Introduction

Values, beliefs, and human action form the core of what I want my work to be about with the clients I see. This is true because these notions also form the core of what I hope my life to be about. When I think about my counseling work with Contemplations, it’s not guided so much by some specific counseling theory, with the exception of existential thought. Rather my thoughts are guided by my being grounded in the ideas of libertarianism and personal liberty. These ideas have given rise to the way I now think about my own life and my work with clients, particularly those clients who are seeking what they want their lives to be about. Let me quickly add, when I say libertarian, I’m not talking about politics, but rather anti-politics. I’ve come to believe that politics represent no viable answers to anything at all.  I’m interested in what journeys people want to take with their lives. How do they want their personal journeys to play out in their ways of living? These ideas over the last several decades have played an important part in the way I approach living, probably in the last thirty-five years or so. They are questions and ideas that led me to stop on the road I was on at one time, and then take a completely different path that led to where I am now. That being the case, they are also thoughts and ideas that floated in and out of my awareness, taking some time for me to formulate them as I have at this point. I will not claim to have fully formulated them, because that is still a work in progress and will be until I take my last breath. What I want to write about in this article are a set of ideas I have formulated for myself that no doubt will shape my work with clients because they shape what I value and the manner in which I hope to live.

Human Action

The Axiom of Human Action

Human beings act. I have stolen this idea as formulated from the great Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973). The thought is stated as a basic axiom. We act in life so as to make of our lives what we hope them to be. People move toward those things in their lives that they want and desire. That is, they move toward goals that they value. Thought and action go hand-in-hand. A fulfilled life consists of acting in alignment with one’s thoughts, beliefs, and values. There’s no claim here that these things don’t change over time with human beings. They definitely have changed with me over the course of my life. But a change in values and beliefs requires exploration and reevaluation of one’s values, which will then still guide one in his actions. In order to move toward one’s goals, one must know how to get there. In other words one must have a plan or a recipe as to how one sees life unfolding. Plans and recipes are never perfect. Most likely all of us have had to clarify, modify, enhance, and rework our plans toward what we perceive as a better way to live. Hence one claims that he’s perfecting his plans to achieve his goals. Part of the human condition in moving toward our goals involves our facing difficulties, shortcomings, and outright failures. Such experiences feed the need to rework our plans. They also immerse us in the human condition.

The Factor of Time

Another marker of the human condition is that we are immersed in time. An important realization that occurs for us as we seek to follow our plans toward our goals is that the future toward which we head is uncertain. Our actions take place in time, from now to the future, creating a past as we move on. The future is always uncertain. And time is finite. We only have so much time to create the life we want for ourselves. Plans can be made. They can be constructed with as much rationality, input, and information as we can garner. But we never have the sufficient knowledge, and for sure lack the omniscience, so as to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our plans will succeed, or even work out in any particular way we desire. Time in one sense is rather like a pressure cooker turning the heat upon us to move and not waste any of the time we possess. Setbacks when our plans do not fully work out rob us of precious time. The constant battle is not to break under the pressure. Hence, if we want to make something of our lives, we are required to develop virtues that keep us on track. For the pressure never seems to dissipate.

Virtuous Living

Courage. Courage is called for along the way in our journey toward the life we want when setbacks, struggles, and failures emerge as major barriers on our path toward the life we desire for ourselves. To alter or change a plan requires retooling and the courage to let go of that which did not work. This doesn’t mean our values necessarily change, but it does mean our understanding of how we want to get to where we desire does change. Then there are those times that perhaps we question a value we have held to for some time. To discard and change a value requires an act of courage as well. Such changes in values might also require that our goals likewise change. We have been moving on a path. Now the destination is altered. This requires that we face the fear of more uncertainty.

Rationality. We must realize what our beliefs and values are before we can act on them. There are personal truths that we must explore, and of which we must become aware before we start our journey. Not that these things are done in some linear way where we must have all our ducks lined up before we move in life. If that were the case, we might not ever move. But we have to have some understanding of how our values and beliefs are driving us through life. Otherwise we’re floating in the wind, or we’re tossed about on the waves of a sea here and there of conflicting notions. Reason helps us understand what our goals and desires are that emerge from our beliefs and values. Do they mesh? Might our goals have to be changed so as better to align with our values? Might our goals inform us that we might not really value what we claim to value? Rationality allows us to make our plans and gain a picture of how we will carry those plans out toward the life we want. Though a valuable virtue, rationality cannot tell us everything. We are cast in finitude and insufficient knowledge. The future is uncertain. In uncertain times we fall back on our beliefs and values and the courage it takes to either stay with them or alter them.

