In the chair

I've almost finished 'Gestalt Therapy Verbatim' by Fritz Perls and it really is one of the most extraordinary psychological works I've ever read. There are a number of thrilling encounters between Fritz and group members that had me gripped and it's easy to get a taste of his genius with communication and ability to facilitate the growth of others.

Highly recommended for anyone concerned with self-knowledge, particularly those like myself, struggling through the centauric / existential quagmire...

Reading lots about the anima...she's appearing in my dreams...making herself known...so...time for some more active dreamworking.

Kill yr television

I've nothing particularly profound to report here re. my life, so instead I'll recommend Justina Robson's fine SF-mystical novel Natural History, a great read, it's really, really good, promise! It's wonderful how she's managed to weave a difficult 'concept' such as non-duality into a work of fiction, go on, get a copy, you won't regret it.

Tired...weary...I could sleep for a thousand years...

I'm really too tired to write much. Am reading 'Gestalt Therapy Verbatim' by Fritz Perls, which is excellent and thought provoking.

There is quite a lot of old video footage of Fritz in action, doing his thing...I'd love to see some.

Turning it all around II

One has to keep on working at it though, I can already start feeling the resentment rising again. Man, life is so tiring when tied to this defense, defense, attack, defense game. All this energy spent bolstering up 'me!', poor little me.

Just imagine life without that, imagine the lightness, the ease...

Of course, this isn't an attack on anger, it's easy to fall into the trap of seeing ego as enemy. In the end it's about awareness of what's going on, awareness of when I'm acting out, awareness of those moments of authenticity.

Integral web design?

The newly designed Ken Wilber site is built largely in Flash, potentially shutting out blind and physically disabled users. I find this astonishing, though not surprising; the Integral Naked site is an accessibility nightmare, over-engineered and difficult to navigate.

I sent an email to the designers of KW's site asking whether accessibility was built into the design. I await their reply with interest.

Turning it all around

So, there's this old pal of mine and he's come over from Canada to see his mates in the UK, and I know he's been here more than a week...and not yet contacted me. And the stories in my mind kept turning, the resentment rising, the stories turning, the tales told, getting bigger and stonger, more angry and...well...so on and so forth and it was making me unhappy, all this resentment is not good.

Then a little voice mentioned the Bryon Katie inquiry work I'd looked at earlier this year, and her concept of turning it all around. So I did the steps...and it was magic. Within seconds I felt light and free and open and able to relax. Able to think of my pal and know he'll be in touch soon, and it's okay and as it is and should be...and...that I'd rather be happy than right.

Quite amazing stuff. I do feel a little hurt by my pal but no longer angry and resentful...and that, my friends, is something kinda lovely.

The Mystery of Existence blog has an excellent summary of Bryon Katie's inquiry process in a post appropriately entitled 'Piece of Hot Coal', worth checking out (scroll down the page a bit, or better still, read the entire post...)

Hello world

A quick note. I arrived back from France and caught this virus and am only just getting rid of it. Almost three weeks, I've never been this sick for such a long time, horrible. I'm so glad to be feeling better...anyway.

• My new fav blog is: Integral Options Cafe
• I'm on election duty tonight, making sure our website has all the results. The borough who's site I manage might change hands for the first time ever...it's a big deal.
• More later