Currently Reading/Watching

Books I'm currently reading:

"Notes on a Foreign Country: An American Abroad in a Post-American World" by Suzy Hansen. Curious to hear her non-US-centric perspective.

The new "Leonardo da Vinci" by Walter Issacson. Leo keeps popping up in my life lately as I look for some inspiration and a muse for more creativity in my life. Plus, he's just brilliant. I wish I could have known him. And I'd love to soak up all the knowledge I can since I most likely will be traveling to Italy in June 2018. !!!

Interesting shows, documentaries, and movies I've watched/am watching in the past month:

Binge watched "Handmaid's Tale" a few weeks ago. Super disturbing and essential show for women to watch. Very well done show.

Anthony Bourdain's "Parts Unknown"on Netflix to inspire my wanderlust for travel and food :)

Ken Burn's new 10 part documentary "The Vietnam War" via Amazon Prime. Quite extensive in length and footage. I am blown away by all I'm learning  (D and I have watched 5 out of 10 episodes thus far). It's so great to see Marine veterans talking about their harrowing and mentally as well as emotionally traumatic experiences as well as their conflicting thoughts about the nuances of this decade long war...even though the intensity of this documentary is hard to watch and hear at times. And LBJ...what a stubborn egotistical asshole. Highly recommend this documentary.

Just started "Mr. Robot" last night at the recommendation of my brother and mom. Enjoying the weirdness so far two episodes in.

David Cronenberg's "Scanners." One of the creepiest movies I've seen in years. I thought I was going to have nightmares last night. Not sure what to think of this one.

Retrain the brain

The running theme for me this year: Re-train your brain. It's been challenging at times, but it has served me well and has reinforced my belief that the mind can facilitate a powerful process as well as  a powerful outcome with an adequate dose of self-discipline and curiosity.

The big one for me started just a few days before the new year of 2017. I had seen a friend post on social media here and there about this thing she was doing called Whole 30. The photos she would post of her meals looked delicious and healthy. I became curious to learn what this was all about, so with my Barnes and Noble gift cards in tow I scooped up "It Starts With Food" and a Whole 30 cookbook. I read the former within a few days time and impulsively made a decision to commit to 30 days of gluten-free, dairy-free, legume-free, corn-free, alcohol-free, and sugar-free (sans fruit) for 30 days in the month of January.

I mainly wanted to see if I could do it and if I would feel differently on a whole foods diet. It sounds silly, but it was definitely one of the hardest things I've ever done. It required a self-discipline on a more challenging level as I had to constantly be aware of the foods I was picking and if I bought something that was already made I had to check the ingredient labels....and boy, was I surprised to see sugar in SO many products. No wonder we have an obesity crisis in the US. I had to learn to cook different foods. I had to get through some tough food cravings (including referring to my "relapse prevention"reminder list, especially every Friday...my "trigger" night of the week). Most importantly, I had to retrain my brain regarding my relationship with food.

And yes, I did make it the whole 30 days, plus the extra days of gradually reintroducing all the things I went without for that month. While I definitely don't want to eat this way as a lifestyle every day for every meal, I've incorporated it into healthier food habits and have continued to make Whole 30 meals more often than not since the beginning of this year. I also do something I never used to do before....I may eat something unhealthy, but only a little bit of it and then throw the rest away. Novel concept for this gal. I've retrained my brain to be mindful that I don't have to feel guilty about not finishing food and I also don't need to eat until I feel too full...only until I'm satiated. (Now if I could just retrain my brain to not crave chocolate so much...)

