The Call
A Thinker's Guide To...
In our final episode of this season, we are attempting to wrap things up. Although, the Apocalypse is far from over. If we are going to get through it, we have to do the work. So the call remains, the question remains - will you continue to change? Or will you go back to sleep? I promise you that the world won't always be this bad. But in some ways, that's the whole problem. When you're in this trauma of 2020, as awful as it is, at least it's clear what the issues are. At the time of this recording, the world, as always, is brutal. I choose to stay in reality. I hope, I...
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The Promise
A Thinker's Guide To...
When I was 12, I made myself a promise that I would be perfect. I'd be a perfect daughter, sister, wife, student, and Christian. I told myself that if I could do that, then I could be loved. For years, I've been trying to make sense of these many promises I was taught to make in childhood, and the precious few I've remained determined to keep. In today's episode, we're letting ourselves open up to the possibility of the promise of the Apocalypse, and what it will mean to keep promises that we've been made to keep along this journey. What promises do you make to...
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The Dilemma
A Thinker's Guide To...
In this week's episode, we're journeying to the stage where most of my curiosities and dilemmas have arisen...the classroom. Specifically, we're thinking about what it means to take your heart out to examine it, and what happens when you put it back inside again. I'm sharing the story of when I attended grad school, and the professor that changed me life. He taught me about theology, about the puzzle of our hearts. While I learned a great deal, the heart is still a puzzle to me. The dilemma of the Apocalypse is, in many ways, to pretend that things haven't actually happened. To...
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The Celebration
A Thinker's Guide To...
Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see. I disagree. Whatever will be, will only be if you allow it to. In our twelfth episode of the season, I'm asking the questions: who are you? Who do you want to be? What lies ahead? We may not know the future, but one thing we can know is how we want to show up in the world for ourselves and for others. First, we must learn how to bring our shadow into the light. As we near the end of this Apocalypse, join me in beginning to see the good that this journey has uncovered as much as the painful, and...
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The Defeat
A Thinker's Guide To...
I've told myself many stories over the years. About the boys who would never love me, the jobs that would never fulfill me, and the people who never quite understood me. I even have stories I tell myself about you. I have many questions about who you are and why you're here. I'm someone who likes to imagine the possibilities. But today isn't about possibilities. Instead it's about the defeat of our illusions, and how hard it is to let go of what we've projected onto others. More importantly, how we long to be seen for who we really are. In our eleventh episode of the season, we're...
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The Unveiling
A Thinker's Guide To...
There are many ways to unveil your inner world, many paths to do so. Some meditate, others write. I chose therapy. In our tenth episode of the season, we're exploring what it means to allow our depth and mystery to be unveiled. Today I'm going to share the story of how I became a therapy client. I've always been way more comfortable alone than being connected. I learned a long time ago how to create a sort of pseudo intimacy with others, so they would only know the surface of me, but never truly know me. Many of us are this way. We need someone to break our heart's wide open and get...
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The Enemy
A Thinker's Guide To...
We are meaning making creatures. We want to know what the future holds while also craving to decode the past. You've heard me talk a great deal about the Bible. This, and other sacred literature, offers a key not only to the past, but to the future. Today we're talking specifically of Babylon. Babylon offered a key to make sense of what had been done to me, but also what I did and do to others. It's very likely that you may not know the story of Babylon, and if this is indeed the case, I'm sharing the cliff notes version in this episode. Who was Babylon? And why does she matter so much?...
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The Hero
A Thinker's Guide To...
Jesus has always been a conundrum to me. Growing up, I was always told he was our Hero. Truthfully, I've never been able to quite shake the feeling of him being my enemy. The relationship I was taught to have with him is strange. This hero that was suppose to save me from everything, somehow became tied to the hell that is in my soul. I think of Jesus as both my opposite and the same. To me, he is not just the benchmark, but the framework, of who I ought to be and who I don't want to be. Today I'm telling you all about the hero I was taught to worship long before I was even born. It all...
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The Dissonance
A Thinker's Guide To...
My family history would intrigue you if you are a therapist, or if you are interested in dysfunctional family dynamics (aren't we all?). Growing up in a family of fundamentalists, there was no room for poetry or imagination. It was all black and white. It's words on the page that you must take for what they say. Can you guess what happens when you admit that the bible can't be read 100% literally? When you forgo literalism, you forgo your claim to innocence. So settle in, because today I'm telling you a story about a holiday family party that began with shrimp dip and Stouffer's macaroni...
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The Horror
A Thinker's Guide To...
"Go, go, go, said the bird: Human kind cannot bear very much reality. Time past and time future. What might have been and what has been. Point to one end, which is always present." -T.S. Eliot Whether we like to admit it or not, we have many ways of avoiding reality. We have intricate ways of shielding ourselves from what's real. We're getting to the heart of the matter in our sixth episode. It's the part of the Apocalypse that we fear the most...the horror. We're exploring the horror we've experienced in our past, as well as the present, and how it can surface even on the...
info_outlineMy family history would intrigue you if you are a therapist, or if you are interested in dysfunctional family dynamics (aren't we all?). Growing up in a family of fundamentalists, there was no room for poetry or imagination. It was all black and white. It's words on the page that you must take for what they say. Can you guess what happens when you admit that the bible can't be read 100% literally?
When you forgo literalism, you forgo your claim to innocence. So settle in, because today I'm telling you a story about a holiday family party that began with shrimp dip and Stouffer's macaroni and cheese, and ended with my aunt telling me that I was following Satan and going straight to hell.
By now you know that I talk about hell quite a bit. I've told you how I spent far too much time avoiding it, running from it...terrified of it. This story I'm telling you today is the exact moment I realized I wasn't heading for hell. I was already there, and it was a pleasure to burn.
In our seventh episode, we are are going to discover what happens when despair and hope battle for the fate of our sanity.
Head to therapyforthinkers.com or connect with me on Instagram @therapyforthinkers to explore more resources for the curious.