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For more information about my work as a counselor, astrologer,
and workshop leader,
please visit my web site
by clicking here.
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 Welcome to the Spring issue of "Living With Purpose And Passion." I hope that you'll find it both inspiring and useful.
This issue offers a new take on depression, anxiety, relationship conflict and other common struggles...plus quotes from John Muir and Rainer Maria Rilke, music by Michael Chapdelaine, a well-crafted movie staring Adam Sandler (yes, Adam Sandler), an inspiring talk by David Whyte...and an invitation to have me come speak at your office, church, or other organization...and more.
There's also information about my services as a counselor and astrologer. If someone you know is struggling with relationship issues, anxiety, stress, depression, or is simply feeling a need for change, invite them to contact me.
I've been gracing my office each week with fresh cut tulips. May you find your own way to welcome Spring!
~Dan
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Reflection: Good grief!
Feeling depressed? anxious? stuck? Experiencing conflict in your relationships? You may be weighed down by some unresolved grief.
How are these things related?
Think back to every time you've felt sad about something...and did NOT get a chance to express that sadness: you were in public and didn't want to make a scene, or you didn't want the person who hurt you to see your pain, or a "parent" who wasn't comfortable with your sadness gave you some variation of "big boys/girls don't cry."
Imagine that for each of these instances you took your tablespoon of uncried tears and put it into an empty gallon milk jug in your backpack. Multiply that times a few thousand instances over the years and pretty soon you're carrying around, say, 2 gallons of uncried tears in your backpack. Since a gallon of water weighs about 8 pounds, that means you're carrying around 16 "pounds" of uncried tears everywhere you go. Just as that literal, physical weight would soon throw your shoulders, spine, and the rest of your body out of alignment, the psychological "weight" of unprocessed grief throws you out of alignment in other ways. It can show up as depression, anxiety, feeling "stuck," relationship conflict, even as physical symptoms in your body.
So what can you do?
I tell my clients to try two things: 1) get rid of the tears already stored up in your backpack...by crying! When you find yourself getting tearful, let em' flow! and 2) become aware of the ways you "stuff" your grief into your backpack (counseling can help with this), and make changes--otherwise, the gallon milk jugs you worked so hard to empty in step #1 will just fill up again.
There is such a thing as "good" grief. Imagine your life is a garden- -all the plants there are living, but not thriving. Even if your "garden" is getting the right amount of sun, water, and so on, there may still be something missing--a nutrient that every plant in the garden of your life needs, and that is ONLY found...in your tears.
One more thing--if you have a choice between understanding your tears and crying them, CRY them. To ask "Why am I feeling sad?" can be a way to avoid feeling your feelings. So...the next time a movie or a song or even a TV commercial brings you to tears, let loose. Have "a good cry."
~Dan
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Resources for a richer life: music, movies, and more...
(Music): I caught Michael Chapdelaine's solo guitar concert at Dusty Strings in Seattle back in March. His CD "Re-Replay" has become one of my favorites. It features remarkable performances of the Beatles' "Come Together," the Mamas & Papas "California Dreaming," Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush," and other favorites. Hard to believe this much energy and music comes from just one acoustic guitar.To watch him perform "California Dreaming" live on YouTube, click here. To learn more or buy his CDs, visit his web site (click here).
(Movie): "Reign Over Me" is a movie about friendship, and about moving through our grief in our own time and in our own ways. Adam Sandler gives a fine dramatic performance as Charlie Fineman, a dentist who has lost his wife and children on 9/11; Don Cheadle plays his college roommate Alan Johnson. When they run into each other on the street, their friendship is rekindled, and a mutual healing begins. To read William Arnold's review in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, click here.
(Lecture on CD): I was in the audience at Benaroya Hall back in 2003 when David Whyte delivered the talk that is captured on his CD "Thresholds." An inspiring blend of the poetic and the practical, this CD is one I've listened to over and over again, and each time I find myself renewed. And it's FUNNY--from Whyte's story about a lion popping up in the tall grass just a few feet from his Range Rover in Africa, to the moment where he forgets, and the "remembers" a line from one of his own poems! As far as I know, this CD is available only from Whyte's web site (click here).
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Quotes for inspiration and action
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe." (John Muir)
"Observance of the soul is deceptively simple. You take back what has been disowned. You work with what is, rather than what you wish were there." (Thomas Moore)
"Love
consists in this, that two solitudes protect and border and salute each other." (Rainer Maria Rilke)
"Beethoven
had the right idea: he played one of his sonatas for someone, and when he had
finished, the person said, 'That's very nice, but what does it mean?' And
Beethoven sat down and played the whole thing over again." (Madeleine L'Engle) |
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Have Dan speak to your group!
Over the last few years, I've presented lectures to a wide variety of organizations, ranging from The Rainier Club, to Microsoft, to Edmonds Community College, to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church .
I offer presentations and workshops on many topics including personal growth, organizational development, spirituality, astrology, and more.
I'm looking for churches at which to present my class "They Followed A Star: Astrology & Christianity As Allies On The Journey" this coming December or January. If you think your church might be interested, please contact me (see below).
If you'd like me to come speak at your office, church, or other organization, call me at (206) 523-1340, or email me by clicking here.
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Counseling & Astrology Services
Whether you come to me with a "problem" (such as depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues) or simply the sense that it's time for a change, I help you see how that starting point is calling you to grow, and how you can respond with creativity, vitality, and hope. I offer professional counseling and/or astrology sessions for both individuals and couples.
To learn more about how I might be of help,
please visit my web site.
To schedule an appointment,
or if you have questions,
please call me at (206) 523-1340.
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Privacy Policy, How to unsubscribe
You are receiving this newsletter either because you asked to be added to my mailing list, or because we've crossed paths in some capacity and I added you to my list believing you'd enjoy hearing from me. I use this e- newsletter to offer helpful reflections and resources, and to inform interested people about my work. I sincerely do not want to bother you with unwanted emails. If you no longer wish to receive my e-newsletters, simply click on the "Safe Unsubscribe" link at the bottom of this email. I never give or sell my mailing list to anyone for any reason--period. I use ConstantContact.com to manage my email list because I believe they help support my goal of keeping your information private.
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That's it for this issue. As always, I welcome your comments, stories, feedback, suggestions (send me an email by clicking here). If you have friends who would like to receive this newsletter, you can forward a copy to them by clicking on "Forward email" below.
Thanks!
~Dan
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Dan Keusal, M.S., LMFT
Counselor, Astrologer
(206) 523-1340
Email: dankeusal@dankeusal.com
Web site: (click here)
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