all year long, the gift that keeps on giving.

CUE Center for Missing Persons, and all reputable missing persons organizations, operate on donations and volunteers. Consider it a gift to thousands of families with missing loved ones all over the country. Foundations like the Petit Family Foundation, often set up by family members who have survived tragedy, carry on by providing resources for other survivors in similar situations. (Check locally or nationally into all non-profit status before donating.)

• Shop online in one of the several sites that carry handmade items.

Consider individual artisans for jewelry, art, photography, candles and household items. Instead of profits going to big, uncaring corporations, put your money straight into the hands of those who lovingly manufacture quality items.

• Shop with companies whose profits are steered towards the improvement of lives globally.

Deal with those whose mission is fair trade and, as the mission of Ten Thousand Villages: “One day all artisans in the developing countries will earn a fair wage, be treated with dignity and respect and be able to live a life of quality.”

• Do something for yourself.

Whether you take a self-defense course from Anny Jacoby, a life transformation session with Danielle Pierre, or an intuitive session withJillian Maas Backman, you are improving upon who you are, mentally, physically and spiritually, well on your way to a balanced person.

• Volunteer your time.

There are way too many lonely people in the world, and especially during the holiday season, lift their spirits, put a song in their hearts, and show them the true meaning of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Whether it be a nursing home, hospital, or homeless shelter, the lonely are never lonelier than now. Give the gift of JOY!

• An area of concern during the holidays is victim’s services.

Many will spend their holiday in a domestic violence shelter, arriving with nothing. Check your local agencies for their immediate needs and to learn more about how to connect with victims, go to Courage Network founded by Lyn Twyman. Another wonderful non-profit isHopeforHealing.Org founded by Gayle Crabtree, and if you’re in the aftermath of a bad relationship, perhaps you will benefit learning from Sandra L. Brown, the CEO of The Institute for Relational Harm Reduction. If you know someone who is in a volatile situation, give the gift of life from Susan Murphy Milano, the book, Time’s Up: How to Safely Leave an Abusive and Stalking Relationship.

Take it upon yourself to use your search engines to find specific ideas that suit your circumstances.

The holiday season does not have to be the stressful search for the perfect gift, it’s right there inside of you, just give it!

FILED UNDER AUTHORS, BLACK FRIDAY, BOOKS, CUE CENTER FOR MISSING PERSONS, DONATIONS, GIFT SUGGESTIONS, INTUITIVE SESSIONS,JOYFULLY GIVING, LIFE TRANSFORMATION, PETIT FAMILY FOUNDATION, REDUCING STRESS, SELF-DEFENSE, SOLUTIONS, TEN THOUSAND VILLAGES, VOLUNTEERS,

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Trial of Karen Kahler & Children: Intimate Partner Homicide meets Absurd Defense

The trials of intimate partner homicides, silenced by those whom at one time professed to love the spouse or partner during the relationship, have turned courtrooms across the county into theater of the absurd.

Defense tactics are now being argued in a court of law that teeter more on "hearsay" than fact. Add to this mix the past history of abuse, often not admissible during trial, and you have a recipe for disaster. The courts allow for a defendant's mental state at the time of the killing, but the pattern of conduct leading up to the murder has little or no significance.

As a tragic example is the current murder trial of Kraig Kahler. His defense, and the headline after the second day of trial is, "Kansas Murder Suspect Blamed Divorce on Wife's Lover." This is where the absurd enters the picture in this case. There are four people who lost their lives on November 28, 2009. They are:

Karen Kahler (estranged wife)

Emily Kahler ( 18 year old daughter)

Lauren Kahler (16 year old daughter)

Dorothy Wight (grandmother)

A son, Sean, 10 years old at the time, survived by fleeing to safety down the road to a neighbors home.

The blame game should not be a defense for a man who carefully planned out the murders of his family. Karen and the kids go to grandma's for Thanksgiving weekend, he follows their every move, just as he had been doing for months prior to the day of the murders.

Prior to the shooting he stalked Karen. Kraig Kahler lost his job the Director of Columbia Water & Light because of his criminal acts of stalking and violence, the couple was in the middle of a divorce.

The defense is claiming that their client had a mental breakdown because Karen was in a relationship with another woman.

•  Forget the fact that Kahler had been violent towards Karen for years. 
•  Forget the fact that she filed for divorce to get away from the violence. 
•  Forget the fact that Kahler is a psychopath.

 His behavior and actions are that of a very sound and stable individual who conveniently, according to the defense, has had a mental breakdown. That sounds like hearsay to me. Isn't the trial about the murders?

• Didn't Kahler get in the car and follow his family? 
• Did he stop and pay for gas on his road trip? 
•  Did he load the weapons prior to the murders? 
• Did he go into hiding after he shot his family before he was arrested? 

 Those sound and appear to be very thoughtful steps of an angry abusive, controlling, killer!

Karen Kahler is not here. As a matter of fact, she begged for her life before he pumped more bullets into the mother of his three children.

Kraig Kahler's actions on November 28, 2009 were not hearsay, but premeditated . The life and or lifestyle choice of Karen Kahler should not be on trial.

The actions of a very sane man taking the coward's way out speaks volumes of a psychopath using the system to his advantage.

For victims of intimate partner violence that leads to homicide, this is a tragic view from inside the theater of the absurd!

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Susan Murphy Milano is a staff member of the Institute for Relational Harm Reduction and Public Pathology Education. She is a specialist with intimate partner violence prevention strategies and high risk cases and available for personal consultations through the Institute. She is also part of the team at Management Resources Limited of New York.

Susan is the author of "Time's Up: A Guide on How to Leave and Survive Abusive and Stalking Relationships,"Moving out, Moving on, and Defending Out Lives. Susan is the host of The Susan Murphy Milano Show, "Time'sUp!" . She is a regular contributor to the nationally syndicated "The Roth Show" with Dr Laurie Roth and a co-host on Crime Wire.

If you would like to schedule Susan Murphy Milano for interviews, please contact: ImaginePublicity PO BOX 14946 Surfside Beach, SC 29587 Phone: 843.808.0859 email- contact@imaginepublicity.com