The other big conscious decision that I slowly eased into this year? Retraining my brain regarding my miserable anxiety laden relationship with my "smart" phone.I'm starting to think that calling our phones "smart" only makes us more dumb. Until the tech empire changes its mindset though, I need to change mine. Over the past year or two, Facebook and I have grown apart. Facebook became too self-absorbed, leaving me feeling incredibly disconnected. It started to feel like an abusive relationship in that the relationship isolates you from everyone else in your life and one day you wake up realizing you have no one else because you're so controlled by the relationship. Facebook was my abuser and I prepared myself to leave. Like so many victims of abuse, it took some time to figure out how I was going to leave, when I was going to leave, and uncertainty as to whether I would go back only to leave again. I would leave for a week or two here and there, but it's only been since September that I've been separated from Facebook this long: almost 2 months. 

It felt strange at first, but I feel like I'm getting the real me back. Every day I look around me and see so many people chained to their "smart" phone. I feel sad and angry when I see this as I wonder how much they are missing what is going on around them as well as within due to their technological addictions....beauty, real humans in front of them, their own minds. During my "detox" from my unhealthy relationship with Facebook and by extension my phone, my anxiety decreased dramatically and my ability to be in the moment increased substantially. I've been reading more books (if that's even insanely possible for me), thinking and reflecting more, and even starting to get my motivation and drive back for writing (something I haven't done in 3-4 years, except the occasional book review). 

If you want a more fulfilling and/or better quality of life, ask yourself what is most important and most helpful for creating a healthier, happier, more meaningful life for yourself. Then retrain your brain with some mental gymnastics and some gentle/mental stretching. I promise you it is worth the initial struggle. 

Book review of "A Fearless Heart" (7/30/17)

I recently heard this book referenced by Jack Kornfield in an interview/training done by Psychotherapy Networker. Jack Kornfield was talking about how the main ingredient in psychotherapy is love/compassion. I got to pondering and reflecting on this more, thus I decided to read this book as well. Most of the things mentioned in the book I already knew due to my lifelong curiosity and love for the tenets of Buddhism as well as my interest in the increasingly popular theory on how self-compassion can positively transform one's life (specifically Kristin Neff's "Self-Compassion" I have recommended to many of my clients struggling with extreme self-judgment). This book was a refreshing and comforting reminder of why Buddhism has always been a nurturing comfort to me, especially when it comes to suffering personally and the collective suffering of humanity. I also liked how this book gave different exercises one can try to combine deep breathing with meditation.

My favorite thing about this book overall that I hope to be my new mantra (especially in this polarized society we're currently living in) is The Four Immeasurables Prayer:

May all beings attain happiness and its causes.
May all beings be free from suffering and its causes.
May all beings never be separated from joy that is free of misery.
May all beings abide in equanimity, free from bias of attachment and aversion.

Book review on "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck" (9/4/17)

This book arrived in my life at just the right moment. Originally, I was a bit hesitant based on the title. I'm glad I didn't give in to judging a book by its cover because this book did not disappoint in the slightest. Once you keep laughing and get past all the blunt F bombs more so in the beginning (which only adds to its humor and charm), "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck worms its way into your psyche if you allow your heart and soul to go down the rabbit hole with Mark Manson.

It's part hero's journey, part helpful suggestions, and part (non-bullshitty type) self-help insights on life drawn from psychology, philosophy, and a mindful stance of "not giving a fuck" (ie, choosing what to give a fuck about and more so what NOT to give a fuck about in the overall scheme of things). It's nothing that I don't already know on some level, but it's his delivery and particularly the way he integrates it all that drew me in. This book is like a wake up call when you need a swift kick in the ass in your life.

I also strongly identified with his life changing event that he mentions towards the end of the book: how a close friend of his suddenly and unexpectedly died and how that then redefined him as "before" and "after." While it can profoundly transform a person, tragic events don't have to happen for us to alter our perceptions, the choices we make, and the way we live. It can happen right now. Mark Manson emphasizes that we all have choices and we will always have problems. A problem free life is boring, unavoidable, and leaves no room for growth. It's about choosing the good problems to have that will lead us on a journey of meaning and fulfillment, even in the midst of pain.