Openness. Being open to what life brings and the flexibility that  such openness requires is an important virtue that can help us not break under the pressure of time and life’s vicissitudes. The art and practice of mindfulness can help us be open to life. For some people it’s prayer and meditation. Openness seems and feels paradoxical to facing the pressure of time. What the pressure of time shouldn’t do is lead us to live a harried life. There’s a time to step back, stop, and reflect. This is contemplation. As we move toward our various goals, and the ultimate goal of a fulfilled life, we may come to realize that we lack certain skills that we require to get us where we want to be. Being open and flexible to that experience brings important lessons. If we need to take time to develop skills, the pressure of time is churned up a notch once again. But if we do not develop necessary skills, the probability of our reaching our goals is next to nil. A sticktoitiveness is required here. This sounds paradoxical to openness. But the two are not necessarily antithetical. They are a polarity in living that we must constantly navigate. As we develop skills and become accomplished, a personal efficacy is imbued in us that we can navigate the dilemmas of life. We come to believe that we can accomplish things. We take our stand and face the multiple goals we have set for ourselves, all  contributing to the ultimate goal of what we want our life to be about. Courage, rationality, and openness along with some necessary stubbornness at times are required for us to move to where we want to arrive.

Integrity. How do we want to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves? Hopefully with integrity. Our actions align with our beliefs and values at every turn along the way on our journey. A person hopes to achieve his goals with honesty, perseverance, courage, and character. Human action, however, is never about perfection. We disappoint ourselves. We disappoint and let down others. We flounder at points we wish we hadn’t. We give in at times. We give up at other times. We fall on our face. Human action is also about picking ourselves up. It is about reworking where we messed up, both technically in terms of talent and information, and morally, in terms of acting in ways that went against our values. We all mess up. The courage and integrity to face such failures is what leads to our personal development along the way.

In a sense, all these virtues are interconnected and form a nexus of how we go about life. Alone, neither of these virtues listed here, and there are many more, is enough. They are all required along with many others.

Conclusion

I am no different from my clients. This human action journey is the same for me as it is with any human being. We are all on our personal journeys. Our journey must be ours alone. We must define it, declare it, and live it out for ourselves. To call on others to live it out for us is an act of cowardice, a point of dishonesty, and a lack of integrity. This is how I hope to live, knowing that I will not live up to it perfectly. I hope I can work with clients to help them make their journeys as smooth as possible, with the caveat that no journey is totally flawless. In fact, all journeys are far from any sense of a smooth ride. Both clients and I are on a journey together. As different and unique as those journeys are, they are the same in many ways. We dream, hope, plan, and act on those things we deeply believe. We move toward the kind of lives we want for ourselves.

Like I said, much of this thought I’ve formulated now does not come from any particular counseling theory, though several such theories, no doubt, cover these ideas. ACT comes to mind, as well as others. Presently in my reading, I’ve formulated these ideas via the study of libertarian thinkers, objectivist thinkers, and Christian writers and thinkers. Would anyone else hope to integrate such varied paths of ideas? I don’t know. I don’t care. It’s starting to make sense for me. And like anyone else, I must put these ideas together with honesty and integrity, realizing the many areas where I’ve failed miserable along the way, both technically and morally.

Here’s to your journey being what you hope it to be.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D., LPC-S/July 14th, 2017

GENERAL ESSAY

Introduction

I have written about transitions before on this blog over the nearly four years I’ve created monthly writings for my readers. Now I face my own personal transition. In autumn of this year, I will be completing my final semester of teaching at the college and university level, a journey that I began twenty-eight years ago. The journey is nearing its end, not because I’m forced to end it, but because I’ve purposely chosen, so to speak, to close down the shop on the professorship. Though such a move brings questions, doubts, and fears, it also brings excitement and hope for what lies ahead. I want to say some things about what that road ahead may look like and entail.

A Full Private Practice

Contemplations is my private practice. And as long as my health and desire hold up, I want to continue working as a counselor. A full practice, however, means more than simply increasing the number of clients I see, or the number of interns I supervise. Those who follow this blog know that my practice primarily revolves around existential work. That work entails interacting with clients to guide them in coming grips with and taking responsibility for their own journeys. I entered this work years ago to work with people who wanted to enter counseling and explore what they want and hope their lives to be about. That kind of work has always, and still does, strike a deep chord in me. I have a passion for working with clients who want to explore and clarify their values, search out where they want their lives to go, and look deep within to understand their personal identities, that is to know who they are. Though I’ve always been drawn to such work as a counselor, my younger years could take me so far in working with such clients in a mature and full way. At seventy years old, I feel now that I can offer this work from a perspective that I didn’t have in the past. I believe that perspective has developed over the past ten to fifteen years. Though I was always drawn to existential work, I believe I had to grow into it, so to speak. The transitions that people are navigating in life now are ones that I’m familiar with because I’ve navigated them myself, and I’m still navigating them. So a full practice means, I believe, I bring a lot to the table for the kind of work I want to do. This kind of work is exactly the reason I set up my practice, calling it Contemplations.

When Journeys Begin

It’s never too early to ask the question: What do you want your life to be about? I offer a caution. Don’t think you can answer that question once and for all right off the bat. Some people do. But that’s rare. Most of us begin our journeys that take sinuous paths that we never dreamed to take. Yet those pathways and their experiences make up who we are at any one point in time. Much of my work along these lines is helping clients simply accept where they are on their present journey. Acceptance is a loaded concept. Some people think it means simply to give up their dreams about what they hope to accomplish with their lives. Nothing could be further from the truth. Radical acceptance lays the groundwork for further exploration. Until you solidly come to grips with where you are now, you may find that moving forward toward where you want to go is a difficult task. I also work with clients to accept the mistakes they’ve made and any failures they’ve endured. These things, as well as our successes, are part of living. We all experience the ups and downs of life. Our journeys begin in awareness when we ask the question where we want to go. Whether we realize it or not, we’re on a journey. The best way for it to be a full journey is to become aware of where and how we are moving.

