Pastor Ed, thank you for this essay. I feel like my loved one will very much relate and we are going to read it together later today. I want to amplify your experience of your clinical supervisor by noting the common pretentiousness of the psychology profession as a bit farcical. Thank you also for the nothing-is- the-matter-with-me church community posture. I sometimes pine for a church where I can wail at the rail or in my pew without being bombarded at coffee hour afterwards with well meaning inquiries of "are you ok?" I studied at the Center for Humanistic Studies (CHS), a school founded by Clark Moustakas to focus on Carl Rogers, client centered Humanistic psychology as an alternative to the treatment du jour of behaviouralism (Skinner). The school has since changed its name to the Michigan School for Professional Psychology; I suppose to attract more students. I hope it hasn't lost its vision. The CHS professors like anywhere had some pretentiousness, but they were also kind and insightful. One of my very first seminars was with a professor named Colleen McNally. The school was located in downtown Detroit and has since moved to the Detroit suburbs regrettably. For our first class with professor Colleen, she took us for a silent meditative walk around the block then asked us to reflect on it when we returned to the room. Perhaps this was my introduction to mindfulness. It was 1995. We all had to write a thesis for our master's degree in Clinical and Humanistic Psychology. That is another story I want to share with you another day. During her class which may well have been an Introduction to Humanistic Psychology Colleen shared with us excerpts and thoughts from her own thesis on the experience of being a sensitive person. Pastor Ed, I looked high and low including Bing and Co Pilot and I can't even find Colleen let alone her thesis. I might contact the school to see if they have it. I can't recall anything specific to share with you from Colleen's comments. What I recall vividly is Colleen. When she spoke about being sensitive, she was so sensitive. It was as if she might cry at any moment. Her voice was very soft. She was my first teacher on this recovery path. I will never forget her open and honest vulnerability. Sensitivity. What a quality that we mistake for a defect of character. Exquisite sensitivity. I am a bull in a china shop personality; an Aries married to a Taurus. The personality trait of sensitivity is not highly developed in me. It is coming alive now as i enter my Elder self. I believe, my vicarious anon experience of addiction has cracked me open to my core. My suffering for my loved one has instilled a sensitivity in me. I'm starting to inhabit a more sensitive way of being. It is painful. But I wouldn't trade it for gold. Another Elephant, coming into full view, in the spirit of Ganesha. Much love and peace to you Pastor Ed thank you again for this essay!
P.S. Response from AI to search "Ganesha and Sensitivity"
3. One Tusk and Broken Tusk: Awareness and Resilience
The asymmetry of Ganesha’s tusks, one whole and one broken, represents the balance of completeness and imperfection. The broken tusk symbolizes creative adaptation and resilience—acknowledging loss or limitation while continuing to act effectively (Index
Mind Help). This teaches that sensitivity includes self-acceptance and mindful resourcefulness, allowing one to navigate challenges without rigidity or harsh self-criticism.
completeness and imperfection. The broken tusk symbolizes creative adaptation and resilience—acknowledging loss or limitation while continuing to act effectively (Index
Mind Help). This teaches that sensitivity includes self-acceptance and mindful resourcefulness, allowing one to navigate challenges without rigidity or harsh self-criticism.
Pastor Ed, thank you for this essay. I feel like my loved one will very much relate and we are going to read it together later today. I want to amplify your experience of your clinical supervisor by noting the common pretentiousness of the psychology profession as a bit farcical. Thank you also for the nothing-is- the-matter-with-me church community posture. I sometimes pine for a church where I can wail at the rail or in my pew without being bombarded at coffee hour afterwards with well meaning inquiries of "are you ok?" I studied at the Center for Humanistic Studies (CHS), a school founded by Clark Moustakas to focus on Carl Rogers, client centered Humanistic psychology as an alternative to the treatment du jour of behaviouralism (Skinner). The school has since changed its name to the Michigan School for Professional Psychology; I suppose to attract more students. I hope it hasn't lost its vision. The CHS professors like anywhere had some pretentiousness, but they were also kind and insightful. One of my very first seminars was with a professor named Colleen McNally. The school was located in downtown Detroit and has since moved to the Detroit suburbs regrettably. For our first class with professor Colleen, she took us for a silent meditative walk around the block then asked us to reflect on it when we returned to the room. Perhaps this was my introduction to mindfulness. It was 1995. We all had to write a thesis for our master's degree in Clinical and Humanistic Psychology. That is another story I want to share with you another day. During her class which may well have been an Introduction to Humanistic Psychology Colleen shared with us excerpts and thoughts from her own thesis on the experience of being a sensitive person. Pastor Ed, I looked high and low including Bing and Co Pilot and I can't even find Colleen let alone her thesis. I might contact the school to see if they have it. I can't recall anything specific to share with you from Colleen's comments. What I recall vividly is Colleen. When she spoke about being sensitive, she was so sensitive. It was as if she might cry at any moment. Her voice was very soft. She was my first teacher on this recovery path. I will never forget her open and honest vulnerability. Sensitivity. What a quality that we mistake for a defect of character. Exquisite sensitivity. I am a bull in a china shop personality; an Aries married to a Taurus. The personality trait of sensitivity is not highly developed in me. It is coming alive now as i enter my Elder self. I believe, my vicarious anon experience of addiction has cracked me open to my core. My suffering for my loved one has instilled a sensitivity in me. I'm starting to inhabit a more sensitive way of being. It is painful. But I wouldn't trade it for gold. Another Elephant, coming into full view, in the spirit of Ganesha. Much love and peace to you Pastor Ed thank you again for this essay!
P.S. Response from AI to search "Ganesha and Sensitivity"
3. One Tusk and Broken Tusk: Awareness and Resilience
The asymmetry of Ganesha’s tusks, one whole and one broken, represents the balance of completeness and imperfection. The broken tusk symbolizes creative adaptation and resilience—acknowledging loss or limitation while continuing to act effectively (Index
Mind Help). This teaches that sensitivity includes self-acceptance and mindful resourcefulness, allowing one to navigate challenges without rigidity or harsh self-criticism.
completeness and imperfection. The broken tusk symbolizes creative adaptation and resilience—acknowledging loss or limitation while continuing to act effectively (Index
Mind Help). This teaches that sensitivity includes self-acceptance and mindful resourcefulness, allowing one to navigate challenges without rigidity or harsh self-criticism.
I love that they use an elephant to make the analogy. Elephant wisdom