“I am two thousand years old, and I’ve never had the time for the luxury of outrage,” the Doctor recently told his young companion Bill.
Today, outrage dominates the world. It consumes us, exhausts us and provides us with a false sense of action. All the while, it distracts us from “saving the world”, internally and externally
The Clickable title takes you to my thoughts on the matter.
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No Time for Outrage
Jan 30, 2018
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The “Cake Dilemma”
Jan 15, 2017
Vatican priest Krzysztof Charamsa resigned, on the arm of his lover, and stepped in front of myriad of news cameras. He seemed to be expecting applause – of course he received aplenty.
Does this have to do with gay rights? Vatican’s recently published guidelines for the training of seminarians? Should he be forgiven? Is it understandable that one may negate one’s previous vocational choice as grave as becoming a Catholic priest? Or, does the real matter have to do with pride? Entitlement?
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Kindness In Spite of Suffering*
Dec 16, 2016
“I’m in pain, I can’t be helpful to others. A luxury I don’t have,” those were the words of my patient.
Understandable, perhaps.
Then there were the Star Whale and the Doctor, who were the last of their kind and who had experienced suffering like no other.
Yet they couldn’t bear to see our children cry…. -
Universal Empathy
Dec 7, 2016
“I don’t care if my neighbor lives or dies. She’s nothing to me. I only care about my mom and my brother,” once a 14-year-old patient declared.
Compassion derived from self interests and empathy based on universal empathy are planets apart.
Further more, if one has to choose, would one sink to the level of Donna, who saved her friends while endangering the whole world or would one take on Rose’s “hard lesson”…? -
Of Emotional Clarity*
Nov 26, 2016
Rose told the fictional Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson in The Girl in the Fireplace, “…you weren’t suppose to have either (the Doctor nor the “monsters”) and immediately encountered a stern reply, “Supposed to happen? What does that mean? It happened…!”
Such emotional acceptance and clarity is the first step for us to spend our limited lifetime in healthy self creation, instead of being stuck in the labyrinth of bitterness, wistful for a “better lot in life”…. -
Commitment Unwillingness
Nov 25, 2016
Maeve in Westworld is a complex being. She blames her creators. She is enraged. She seems to feel no internal remorse at killing….
However the most relevant for my patient is her unwillingness to commit to one world. “Straddling” on the edge and hesitant to make the decision plagues “my Maeve”…. -
Truth Sets Men Free*
May 8, 2016
Through these two Doctor Who episodes, a young unwed mother literally saved the entire human race by admitting a difficult truth to her child.
Perhaps the effect of such an action isn’t as grand in everyday life.
But then again, maybe it is even grander than we can ever imagine for our emotional life and self creation. -
Easily Buried
Dec 26, 2015
In an episode of Doctor Who – An alien ship crashed in London. Downing Street turned upside down. Big spectacle ensued.
At a church organized charity event, a devote Christian slapped her lifelong best friend at a moment of extreme rage….
The very next moment, all were erased from the earthlings conscious awareness.
How could it be? And why? -
From Insight to Action
Nov 29, 2015
With unexpected depth, Victor, the fictional character in Mr. Selfridge, did not let willful blindness get in his way of self awareness. He further took action based on this awareness. At least in this instance, he became his authentic self. In the reality of life, we often fail in both or either steps.
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Anyone Can Be a "Champion", Deep Down*
Nov 22, 2015
“Nothing in the world is the way it ought to be. It’s harsh, and cruel. But that’s why there is us – champions. Doesn’t matter where we come from, what we’ve done or suffered or even if we make a difference. We live as though the world were as it should be. To show it what it can be.” These are the words of Angel, a struggling vampire in Joss Whedon’s fictional creation.
It is my firm belief that deep down, perhaps for some of us VERY deep down, we all have the “seed” of becoming “champions”.