Sharon Danloz Parks writes eloquently about the major traumas - "shipwrecks" - that, if we live long enough, we'll all inevitably experience: relentless change, end of relationships, betrayal, job loss / retirement, serious illness / death of loved ones, our own aging, illnesses and ultimately, death.
“To undergo shipwreck is to be threatened in a total and primary way. … what has dependably served as shelter and protection and held and carried one where one wanted to go comes apart. What once promised trustworthiness vanishes.”
Parks SD. “Big questions, worthy dreams. Mentoring young adults in their search for meaning, purpose, and faith.” John Wiley & Sons, San Francisco, 2000.
“To undergo shipwreck is to be threatened in a total and primary way. … what has dependably served as shelter and protection and held and carried one where one wanted to go comes apart. What once promised trustworthiness vanishes.”
Parks SD. “Big questions, worthy dreams. Mentoring young adults in their search for meaning, purpose, and faith.” John Wiley & Sons, San Francisco, 2000.
"‘ontological security’ ... refers to the important need to maintain a sense of security in a context of constant change and potential threat. Ontological security is what is lost when, at times of experiencing a major loss or a trauma, we lose our sense of who we are.”
Thompson N, Pascal J. “Reflective practice: an existentialist perspective.” Reflective Practice 2011; 12(1): 15—26.
How do you feel reading this? Does it make you want to switch to a more pleasant topic - to distract you from "depressing" reality? Is it possible that the well-known ineffectiveness of suppression applies equally to our own existential angst?
"Real liberation comes not from glossing over or repressing painful states of feeling, but only from experiencing them to the full.” Carl Jung
A common lesson in perspective: A toddler sits crying bitterly on the floor - his whole world has collapsed for him. His Mom stands above him smiling with love in her heart for the little dope, whose inexpensive toy has just broken. If the child saw Mom smiling, he'd think that Mom doesn't understand the seriousness of this catastrophe at all - or is laughing at him. But of course, it's the child who lacks the long-term big picture - "the 30,000 feet perspective". Mom's been through such calamities herself, and has confidence that sooner or later, the boy will grow and understand ... and indeed we all have this potential. We all are BOTH the frightened child AND wise grandparent.
Thompson N, Pascal J. “Reflective practice: an existentialist perspective.” Reflective Practice 2011; 12(1): 15—26.
How do you feel reading this? Does it make you want to switch to a more pleasant topic - to distract you from "depressing" reality? Is it possible that the well-known ineffectiveness of suppression applies equally to our own existential angst?
"Real liberation comes not from glossing over or repressing painful states of feeling, but only from experiencing them to the full.” Carl Jung
A common lesson in perspective: A toddler sits crying bitterly on the floor - his whole world has collapsed for him. His Mom stands above him smiling with love in her heart for the little dope, whose inexpensive toy has just broken. If the child saw Mom smiling, he'd think that Mom doesn't understand the seriousness of this catastrophe at all - or is laughing at him. But of course, it's the child who lacks the long-term big picture - "the 30,000 feet perspective". Mom's been through such calamities herself, and has confidence that sooner or later, the boy will grow and understand ... and indeed we all have this potential. We all are BOTH the frightened child AND wise grandparent.
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| Photo: Vittorio Fracassi www.dpreview.com |
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