Battles of authentic belonging
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any…
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any…
“In order to find the patient, we must look for him inside of ourselves.”Christopher Bollas I came across this quote recently in a psychotherapy textbook, and thought it worthy of…
“Things won are done, joy’s soul lies in the doing.”William Shakespeare This quote reminds me of hedonic adaptation, the phenomenon that we adapt surprisingly quickly to pleasure or pain. This…
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”Howard Thurman I personally…
“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”Anais Nin This is a great metaphor for…
“If you ever want to sustain something negative, just try to not have the experience. Run away from it. Try to fix it. Try to overcome it. That’s a great…
Most people tend to associate attitude with emotions and thoughts, rather than actions and words. Telling people to "have a better attitude" often upsets them because they don't have as…
As a therapist, a common phrase I hear people say is, "I shouldn't want…” (e.g., a nicer family, more talent, more desirable circumstances, more ability, etc…). Of course, this is…
The forest is one of the places where I feel most peaceful, most at home, and most safe (to the illogical surprise of many). I just stepped into a forest…
There are so many roads not taken “that have made all the difference” (Robert Frost)... but do they all? How would we even know? Maybe there would have been very…