Mr. Joyce Takes on the World

“I Will Carry You.”             How do we reaction when those we love are suffering? Do we give them advice? Do we tell them the perfunctory, “Everything is going to be okay?” Or, do we say nothing, and instead, listen?            Pain is just one part of being human. While suffering can be a great teacher, it doesn’t feel as such during the suffering. I also feel that few people will want to share the suffering of a loved one. Instead, people pretty much try to distance themselves from it. I feel that to survive the suffering, one must lean into it, and perhaps even embrace it. That sounds counter-intuitive, but it allows one to exorcise the suffering by “riding it out.” This is the suffering that comes to us, not the suffering that we make. That kind of suffering is discussed later.               Since Ch...

When Therapy Ends Psyche contemplating her namesake.  Tomorrow will be the last day that I see my therapist. This June would have marked the four year duration of our work together. During that time I have grown tremendously. I have learned more than I expected from our work together. I can't begin to list all the things that Julie and I have explored, and how her guidance has influenced me. Though four years seems like a mere tick on the hands of a clock, it is a long time to be in treatment these days. It seems to have gone by like so many sunrises and sunsets, gradual, and yet too soon. I want to clarify that our work is ending for a few good reasons. These are reasons that I accept, though it's not easy for me to say good-bye. I should rewind the clock back to August of 2015. Julie announced that she was pregnant, and was expecting to give birth in May. She initially informed that she'd take off only three months for maternity leave, and the...