Friday, April 28, 2006

"Life, at it's best, is the synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony."

Those words, though wise like my own, are actually those of Dr. Thomas A. Parham. I attended a workshop on cross-cultural counselling facilitated by "Dr. P" today. Lots of useful things came from it but I want to focus specifically on the introductory quote.

I don't think the idea of good and bad or the dark side and the light side existing in and around all of us is any great revelation to you. That is not to devalue the quote in any respect. I rather like it for it's ability to make me re-frame how I consider my own life. Happy...Sad. They seem like two competing feelings (which I guess they are). At the same time, they work directly with one another. To consider trying to find "fruitful harmony" between those two disparate emotions, or any other opposites for that matter, strikes me as a good challenge. Having discussed the subject earlier this evening I'm clear that one doesn't necessarily serve as a salve for the other but maybe just conceptualizing them together rather than apart is useful. Then again, if I'm to universally apply that line of thinking to the opposites in the world I might need to think of "Dubya" with wise. Ladies and gentlemen, I may have just found the achillies heel in this line of thinking.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that your thoughts are on the right path. So called good and bad exist in me as do happy and sad. Examples are: doing the right thing for my students with understanding and warmth and then suddenly being without understanding when my buttons are pushed. However without those times of so called badness, a part of me does not get to see the light of day and get uncovered. It's nothing to be ashamed of, just another lesson that if learned from will charge up my life! By the way Dubya also has good and bad, no matter how bad he is portrayed or does things that I don't like.

Anonymous said...

Sure, maybe Dubya is really nice to kittens or something?

Your post reminds me of that saying about needing the dark to fully appreciate the light (and the movie Legend, but anyway).

justin said...

Oh ya, Dubya is a real kitten lover. ;) Of course he's not ALL bad. In fact, he may well be a really nice guy to play rummoli with but he's an easy stereotype as he is a lightning rod for "bad things".

I may well not be breaking any new ground here but sometimes just the conscious musing is enough. Whatever it reminds you of, it's got you musing too, and that sounds like a good thing to me.