Halfway through the book, I was curious how other readers on Goodreads felt about this book. Not surprisingly, there were people that either loved or hated this book. If you're wanting a book that will make you feel good about your sense of self, your life choices, and let you know that you're an exceptional/special person....well, this isn't the book for you. And this is why I fucking loved it. Refreshing, honest, emotionally intelligent, thought-provoking, and real....this is something severely lacking in society these days. Everyone needs to read this book, especially in the United States of Entitlement. Perhaps the best book I've devoured in less than two days in years.

Read. This. Fucking Book. And if you don't, well....I just don't give a fuck. You're missing out.

The best "teachers"

Sometimes the best "teachers" in life are those individuals that challenge and remind you of your integrity, kindness, and compassion in the face of their lack of humanity. Resentment, nasty criticism, and self-righteousness make for the perfect cocktail of the ego's dark side. I've never really understood why people hold on ever so tightly to resentment when it's counterproductive to their own sense of well-being and overall happiness in life. Granted, resentments can pop up for anyone (myself included) at times in life...but what makes a difference is whether you allow them to fester or examine it, work through it...and let it go, for your own sanity and well-being above all else. It's just not worth it. Yet so many are stuck in their ego (being "right" or "better than" another infallible human being). For the person on the receiving end of a "grudge" or a resentment that cannot or will not be forgiven, this can trigger uncomfortable and unpleasant feelings. One may feel angry, guilty, unworthy, maybe even "attacked." Depending on experiences you've gone through in life and grown from (or not), you can choose to take it personally or move forward (preferably without those toxic people and situations).

I got to thinking about this "perfect cocktail" tonight as I reflected on how that truly has been the theme of the day. Maybe there's a lesson in there for me. I had a client talking at length about anger and resentment he harbors against a family member. He acknowledges that she may never change but has been unable to let go of it, so much so that his resentment triggers self-destructive behaviors and sometimes leads to a drinking relapse. His resentment hurts him more than it hurts the family member.

Interestingly, I was on the receiving end of some nasty criticism and resentment tonight. Last night I had emailed someone from my past that I had not communicated with in quite some time. I won't go into the specifics here because it's too personal to blog about, but basically the only reason I contacted this person was to let him know about a friend's death. I felt compelled to let him know because if it wasn't for him, I never would have known this friend who was such a huge, loving presence in my life. My email was well-written, informative and to the point. Nothing was brought up about the past. I even expressed gratitude for having met my friend because of him. I was pleased with what I expressed.

The response I received, however, was completely opposite. It was fraught with resentments from the past, fueled by his judgments of both myself and my friend with an incredibly self-righteous demeaning tone. Even in light of my friend's death, this individual still chose to hold on tightly to his ego and discard any sense of humanity. Some people just never learn. Some people would rather be assholes and say or act somewhat abusively to puff up their own sense of "power" than be kind, forgiving, and compassionate. I've encountered this same M.O. from a few other individuals over the years and while in the past I felt very emotionally wounded by this kind of viciousness (for lack of a better description or interpretation), I quickly bounced back from this particular incident tonight. I was shocked and slightly upset by the unexpected harsh words for a short time, but in the overall scheme of things I chose to not take it personally nor embrace his words as truth or reality.

This is is what I have learned from the best unkind "teachers:" Life is too short to hold onto the bullshit. I don't know about you, but I'd rather hold onto the good: kindness, love, compassion, gratitude, peace, and self-acceptance.

With that said, I'd like to make a shout-out to all the assholes that have been a part of my life. Thank you very much for teaching me to not be like you.

Interview with a high school student

Last week a good friend of mine (a high school English teacher) asked me if I would be willing to help out one of her students by allowing the young girl to interview me for a research paper assignment on a career path she is interested in pursuing (counseling, possibly in drug and alcohol addiction). Never having been interviewed before other than for job interviews, it was an interesting experience. I had much more to say than I would have thought...and I could have said even more. Here's my one hour of professional "fame:"

How long have you been in this career?

