Analytical thinking is the backbone of science and a key attribute setting us apart from other animals. The gifts it has provided us impact every aspect of our lives, from the food we eat to how we communicate and travel. But there is a dark side to our love affair with the analytical mind. When…
An 11 year-old boy was given the homework assignment of writing a letter to his future self. He wrote: “I’m 5 feet two inches 91 pounds. Good athlet [sic]. I think in 7 years I will be between 6 ft to 6ft 4 inches 140 pounds. I hope to go to a good college in…
At the Japanese Garden of the Chicago Botanical Gardens there is an odd shaped bridge. It consists of two large, rectangular granite slabs laid end-to-end over a small stream. What makes the bridge intriguing is that the slabs are offset from each other forming a zigzag walkway. According to Japanese folklore, the devil always travels…
Separation is an important process in life. We separate the wheat from the chaff in order to make flour, and the cream from the milk to make butter. We separate the metal from the rock to gather gold, and the truth from the lies and illusions in order to see reality. We separate things because…
In the story of King Midas, everything the king touches turns to gold. At first this seems like a boon, for this power would make him the richest man in the country. But turning everything he touched to gold would eventually make the king the most spiritually and emotionally poor man there can be. How…
They say that if the groundhog sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, there will be another six weeks of winter. The classic movie, “Groundhog Day,” weaves this playful theme into the story of a man emerging from the winter of his own life. The movie is full of psychological insights that can help turn winter…
As the gatekeeper of consciousness, the ego has a profound effect upon the expression and health of the larger personality. Like the iris, which regulates the amount of light entering the eye, the ego regulates the sensory data that reaches the “retina” of your inner mind. For example, if you believe that a certain drug…
“Care of the soul” is a phrase you don’t hear too often. Its heyday was in the 1800’s and before when it was used to describe the religious instruction, guidance, and healing conversations between a pastor and his parishioner. It is a root of what later became psychotherapy (literally, healing of the soul) through the…