Our society is fundamentally confused about the distinction between being, or in other words having a life, and having possessions. Advertising seduces us into fantasies associated with certain types of possessions.
It's easy to moralize about Ford's very public, very sensational melt-down: he's an easy target. What is not so easy or comfortable is the awareness that Toronto elected Rob Ford into his current role. The City of Toronto voted for him, and in many ways,…
Yet, people often find, as they start to tell their stories in individual case studies, that the real course of their lives is not nearly as straightforward, simple or consistent as they expected. It often seems to have much more of a spiral or multi-spiral…
Often, /a-midlife-transition reveals the need for real feeling and relationship in an individual's life, and highlights the crisis of connection that characterizes our lives now. It's not the only factor, but technology highlights the fact that, in this culture, at this time, we have a…
The McMichael Art Gallery is currently exhibiting a wonderful group of works by photographer Ansel Adams. Just to declare my biases: Adams was one of the great artists of the 20th century. In works like "Aspens, Northern New Mexico" above, he opens up a vision…
"Nietzsche has expressed it very beautifully: 'You shall become friends of the immediate things.' And the immediate things are this earth, this life. For quite long enough our ancestors, and we ourselves, have been taught that this life is not the real thing, that it…
To practice /a-midlife-transition in Oakville is to be aware of many key symbols in peoples' lives, including "naturalness" or "the natural life". This symbol has become of more and more importance to dwellers in affluent suburban communities like Oakville, especially in the last 15-20 years.…
There are many people who genuinely don't have parents. Some actually don't have living parents. Others, many more, live the wound of profound abandonment, due to parental apathy, abuse or fundamental rejection. And, all of us, in the process of individuation, will at times partake…
Since 1952, the APA's Diagnostic Statistical Manual [DSM] has been key to psychiatry and psychology in North America, and has had a profound influence on much individual case studies. Yet, with the upcoming release of version 5 ["DSM-5"] the validity and scientific authority of this…
Part of what makes it difficult for men to acknowledge their own receptive dimension and their weaknesses is the whole dimension of competition and the threat of possible judgment from other men. Very often, from the youngest age, boys are treated with shame for displaying…