I'd made the drive many times before--from my office to that of some colleagues. But this time, as I pulled off the interstate and came to the end of the exit ramp, I found something new. Attached to the rusted metal railings directly opposite from where I sat waiting for the light to change were two plain signs, red with white lettering, that, taken together, read "Really Love Something." (To see photos of the signs, click here).

The message struck me as disarmingly simple (it was only three words!) and yet richly inclusive (by leaving it up to the reader to decide who or what to love, it avoided any semblance of dogmatism). Who had come up with this message, taken the time to get the signs made, and then decided to hang them in this particular place? 

Whoever it was, those two signs got me to thinking about a few of the "somethings" that I really love: hiking along Piper's Creek in Carkeek Park near my home...playing my treasured Larrivee guitar and singing...enjoying heart-to-heart conversation with a friend over brunch at The Wild Mountain Cafe (my current "gotta have it every time" favorite menu item is "La Cabana," a "breakfast casserole" that's part quiche, part frittata, and part magic). Each of these situations leaves me feeling engaged, energized, and renewed. But why?

To "really love something," it seems to me, is not just about enjoying a leisure activity, or appreciating the natural beauty of a place, or welcoming the intimacy one shares with a friend or family member--it is about recognizing the "somethings" that we love as doorways.

Jung once wrote that we transform our relationship with the "problems" of our life when "a higher or wider interest" appears on our horizon, when "a new and stronger life urge" beckons to us. I think that as we "really love something," we tap into that new and stronger life urge, passing through a doorway, crossing over a threshold to a way of living marked both by depth and an accompanying calm.  

The people who come to see me for psychotherapy often find help with both of the endeavors that lie at the heart of this story: learning how to read the "signs" that life offers up for our consideration, and nurturing the practice of "really love something." As they drive through the days, weeks, and months of their lives, psychotherapy provides a regular opportunity to "pull off of the interstate," check the map, and get their bearings again while they're "waiting for the light to change."

                                         ~Dan

"Give people a fact or an idea and you enlighten their mind. Tell them a story and you touch their souls."
(Hasidic Proverb)

"We can keep from our children all knowledge of earlier myths, but we cannot take from them the need for mythology."
(C.G. Jung)

"We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us, that they may see their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life, because of our quiet."
( W.B Yeats)

"I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the heart's affections and the truth of the imagination."
(John Keats)
  

In a recent segment on The Seattle Channel's "Art Zone," poet Elizabeth Austen said that "part of what makes poetry different from other kinds of writing is that you can't paraphrase a poem. It can only be said in that way." (see "Resources For A Richer Life," below). I can think of no better introduction to this edition's "3 Good Poems."

(video): Elizabeth Austen on "Art Zone." A friend alerted me to this program on The Seattle Channel, in which Austen reads--with style and grace, I might add--from her new collection of poetry Every Dress A Decision, and offers some intriguing thoughts on the nature of poetry (see "3 Good Poems," above) and the creative process. The segment about Austen, from the 4/27/11 edition of "Art Zone," begins at the 1:50 mark of the program and runs for 4-5 minutes.

 

(book) The Hero Within: Six Archetypes We Live By (Carol Pearson). "This is a book about the stories that help us make meaning of our lives"--that is how Carol Pearson introduces this wonderful book, which articulates for readers the ways that six "archetypes"--The Innocent, The Orphan, The Wanderer, The Martyr, The Warrior, and The Magician--hold the power to guide us on our journeys.

 

(essay): "Where is the poetry in politics?" (Alex Alben). In this guest opinion piece, which appeared in The Seattle Times on 4/29/11, former congressional candidate Alben remembers "that we once had a class of politicians--both Republican and Democratic--who believed that lofty language could inspire Americans to great deeds." Alben gives examples ranging from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan. Alben's piece reminded me why I include "3 Good Poems" in every newsletter--because words have the power to change the world for the better. 

I offer lectures and workshops on a wide range of subjects, varying in length from brief talks appropriate for a breakfast or lunch meeting, to evening-long presentations, to day-long or weekend workshops.

If you would like me to come speak to your group, please call me at (206) 523-1340, or email me.

You can view a list of the organizations that have invited me to speak, and a list of my recent workshops, by visiting my web site.

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Read the upcoming Summer and Autumn editions of this e-newsletter for details on new lectures and workshops I'll be offering later this year!

I offer Jungian-oriented psychotherapy for individuals and couples. Whether you come to me with a problem (like depression, stress, anxiety, relationship issues) or simply the sense that it's time for a change, I help you look at how that starting point is calling you to grow, and how you can respond with creativity, vitality, and hope.

To learn more, visit my web site by clicking here.

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