I started my first job working with heroin addicts at a methadone clinic in Chicago, IL in June 2005. I worked there until March 2008. I moved to Washington at that time and got a job working at a community mental health agency that provides counseling and case management services to low income individuals who struggle with mental health and/or chemical dependency, which is where I still currently work (I mainly do mental health counseling now, but I have several clients that struggle with addiction as well/are in recovery so I still do some addiction/recovery counseling as part of my work).

What education did you need/have to take?

Well, I'm not sure how to answer this question because it really varies depending on whether you want to pursue something very specialized (such as to specifically do chemical dependency counseling only) or if you aren't sure yet and want to see what's out there. If you are wanting to do work in chemical dependency, more than likely you will need at least a BA degree in social services and most places will require a MA in Substance Abuse/Chemical Dependency. In the state of WA you may be able to complete a certificate program to be a chemical dependency counselor without having to obtain a master's degree. Regardless of whether you decide to pursue a master's degree or a certificate program, you will need to study and pass a licensing exam so that you can do that kind of counseling/apply for jobs in the chemical dependency field. It's important to note too that the requirements can vary depending on the state. Unfortunately, the requirements to practice (nor the educational requirements) are not exactly the same in every state....so if you think you'd like to move out of state one day, keep this in mind for your career choices.

What college did you go to?

I got my BA in Psychology at Texas State University for undergrad and got my MA degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago, IL.

Why did you pick this profession?

I was always a "helper" when I was younger, but there were a few experiences that started steering me more in that direction when I reached high school and then college. I took a psychology class my senior year of high school and was intrigued by the subject matter...what makes people tick, why they do what they do...and how it's tied into how they make sense (or not) of their experience in the world. Then in college I took a sociology class (I think it was called "Love, Romance, and Marriage" or something like that). We had a marriage and family counselor come to the class one day as a speaker to talk to us about her job as a therapist. That's when I started thinking it sounded like something I could see myself doing. I was always trying to figure out the relationship dynamics in my family and if it was possible for people to be happy and healthier in relationships. After I graduated college, I searched online for graduate schools and came across the Adler School. I saw they offered an MFT program and I made my decision. Although I don't do marriage and family counseling with that degree, I love being a therapist. I love being a part of people's journey...helping them with their struggles and being a part of their healing process/personal growth.

What are your hours?

As I work in an agency setting, I work 9am-5pm Monday through Friday.

What would you recommend to another future therapist for their hours to be?

It really just depends on whether you plan on working for yourself (in a private practice) or if you'll be working for someone else (agency/company). There's more flexibility if you have your own private practice, although you may not be guaranteed financial security/stability if you have to find clients on your own.

Do you have vacation time? If so, how much vacation time do you take throughout the year and how do you separate the vacation time?

Yes. I try to space out my vacation time evenly throughout the year, typically every 2-3 months. I try to take some vacation time with holiday time that way I can give myself a longer vacation without using all my 'vacation' days, especially during the winter months. The longer I've been in the profession, the more I'm aware of how long I can go before reaching "burn out" phase...which is why I like to take time off for myself every 2-3 months, usually 4-5 days (including weekends that I already have off).

What is your salary range?

$30,000-40,000

Has your salary increased or decreased through the years?

Increased, although not enough. Good thing I'm not in it for the money. :)

Do you have any physical/emotional stress? If so, how do you deal with the stress so that you don't take none of your patients' problems?

Physical/emotional stress from the job or my own stress? There's always a fluctuating level of both personal and work related stress that I constantly have to be aware of and keep in check. It was very hard when I first started my career as I had to learn how to manage stress and wasn't very balanced about it. I've definitely cultivated a much more balanced approach now that I've been a therapist for over 8 years now. It depends on whether the stress is physical or emotional. If it's physical, I make sure to eat healthy, exercise, consistently get enough sleep, and if I don't feel well most times I will not go to work because I notice I'm not able to be an effective therapist if I'm not well/can't focus on my client due to my own pain/ailments. For awhile I also used to get regular massages (covered by my insurance, so I only had a $20 copay, which was great!) and that helped with both physical and emotional/mental stress. For emotional stress, I ask for help and support if I need it...whether it's talking to or spending time with family or friends or getting extra support with my own therapist. I also remind myself that as much as I enjoy helping people, I cannot make changes for them and can only guide them, give suggestions, feedback,etc. I leave work at work. Rarely do I spend time thinking about work stuff outside of work and rarely do any work paperwork at home. Keeps me sane!

