Hello Babies, Welcome to Earth!

When Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. first wrote these words in his book, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater his character Eliot Rosewater was about to baptize newborn twins. "What will you do? What will you say?" another character asked him.

"Oh - I don't know." Eliot's sorrow and exhaustion dropped away for a moment as he became enchanted by the problem. A birdy little smile played over his lips.

"Go over to her shack, I guess. Sprinkle some water on the babies, say, 'Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies: 'God damn it, you've got to be kind.'"

As I place pen to page on the first entry of this Psychotherapist's Journal, I wonder to myself, "What will I do? What will I say?"

At the outside, this journal will be about embodiment — and all the joys and struggles that come with being spiritual beings within the limitations and opportunities of a body. The one rule I know: We are all whole people, with a mind, body and spirit that work together.

Most of us experience illness with these bodies, whether our own or that of a loved one. Often, but not always, the experience of receiving a diagnosis jolts us into an unknown and uncertain world of questions without answers. We learn, much to our dismay, that medicine is more art than science. We wonder how our bodies could have betrayed us, and why our bodies betrayed us, and where was God while all this was happening anyway? Other times, for some of us, the lightening jolt of illness is the certain moment that confirms our faith: We surrender to the experience of embodiment.

I believe illness is the shadowy cloak that surrounds the light of wellness. This journal will explore this point — through my lens as a psychotherapist — and through my lens as a woman who has lived with chronic and life-threatening illness herself, both my own and that of my loved ones.

I look forward to the discovery this journal will bring, and I'm already curious about the unexpected twists and turns that are sure to join me along the way.

Finally, the title of this post is also fitting because today happens to be my birthday. What better date to begin this journal, than on my natural day of reflection and gratitude of my own embodied experience, as I celebrate my 42nd year on earth.

Warm regards ...

Comments

[Joel]

Karen, It is a blessing to have people like you to work with to rectify ailments and begin the path to wellness.