Take out the Trash

Last night we went to see Peaceful Warrior at the Kendall Theatre, our friends Randi and Chas had free passes. We had time for a game of pool beforehand- our couplehood against theirs- and they won, we talked about therapy, whether therapists can "cross the line" in telling you how you are, since all they know is what they see of you... apparently their couples therapist said something that really pissed Ran off. I wanted to know what it was, since I need to know this stuff if I become a therapist- i said i thought it might be okay for a therapist to piss you off sometimes: they are trying to reflect you, and there are plenty of things about myself that might piss me off if someone else told me about them. But I think saying that therapists "don't have the right" to tell you about yourself because they only know you so well is based on maintaining a certain amount of distance in the encounter, distance which ultimately might not serve the purpose...
Anyway I loved Peaceful Warrior, I read the book a long time ago and it was exactly as I had pictured it while reading. It was much better than infomercial-esque "The Secret" or "What the bleep do we know?"... I wish it would get more attention. The only cheesy thing about it, Kami said, was all the long focus on athletic training. But that was the guy's dream; I found it exhilirating to watch. The whole question of whether Socrates was real or not came up in the movie, whereas in the book I think you are convinced he is real the whole time, there is no question. I came across a quote this morning that reminded me of this dilemma, Anatole France said "Chance is perhaps the pseudonym of God when He did not want to sign." The movie gave a me a renewed sense of faith in the magic that is at work in every moment, if we only can turn to it and believe in it. Every moment is an opportunity for transformation, for revising our beliefs about the nature of things, for letting go of more of the habitual crystallized selves that stand between us and our vast potential. I would watch this movie again, I would buy it for my future kids. Now Kami calls me his Socrates. We need to close the gap between our past selves and what they believe/experienced and what is possible and real now. For me therapy is the place to learn how to do this.