Do you have any coworkers? If so, are they also drug and alcohol counselors too?

Yes, I do have coworkers. There are three other therapists in my office that are part of the counseling "team," but they only do mental health counseling.

How are you evaluated on your job and how you do with your patients?

I have a supervisor that I meet with regularly for 30-60 minutes twice a month. Once a year (around the time of year that I was hired) she completes an evaluation based on my performance for that year, which is largely based on what she observes that I'm doing and/or what I share (about my clients, my workload, issues that come up,etc) during our supervision meetings. I'm evaluated on various aspects of the job....my strengths as well as areas for improvement. As part of the evaluation, goals set for the year are reviewed to see if I've accomplished/completed the listed goals as well as coming up with goals for the new year ahead.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of this job?

This is a great and also hard question to answer. There are alot of complexities to being a therapist, which can be both an advantage and disadvantage....an advantage in that it pushes you out of your comfort zone and can motivate you to always try something new, be creative, and really be present with each unique client that comes to you for help. This can be both scary, anxiety producing, and also interesting. If you like people and like being the person they turn to for help, it can be very rewarding. The cool thing about being a therapist is that I sometimes learn things from my clients and am also constantly pushing myself to grow too.

The disadvantages can be numerous, so you really must have a passion for this kind of work in order for the advantages to outweigh the disadvantages. Disadvantages: Not everyone that comes to you wants help nor is always necessarily ready to be helped/make changes (patience and compassion is essential for the therapist). You can't expect to be appreciated/thanked. The pay isn't great. There's a high risk for burn out and health problems if you don't find balance with self-care and separation between work and personal life. Sometimes you will have things going on in your own life that may make it very hard at times to "give"/help effectively at work and you still have to go to work/do your job even when you have your own problems (again, this is why self-care is a must!). You will see the best in people as well as the worst/dark sides (advantage and disadvantage, depending on what's going on and your perspective on humanity).

What options or other job opportunities has this job opened up for you?

My current job has allowed me to learn and gain significant experience in trauma work as most of my clients have an extensive history of trauma (physical, sexual, and or emotional abuse). I knew almost nothing about mental health disorders (especially PTSD) prior to my current job. My first job working in addictions actually opened up doors as far as helping me get the job I have now as there is an increasing need/demand for chemical dependency counselors. It's easier to find a job if you have experience working in addictions as there aren't enough people trained to do it as there are mental health counselors (at least that was the case when I was looking for a job back in 2008 when I moved to WA).

What are the skills required for this job?

You must be compassionate/have empathy for people, be a great listener, have a thick skin (learn not to take things personally), have healthy professional boundaries, and have a reasonable knowledge/understanding of addiction/mental health (with the help of what you learn in school and doing a clinical internship before you start your first professional job). I'm sure there are more skills but that's all that immediately comes to my mind.

What training did you have to take for job in high school, college, and any other extra thing?

High school and college I took psychology courses to get a basic understanding of psychology and the human mind. Graduate school focused specifically on courses that would help me learn "how to be a therapist." After I got my master's degree I studied and took an exam to get my counseling license. I currently have a license as a mental health counselor ("LMHC) and as part of maintaining my license, I have to complete 34 or 36 credits of continuing education (by attending seminars, workshops,etc) every two years. Chemical dependency counselors have their own licensing requirements. I'm not sure what their requirements are, but you can find them listed on the Washington Department of Health website for details.

