Welcome to The Catalyst for Fun Website and True Friends Network!

Friends,  I hope that you get a smile from my home-made website! :) It is my effort to put the  'social' in being a social worker...sharing community, personal growth and most importantly...FUN  resources ...since, if a party breaks out, we should BE PREPARED!   I love you! Amanda Winters


                               
Facebook Friends: Please feel free to join my
     *Catalyst for Fun Fans Page and
     *Personal Amanda Winters Facebook Page, **both linked at bottom of this page.   
   

**Also, I have 2 newsletter/networks that you can subscribe to: (both linked below) 

                    *For Austin, Tx residents, my Catalyst for Fun Hot Tips Newsletter
                    *For Friends wanting to share best practices for experiencing peace and Joy, my
                       Catalyst for Fun True Friends Network
                   

Some Site Highlights:

My Austin Resources Section includes files about: Austin Publicity Resources; Austin Peace Building Organizations; Austin Mental Health Resources;  Austin Personal Growth and Fun Newsletters that you can Subscribe or Post announcements to;Administrative Resources for Austin Non- Profits; Austin Social Service Job Opportunities  and more! 

          * Included is My Best of Austin Recreation Guide:  A 75-plus-page guide to my best picks
             for the tourist attractions, music clubs, day trips, parks, music, etc ! Find lists, also, of as well as many
             community newsletters and resources!

My Photos Page includes pics from The Texas Renaissance Fair, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Mardi Gras, Lombardi Gras (when the Saints won the Superbowl) and more.

My Resources/Links section contains  my favorite spiritual/psychological teachers,  Conscious Evolution Resources, and Social Networking Resources for Activists, conscious community , healthy eating info, and more. 

Please feel free to visit my page about Byron Katie. my favorite philosophical teacher of all time,   Katie is a best-selling author and teacher who discovered that "When I believe my stressful thoughts I suffer, and when I don't, I don't suffer."  She teaches a 4 question technique that allows one to dismantle and challenge the beliefs that create negative emotions, which is the most effective that I have ever used in my experience as a Professional Counselor. 

**Three favorite Katie quotes:

"My favorite part about history is, it's over!",  "All the suffering in the world that has ever happened is over now...how much friendlier of a universe could you have?",  and "What other people think of me is none of my business".

Don't miss my Festifarian Best Practices/Good Times Tips includes, for example, packing lists for big days out and best practices for festivals !

** To find ALL the site resources, see the * Brown TABS * at the top of this page.  

2 Newsletters to choose from :


*For Austinites only: The Austin Catalyst for Fun Hot Tips Newsletter
(linked below), contains resources and events concerning community, FUN and personal development.


You're invited to Join "The Catalyst for Fun True Friends Network" !
           **To do so, Click Here

What are 'True Friends?'

  True Friends are:

            -conscious of the fact that we are 100 percent responsible for their emotional reality
           -interested in making intentional choices about
                   -where we put our attention
                    -what thoughts and beliefs we believe or adopt
                    -living in an ecologically sensitive manner
             -interested in sharing and/or learn best practices for attaining sustainable joy, peace and fun.
                        

 
**Background bit on True Friends Network:  Sometimes people ask me "What makes you happy?"
          
        ...My answer is that, at one time, I wasn't as happy on the inside as I was on the outside....the biggest positive difference for me came from studying  "best practices"/works of spiritual and philosophical masters (and others) whom I admire and wish to be like. 
A teacher once asked me, "How many years do you think you have to live?" ...I am 42 and so I answered that I hope to live another 50 years. He then made the point that whatever I learn by investing in my personal development could benefit me for the next 50 years.
Through the works of Byron Katie, Gaye and Kathlyn Hendericks, Eckhart Tolle, and many non-dualistic spiritual teachers, I have grown to be a much more centered and sustainably peaceful and joyful person. I became a Professional Counselor and started the Catalyst for Fun Website and Newsletter as a way to share the teachings that have helped me so much.
       
      The most important thing I learned from studying these best practices is that  "I am never experiencing anything but myself", ie: that all that I think about the external world is really a projection of myself. Nothing has to change but me, for me to have a great life. I learned to live in the present moment, b/c all suffering resides in the past we can't change and the future we can't control. I am committed to being good company to, and a better friend to myself, knowing that the world, including me, benefits when I do so. I now relate to a friendly universe, where stress is my friend, showing me where I am to grow, and I now have tools to deconstruct  the stress-producing thoughts that used to eat my lunch. I became excited about my mantra, which is "I'm here to love love the next person in front of me."  I gave up the myths of control and knowing, and am learning to only want what is.
     

I look forward to us spreading wisdom and fun through The True Friends Network. 
                    

Mission of The "True Friends Network": To share, in a social, values based community:

                          -Best Practices for Experiencing Peace and Joy   

                            -Recommended Spiritual and Philosophical Teachers and Events

                             -Sustainable Fun Tips
                               **such as:
                        
                             -Ways to express the playful and uninhibited side of ourselves
                                  which is longing to come up for air!  For me, the most important factor in having
                                       a stellar good time is the attitude that I wear...I have learned to, for exp, go for it, and 'embrace rejection'
                                       since its a part of life already....I plan to keep cataloging ways people do this, and have some ideas posted on
                                           my Good Time Tips and Festifarian Tips and Best Practices List.
 
                              -Ways to give out free hugs at large events...we can all be "free-hugger",
                               and there are great ways to get in on the fun, like wearing a button or holding
                               a free hugs sign)
                              -Festifarian Tips  (ways to beat the heat, what to pack for big days at fests, best
                                         fests, etc)
                             -ideas about groovy conversation-provoking clothes 
                                                   I say "I'll wear anything just to meet 3 extra people, and I prove it all the time!"....some clothes, I think, lend
                                                   themselves to being noteworthy to others, and conversation provoking. I love to hijack ideas from others, so
                                                   maybe we will all score some fashionista victories by swapping tips about this.
                             
                                        
                                      -Ways to expand our conscious social networking opportunities
                              -A Photo Sharing Area   

**To Join the Catalyst for Fun True Friends Network,
      Click Here 

Click here to Join The Catalyst for Fun True Friends Network