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Saturday, 9 February 2008

25 Needs

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs




ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE - A PIECE OF NOSTALGIA - SAYS IT ALL REALLY.
Check out the audience.


Dear Diary,

A while ago I said I would take up the challenge to write 25 of my needs so here goes.

I can’t think of needs without going back to my nurse training days. When I was studying psychology for my diploma, great emphasis was placed on dear old Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs model. We were advised to use it when creating care plans for our patients.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the four lower levels are grouped together as being associated with physiological needs, while the top level is termed growth needs associated with psychological needs. Deficiency needs must be met first. Once these are met, seeking to satisfy growth needs drives personal growth.

The higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus when the lower needs in the pyramid are satisfied. Once an individual has moved upwards to the next level, needs in the lower level will no longer be prioritized. If a lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs, but will not permanently regress to the lower level. For instance, a businessman (at the esteem level) who is diagnosed with cancer will spend a great deal of time concentrating on his health (physiological needs), but will continue to value his work performance (esteem needs) and will likely return to work during periods of remission.

I was not that impressed with it to be honest. Common sense really.

Anyway to get back down to earth,

I am thinking about my needs and here are the main ones that spring to mind: health, happiness and peace and I want them for all my family and friends too, well actually for all humanity would be the ideal. A true democracy and trustworthy politicians too. I don’t ask much do I?

I also need financial security, just enough money, not a great amount as I am not at all materialistic.

I also think I probably need, in random and no particular order……..

Apart from my family, who are the most important part of my life, I need: warmth, peace of mind and (sometimes) solitude, books, poetry, music, a shower and a bath, a home in the countryside, a beautiful, pollution-free environment, reading glasses, cats, dogs, a real fire, a garden, trees, libraries, my computer, the Internet, a radio, tea, Guinness, wine, birds, animals, healthy food, chocolate, to feel safe and secure, sunshine, all sorts of weather, art, more sleep, something to look forward to, friends, a comfy bed, soft pillows and duvet, rain, Nivea, pure air, a pen and paper to hand, imagination, passion, enthusiasm, trust and finally what I am in desperate need of……… more hours in a day or for those hours I do have to go a little more slowly!

Wants are different to needs aren’t they? I might try and think of a few of my wants next, that might be fun to do. Perhaps I will throw that out as a challenge in the future. But for now if anyone else wants to have a go at blogging some of their own needs, well 25 actually, do have a go. I know I have done more than 25 so I have failed miserably. I do tend to get carried away.


Before I go, a poem.


A Celt’s Wishlist


God give me my Celtic birthright
and let it be my saving grace,
with vision for a poem,
love of language, love of nature, love of place

Give me a flame that burns with romance,
a torch to carry and a Celtic hero at my calling,
And pure imagination, the ‘I-magic’ of the mind,
with wild humour to banish melancholy,
bring forth its sorcery to all I find

Give me a home among green fields, with mountains to surround me.
With tunes of river, lake or ocean perpetually playing for me.
Give me a garden to create and bring forth magic in its wake.
And to the sound of running water let me live the peaceful life.

Give me the gifts of second sight and wit,
with inborn powers to heal. Give me
a wood of trees and let them be my friends.
So when I sit beneath them or listen to the Celtic harp
or meditate upon the vagaries of life,
give me a dream to call my own

Give me a reason to exist each day;
the seeds that I may plant them,
the rules that I may follow them,
the crafts to learn, the words to weave
and spells to cast to heal the Earth

Give me all the colours of the world and friends who care.
A smile each day to take the tears away.
The healing rays of Spirit’s children,
still living in the moment, all their days.

Let me heed the call for justice, fight for what is right,
then show the hand of peace.

Give me a shoulder to lean upon at day’s end and
a sign when night is falling and the answer is not nigh
that all will be revealed when morning comes anew


©Cait O’Connor

Bye for now,
Caitx

To end a bit of a slushy one, Leo Sayer, When I Need You.
Well it is Valentine's week..........
at

8 comments:

  1. Wooly Works9 February 2008 at 16:49

    Beautiful, Cait. Each person's needs are so individual, but the concept is sound, I believe. I adore the poem and the tender heart that posted it. Thanks.

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  2. Kim9 February 2008 at 17:51

    As a wife and mother, I think I spend a lot of time thinking about the needs of my husband and children, and not so much time thinking about my own needs. This might be a good exercise for me.

    As always, a lovely post, Cait.

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  3. Casdok9 February 2008 at 23:37

    Thats my favorite Leo song!
    Yes needs are different to wants.
    Lovely poem. :)

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  4. Faith 10 February 2008 at 01:03

    You made me smile Cait, by putting up that pyramid and all you wrote underneath and then just dismissing it with 'common sense really'. I liked that 'reading glasses is one of your needs - mine too! I had to put them on to read the pyramid. Like Casdok, that's my fave Leo song too. I won't be taking up the challenge to write 25 needs, I'd get them too mixed up with wants! but I did blog my household hints!

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  5. bodran...10 February 2008 at 02:44

    Thought of you yesterday as i lay on the trampoline and cloud watched!! our needs are very similar even the guinness..x

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  6. DAB10 February 2008 at 05:30

    Great post TFX

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  7. Inthemud11 February 2008 at 00:24

    Yes, I remember Maslow's hierachy, I studied it in psychology.

    Beautiful blog Cait!
    Liked the poem very much.
    Great to hear Leo's song

    ReplyDelete
  8. Elizabeth Musgrave11 February 2008 at 12:22

    Loved your needs, so many are mine too, including reading glasses, wine and a nice soft duvet!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking time to comment.