Book therapy

This book literally moved me to tears on at least a few occasions. Having lost someone as close and dear to me as the author did, I could relate all too well to the magnitude of all encompassing seesaw of emotions and existential questioning that follows. I enjoyed reading how Sankovitch transformed her pain with the healing salve of her most reliable of "saviors:" books. I can wholeheartedly identify with the healing power of books, which has always been my most comforting of friends during not only the best times of my life but also during painful times, lonely times, and times of challenging transitions. Sankovitch takes readers on a one year journey, reading one whole book for each day of the year. As she reads, she also reflects and finds connection that leads her to a place of gratitude, joy, and a sense of purpose.

With that said, I highly recommend this book to everyone (especially bibliophiles) and leave you with the following quotes that really spoke to me:

"For years, books had offered to me a window into how other people deal with life, its sorrows and joys and monotonies and frustrations. I would look there again for empathy, guidance, fellowship, and experience. Books would give me all that, and more."

"The world shifts, and lives change. Without warning or reason, someone who was healthy becomes sick and dies. An onslaught of sorrow, regret, anger, and fear buries those of us left behind. Hopelessness and helplessness follow. But then the world shifts again--rolling on as it does--and with it, lives change again. A new day comes, offering all kinds of possibilities. Even with the experience of pain and sorrow set deep within me and never to be forgotten, I recognize the potent offerings of my unknown future. I live in a weird world, shifting and unpredictable, but also bountiful and surprising. There is joy in acknowledging that both the weirdness and the world roll on but even more, there is resilience."

"Words are witness to life: they record what has happened, and they make it all real. Words create the stories that become history and become unforgettable. Even fiction portrays truth: good fiction IS truth. Stories about our lives remembered bring us backward while allowing us to move forward."

"The only balm to sorrow is memory; the only salve for the pain of losing someone to death is acknowledging the life that existed before."

"The purpose of great literature is to reveal what is hidden and to illuminate what is in darkness."

"Sharing a love of books and of one particular book is a good thing. But is is also a tricky maneuver, for both sides. The giver of the book is not exactly ripping open her soul for a free look, but when she hands over the book with the comment that it is one of her favorites, such an admission is very close to the baring of the soul. We are what we love to read, and when we admit to loving a book, we admit that the book represents some aspect of ourselves truly, whether it is that we are suckers for romance or pining for adventure or secretly fascinated by crime."

"In reading about experiences both light and dark, I would find the wisdom to get through my own dark times."

"Maybe that is what love is: the taming of desire into something solid and sustainable."

"We all face mysteries--'Why did that have to happen?'--that we will never be able to understand. But we can, and we do, find order somewhere, whether it be in our books, our friends, our family, or our faith. Order is defined by how we live our lives. Order is created by how we respond to what life dishes out to us. Order is found in accepting that not all questions can be answered."

Healing through Grief

During a Skype conversation between my best friend and I (he was in India and I was in the US) in September 2012, my best friend of 6 years told me "Katie, no matter what happens, I will love you forever." The second most heartbreaking phone call I've received in my adult life came just two months later when my other best friend called me on a Monday morning in mid November. "Katie, he's gone."

I've experienced deaths of loved ones in my life (one of the most painful of my childhood occurred when I was just 11 years old)....but none of them have been quite as emotionally painful as the sudden, unexpected loss of my young, kind, and loving best friend. One day while talking about the difficulties of managing my grief/loss while still going to work and trying to be a good therapist to my clients, an intern whom has been doing clinical assessment training with me told me about this book.

"Healing Through the Dark Emotions" salved the emotional pain in my psyche like nothing or no one else could during these last 6 months, for which I'm incredibly grateful. Miriam Greenspan is not only a therapist whom offers professional insights, she has been through her own personal battles with grief and loss as well. Instead of perceiving it as a hopeless negative, however, Greenspan seizes the pain as an opportunity for potential growth. She encourages readers to look deeply within themselves with compassion and curiosity, urging them to surrender to the pain instead of resist it....because as painful as it feels to do so, it is more fruitful to embrace it than let it fester into destructive pain that leads to addiction and overall health dis-ease.

