honey and sting

Well, the good news is, Malibu is gorgeous. The drive up the coast highway was absolutely picture perfect -- sunny and clear but not too hot, magnificent view of the curve of the shoreline, waves cresting away. The sight, sound, and smells of the ocean never fail to refresh my spirit. The funky news is, boy was that "healer" a "man with the mike" -- he just LOVED to hear the sound of his own voice. He had a particular shtick about faith in God, and if I didn't endorse it, IN HIS LANGUAGE, then he was just going to keep talking to me about it until I did. He also seemed to have the unfortunately not unusual posture of trying to win points on me by pouncing on anything I said that had the remotest smell of pathology to it. It made me feel like (some) psychotherapy has formal characteristics in common with abuse: convince the person that they are flawed, that if they deny it, it's only further proof of how flawed and unaware they are, and that only they can help you. *shudder*

I can say, in contrast, that I have been blessed and spoiled in the experience of true healers -- Ruth, Pat, my acupuncturist Andrea, and the many members of the Myers clan -- Heather, Ilene, Matt, and Carol, come to mind. People who don't take resistance personally, but in fact know that resistance is something to be treasured as it signals that one is on a path that really has something at stake to it. Who revel in the aliveness of discovery, rather than trying to forcefit their own special philosophy. And who can look past semantic differences and engage with the true intent to heal, no matter what shape it arrives in.

And Malibu, I can't say enough for how beautiful it was today. I stopped off after the session and walked down close to the waves, breathing the Ocean in. Then had a wonderful, hearty lunch of grilled chicken sandwich and fries at a restaurant overlooking the waves, soothing Hawaiian music playing in the background -- not ukelele touristy stuff but something that felt very soulful and true.

And that's my day so far -- how is yours?