Hello and welcome to The Metaforest! My name is Brent Henrikson and I offer Life Coaching and Psychotherapy.
The Metaforest?
The Metaforest is a name that popped into my head about three years ago on a beautiful hike. It is a made up word that has multiple embedded meanings:
- Metaphor. We think and make sense of existence largely through the use of metaphors. Language itself can be looked at as a series of old and new metaphors. Delve into the etymology of a word and you’ll typically see metaphors at it’s roots. For example, the word metaphor derives from roots that mean “carry over”. I use metaphors in work with clients to explain and reframe ideas. This website is a “garden” of metaphors.
- Meta. The prefix “meta” means “beyond” or “transcending”. I spend a lot of my time in actual forests and mountains, largely to tap into peace and presence, which is a psychological “place” that transcends the forest itself. The Metaforest is my metaphor for the present and peaceful state of consciousness that we’re all ultimately seeking, and which has myriad paths to it, specific to each of us.
- Forest. Forest trees are stronger together than they are separately. When one tree is weak, the others often help it through their root system, their chemicals, and their physical bodies. Humans are also relational beings that function and survive through cooperation and synergy. Like trees, we take turns caring for each other, which allows us to task risks, stretch ourselves, face challenges, and realize our potentials. Building and restoring trust and authentic relating is a common goal of therapy and coaching.
- Rest. Rest can refer to allowing our mind and body to be still in order to heal, restore strength, and gain clarity of purpose. It can also refer to the cessation of resistance of “what is”, which is widely believed to be the singular source of true suffering.
Simply put, The Metaforest is my metaphor for happiness. And as the Dalai Llama has said, we are all ultimately seeking happiness, although we take different roads to fulfillment. My favorite portal to happiness is often a forest, but yours could be a desert, the coast, a city, a sport, a craft, a hobby, a career, volunteer work, a meditation practice, a relationship, a family, a community, or any combination of these and other routes to your peaceful center.
There is a lot of psychological and spiritual suffering today. In many parts of the world, our physical needs are met but our emotional, social, and spiritual needs are not. This has created confusion and guilt. We think we should be happy, because in many ways we have so much. But many of our hearts and spirits have been neglected in order to pursue security and comfort, at the expense of relationship, connection, love, inspiration, purpose, and transcendence.
Many are hearing a hero’s “call to action” to face their “dragons” of repressed pain and fears in order to obtain the treasure of greater happiness — to revive their emotional vibrancy, to expand into a larger purpose for their life, to connect genuinely and deeply with others, and to wake up from escapist trances and be more alive and engaged in life.
Such hero’s journeys are often best undertaken with a guide who has been on similar voyages of adversity, danger, doubt, pain, desperation, and ultimately triumph and transformation. I am one such guide for those who feel a resonance with me and are ready to chart new paths in their mind and explore their emotional heart to find their own treasures of peace, inspiration, connection, vitality, wisdom, and purpose.
About me
I enjoy reading and writing about psychology, spirituality, philosophy, science, culture, health and wellness, relationships, communication, and related topics. I have lived in a few other countries (Spain, Mexico, New Zealand), although I’ve spent most of my life in California. For fun I enjoy backpacking/hiking, nature, music, reading, writing, and good conversation. I like to take photographs and videos (you’ll see in this site), and do much of my thinking and growing among trees in the mountains.