If you're looking for a meaningful (possibly life changing)grief and loss book that strays off the beaten path (ie, one that is not pop psychology-ish), this is the one for you.

Along the axis of Time

If time was relative to a particular person, place, or situation.....would we go about our lives any differently? Would we feel more free to do as we please or more anxiety if the concept of "future" did not exist in our minds? Would our relationships be more meaningful or would we feel hopeless that anything could change without the passage of time? Would our mental health be better with no memory of painful events from our past? What if time wasn't constant but broken up into episodes with the ability to hit 'pause' buttons in between? What if there was nothing to 'measure' time? Would we be more productive? Would we be more creative and carefree....or lazy with no goals, nothing to show for? Would we experience beauty more vividly and more appreciation if time was a quality and not a quantity?

Such questions are asked by Alan Lightman in "Einstein's Dreams," an incredibly beautiful poetic novel that curiously and creatively explores the precious value of 'time' in our lives. A good friend of mine suggested this book to me years ago and I finally got around to reading it. I'm glad I did as it is by far the best fiction novel I've ever read. It touched me deeply on a mental, emotional, and spiritual level. It's resonated with me on such a visceral level that I'm having a difficult time articulating it into words.

Coincidentally enough, I started reading the book as 'time' became more present on my mind and in my life....though more from a negative standpoint. I've been feeling annoyed and pissed off at Time these last few months, particularly when it comes to time zones (don't even get me started on how challenging it is to coordinate talking on the phone with family and friends because of this pesky concept) and that feeling of constantly being busy yet not having enough Time to do all that I would like to do....or Time to 'just be.' Or the yearning to hit the 'rewind' button and relive those past episodes with the knowledge (from the future) that I will not see a particular person in a year's time because he will have died by then, thus savoring every moment with him. This excerpt from "Einstein's Dreams" resonates so true:  "In a world without future, each parting of friends is a death. In a world without future, each loneliness is final. In a world without future, each laugh is the last laugh. In a world without future, beyond the present lies nothingness, and people cling to the present as if hanging from a cliff."

I cannot recommend this book enough. I'd even go so far as to say it should be required reading. The world might be a little brighter and joyful if people took these concepts to heart and somehow integrated it into living a meaningful and purposeful life....

Here's a teaser of my favorite excerpts:

"In a world where time is a sense, like sight or like taste, a sequence of episodes may be quick or may be slow, dim or intense, salty or sweet, causal or without cause, orderly or random, depending on the prior history of the viewer." 

"Suppose that time is not a quantity but a quality, like the luminescence of the night above the trees just when a rising moon has touched the treeline. Time exists, but it cannot be measured."

"In a world where time cannot be measured, there are no clocks, no calendars, no definite appointments. Events are triggered by other events, not by time."

"In a world where time is a quality, events are recorded by the color of the sky, the tone of the boatman's call on the Aare, the feeling or happiness or fear when a person comes into a room. The birth of a baby, the patent of an invention, the meeting of two people are not fixed points in time, held down by hours and minutes. Instead, events glide through the space of imagination, materialized by a look, a desire. Likewise, the time between two events is long or short, depending on the background of contrasting events, the intensity of illumination, the degree of light and shadow, the view of the participants."

"In this world, time is a visible dimension. Just as one may looks off in the distance and see houses, trees, mountain peaks that are landmarks in space, so one may look out in another direction and see births, marriages, deaths that are signposts in time, stretching off dimly in the far future. And just as one may choose whether to stay in one place or run to another, so one may choose his motion along the axis of time. Some people fear traveling far from a comfortable moment. They remain close to one temporal location, barely crawling past a familiar occasion. Others gallop recklessly into the future, without preparation for the rapid sequence of passing events."

What have you done/what are you doing/what would you like to do with this powerful and beautiful Time?