Psychotherapist's Journal - Thoughts and Tools to Inspire Wellness in Mind and Body - by Karen Gorrin

Thank You, Belleruth

Thank you, Belleruth Naparstek, for a lovely day of guided imagery and learning. Your work has been important to so many of us in the healing community. You have inspired my own work in the field, and I appreciate your generous sharing today. Thank you also for your heartfelt poem:

Prayer
by Belleruth Naparstek

Just give me this:
A rinsing out, a cleansing free
Of all my smaller strivings
So I can be the class act God intended,
True to my purpose,
All my energy aligned behind my deepest intention.

And just this:
A quieting down,
A clearing away of internal ruckus,
So I can hear the huge stillness in my heart,
And feel
How I pulse with all creation,
Part and parcel of Your great singing ocean.

And this too:
A willingness to notice and forgive
The myriad times I fall short,
Forgetting who I really am,
What I really belong to.

So I can start over,
Fresh and clean,
Like sweet sheets billowing in the summer sun,
My heart pierced with gratitude.

In Prayers for Healing: 365 Blessings, Poems & Meditations from Around the World. Maggie Oman, Editor. Conari Press, Berkeley, CA, 1997.

An Idea Worth Spreading

One of my areas of inquiry these days is the brain. I am fascinated by the neuropsychology of how we learn, come to know the experience of love, form and hold our belief systems, and so much more. (See one of my favorite books about the brain, A General Theory of Love.)

So you can imagine I was thrilled when my colleague Sue Ann Birdwell, a family therapist in Kirkland, sent me the below link. I think you'll enjoy listening to brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor's speech from the recent TED conference. It's a powerful account of her experience watching her own stroke unfold, and reveals surprising insights into the very nature of life itself.

Inspiration ...

What a great way to start the day! (Thank you, Ben.) I awoke this morning to receive the below video of Steve Jobs, and the speech he offered to the 2005 graduating class at Stanford University. I had heard an audio of this speech at the time, but had long since forgotten how valuable each of the stories Jobs tells were to me. Jobs shares with the students three stories from his life: Connecting the Dots; Love and Loss; and Facing Death.

How to Lead Your Life

"If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you." says Carnegie-Mellon professor Randy Pausch in his inspiring lecture and new book, The Last Lecture. See excepts from the lecture and Pausch's interview with Diane Sawyer below, or watch the full hour lecture as I did, by clicking here.