November 10, 2011: The Spider and the Pear Tree

Argiope garden spider, exists here. The female's body is 1 1/2 inch long. She builds an orb (circular web) with the very characteristic zigzag ladder inside of it. 

 
  During this week's session, we were treated to the writing of Nic Pabst. He has written another essay from his heart which tells about an old decrepit pear tree in his back yard, and the emerald green spider who builds her web near his garbage cans under that tree. He moves us with the observations of that small spider's universe which he then broadens to include our universe and maybe then a universe that is oh so much larger than ours that we can't understand. Again we so very much enjoyed hearing this reading.

     I would love to put this story on this blog but we are preserving it so that Nic can send it somewhere for publishing We plan to keep after him to get these wonderful essays published. And if we publish it here, it might interfere with that goal.

     Nic has been reading a book entitled Sex on Six Legs, which discusses the small spiders and their webs, and most importantly their daily life.

    Charlotte's Web is another book that can be very moving, even for an adult to read.

     Sky said it is amazing how common mysteries become common miracles. The very familiarity of life becomes a veil and we have to work at seeing these things.

     Many people recalled various medias that tell us about such topics. Anne Dillard tells us that there are 600,000 spiders (or maybe other small beings) in a cubic inch of topsoil. Think of the ENTS in The Hobbit. They were trees and they were quiet, slow to act, but steeped in wisdom. One member spoke of Brian Torke, who was a professor at Ball State University in Indiana who observed spiders, and is a great story teller. Lewis Thomas's Late Night Thoughts While Listening to Mahler"


     Eo Wilson wrote about ant colonies. Another book someone mentioned is Life on a Small Planet.


     Whitman said "An insect is a miracle.because it can scatter a million infidels."

     We must stay attuned to these small miracles. Nic called our attention again to being in this world with every ounce of our concentration. Never let us forget to occupy the present moment completely.

     Georgia O'Keefe said "It takes a long time to see a flower. It takes a long time to know a friend."

November 3, 2011: Bake Off

          Our group opened by reading Phillip Chard's recent article:

Rediscovering purpose relights inner fire

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Oct. 31, 2011 |(0) COMMENTS

"I'm just tired," Tom told me, his eyes dull and distant.

When I asked if he'd had a medical evaluation, he nodded and replied, "It's not that kind of tired."

Looking down at his hands, Tom pondered his situation, then raised his head and said, "It's spiritual."

Tom is a divorced dad of three adult children who is nearing the finish line of his career. Generally regarded as energetic, creative and a lifelong learner, he has gradually felt his élan vital slip away like water slowly leaking out of a rusty bucket.

"Didn't notice it at first," he continued. "Just figured I was run down physically or in need of some R&R, but when it went from weeks to months, I figured there was more to it."

After his family doc sounded the "all clear," he decided to take stock of himself and his life. Visiting with a life coach and then a psychotherapist, he considered depression and burnout as the culprits, but none of these quite fit what he was experiencing.

"I know what it feels like to be down in the dumps or stressed out, but this is different," he explained.

What Tom had lost was his inner "fire," that intrinsic power that keeps one engaged with others, one's work and life in general.

And what was left in the gaping mental hole left by its departure is what I call "existential fatigue."

Tom defined that best when he said, "I guess I have a weary soul."

What we call "the human spirit" is interwoven with the will to live, not just in a survival sense, but also in an existential one.

So the opposite of Tom's spiritual exhaustion is a state of feeling fully alive and finding purposeful meaning in one's existence.

This isn't a state one can create simply by being physically healthy, mentally sharp and emotionally balanced, although these certainly help. Rather, it requires cultivating an intrinsic sense of purpose and meaning - essentially, knowing in a heartfelt way why one is here and what purposes one has been called to serve.

Earlier in life, many of us are fired up by extrinsic goals - achievement, money, fame, career, etc. But as one ages, these external rewards can lose their attraction, creating a motivational vacuum that must be filled from within, not from the outside.

But when Tom went searching for his sense of meaning and purpose, he couldn't find it. He'd reached a juncture where he no longer knew what brought his life meaning, leaving him bereft of a clear sense of purpose.

I suggested a series of visioning quests - one in wilderness, one to the small town of his childhood, and another at a retreat center. Also, he learned mindfulness meditation and began piano lessons, a long-held aspiration.

Gradually, his soul reawakened and began to whisper, nudging him back out of himself and into the world of people and experiences.

The energy created by reconnecting with meaningful moments and purposeful activity reignited him as a human being.

Like the body and mind, the spirit can grow weary.

Meaning and purpose make it glow once again.

Philip Chard is a psychotherapist, author and trainer. Names used in this column are changed to honor client confidentiality. Email him at pschard@earthlink.net or visit philipchard.com.

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October 27, 2011: All Hallows' Eve

 
  Judy presented some information about our upcoming Holiday -- Halloween. The name derives from the even before All Saints Day, or as the eve was sometimes called -- All Hallowed Eve. A celebration of the occult, magical, and yes to some degree the macabre goes way back to ancient Celtic times. It is thought the holiday got its earliest start in the ancient holiday of Samhein which combined elements of celebrating the Day of the Dead and also elements of the harvest festivals. When Chritianity spread, as so often happens, the Christian leadership took advantage of the existing holidays and combined many of the pagan traditions with All Saints Day Eve. All Saint's Day was the day to consider your dead loved ones and pray to help them move out of Purgatory and on to Salvation. These beliefs were characteristic of the Catholic Church and the English Anglican church. But when Protestantism developed, the Sunday nearest Halloween became Reformation Day, to teach about and celebrate the Reformation.
     The habit of dressing up or disguising oneself originated in the idea that all those Dead people waiting around for Salvation would be roaming around and looking for those they hadn't liked when living or those from whom they wanted revenge. Therefore folks decided to disguise themselves on this eve so that the Ghosts couldn't find them. All of the wicked personae such as horrid witches, ghosts, skeletons, Draculas, etc developed because it was thought they would scare away the all those wandering souls. The night often had bonfires to scare away the ghouls, and then various harvest elements such as apple bobbing, hayrides, carving pumpkins (turnips originally in Celtic lands).
     Trick or treating is a major practice for the young. We all remember that practice as an (empty) threat of a trick or prank to be played on the homeowner if treats are not given to the children. But another related practice in some countries is called guising. In this form, the children ringing the doorbell must perform a trick or performance in order to get a treat.
     In the United States, Halloween has become the holiday in which the most money is spent on the paraphernalia such as costumes, decorations, and food stuffs.
     Our group discussed various memories of Halloweens past. Why do we love this holiday so and why do even small children relish the macabre? There must be something fairly primoridal -- a deepseated fear or concern perhaps simply seated in the fear of death -- that we can face directly on this night with tools that help us have power over our fear. Even small children perhaps sense this subconsciously. Anyway, clearly our society enjoys this Holiday and invests a lot of time, money and craftmanship in its celebration.