Tuesday, March 1, 2011

THE KING'S SPEECH, STAMMERING AND MINDFULNESS ... PART 2

It’s official. The Anglo-Australian film The King's Speech has won the “Best Picture” Oscar® as well as three other Academy Awards® namely, “Best Actor” (for Colin Firth), “Best Director” (for Tom Hooper) and “Best Original Screenplay” (for David Seidler).

It’s also official, although much less newsworthy. My blog entitled The King’s Speech, Stammering and Mindfulness has proved to be my most popular blog, other than the one entitled My Favourite Quotations on Mindfulness and Mindfulness Meditation.

Most of the readers of my blogspot are from the USA and Australia. I am amazed at how popular the film The King’s Speech has been in the USA. It is reported in numerous newspaper articles that few Americans had ever heard of King George VI before Colin Firth played him in the film. I suspect that’s not really the case.

A recent article in The Christian Science Monitor highlights how the film The King’s Speech has been a godsend for the stuttering (stammering, in the UK) community. For an opinion on the film from the American Institute for Stuttering, see this YouTube clip:


Here is an article which refers to the use of both Zen and Mindfulness to treat stuttering. I found the article most interesting, especially the bit which says that stutterers who want to speak fluently should learn to stutter well. Sounds almost counter-intuitive, and even a bit offensive, but I know what the author is trying to say. It’s consistent with the adage, “Your weakest links might just become your strongest chain.” It’s also consistent with the metaphysical law of non-resistance (“Whatever you resist, persists”).

Finally, a recent segment on Australian television referred to the important work of the Australian Stuttering Research Centre. Here is its website.


NOTE. The phrases "Academy Award(s)" and "Oscar(s)" are registered trademarks under the laws of the United States and other countries.


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