Movement & Values

One of the more interesting aspects of this work for me occurs when clients begin exploring their values. What is it that they really believe? What do they truly value? Do they really value what they claim to value? Or have they simply inculcated values from others and the social milieu in which they are ensconced? Our values are the fuel that move us forward to where we want to arrive. They help us navigate those sinuous twists and turns that life tends to throw at us. Being aware of our values does not guarantee a smooth ride with no bumps and falls along the way. Indeed, our values come to the forefront during any difficult times we encounter on our journeys. They help steer the course. And sometimes we may have to revisit our values, even in the middle of our journey. Life and its vicissitudes challenge what we believe. Clarification and awareness of what we truly believe on a core level help steady us on the road we hope to travel. I find values exploration in counseling to be some of the most fulfilling work I can do.

When Journeys End

Put simply, they don’t end for the living. As long as we’re breathing, we’re moving, even in our later years. It may not, and will not be, the movement we had in earlier and younger years, but it’s movement nonetheless. Obviously, we all die. That’s an endpoint that can enhance rather than discourage our journeys. Time is limited. The time to think about what you want your life to be about is now. What we have is the now. We can’t reclaim and reshape our past. The best and strongest thing we can do with the past is learn from it in a way that propels us forward along our journey. We can’t fully know our future. We can plan, but we must find that rest and calm to let the future unfold. Those within spiritual traditions tend to understand letting providence be. We’re an angst-filled culture when it comes to worrying about tomorrow. I like to work with clients to help them take their hand off that over-control button where they have everything lined out. There’s no point where life is laying fully in your vision. There’s no point where there are no risks to undertake. There’s no point where you ever know the beginning from the end. Rest, accept, and let go, but journey forward all the same.

Conclusion

My horizon is in front of me. As I reach it at the end of 2017 where it will turn to twenty-nine years of teaching, another horizon will unfold in front of me. The work I hope to do with clients is help them face and take responsibility for their personal journeys toward their own horizons. Contemplation and action go hand-in-hand. But the busyness of life without reflection is misdirected action. Effective action comes when we contemplate our values, embrace them, knowing they can change and morph in many ways, and move toward where they take us. I hope to be alongside any clients who wish to explore such work in the counseling room.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D., LPC-S/June 14, 2017

GENERAL ESSAY

Introduction

The evolution of a field of endeavor takes many sinuous twists and turns as thought within the field develops, builds on, and moves beyond all the thought that preceded it. Witness the history of science and technology. Just decades ago we would not have imagined where the fields of biology, genetics, and medicine would have taken us as they have in fact done. We have witnessed the the rise of technologies that would have boggled the mind just three or four decades ago. Technology has outpaced our wildest expectations. Witness the history of the computer revolution. We have traveled at almost light speed pace from CPU units, to personal computers, to the global Internet. Information and our ability to access it at the click of a mouse has exponentially exploded over the last couple of decades. The end is nowhere near in sight as we surge forward where the various fields of medical research and practice and technological innovation will take us. The field of counseling is not immune to these developments. We have already experienced how ethics in the counseling field has had to be reshaped due to the use of technologies, online interactions, text messaging, and communication via Skype. Beyond personal communication, the fields of genetics and neuroscience are reshaping how we think about working with our clients. Several in the fields of psychology and counseling have already proposed that psychotherapists need to rethink the way they conceptualize their work. The notion now exists that we need to move beyond the schools of psychotherapy because of the findings in the field of neuroscience. In respect to our understanding of mind/body interaction, I agree that our conceptualization of being human is drastically changing. Over the last couple of decades there have already been major shifts away from the idea of being a purist in theory as seen in the eclectic and integrationist movements. The schools of psychotherapy may indeed have outlived their usefulness.

Seeking to understand how mind and body interact has led to major debates and positions over many decades in the fields of philosophy, psychology, physiology, genetics, and neurology. Presently, neuroscience is at the cutting edge of this shift in our understanding of human nature. For much too long we have engaged the mind in psychotherapy at the expense of the body. Movement therapies, mindfulness approaches, and other experiential therapies have sought to fill this gap and bring body back in touch with mind. The technological abilities we have now to know in real time what neurons are doing as we think, act, and emote have opened all sorts of vistas to us. Personally, I believe the field of neuroscience is an exciting, cutting-edge field that will bring about a major revolution in how we understand human beings and human nature in general. Like all revolutions, we need to take caution before we go head-long into something unaware of any pitfalls. Nonetheless, there is no reason to hold back from the explorations into the world of neurology. There will be a clash between what we are uncovering now through new technologies and previous conceptualizations about how to work with people in the field of counseling. This clash of information emerging from neuroscience will most definitely rock the Casbah as it was sung some time back. What are some preliminary questions we may want to consider?

Whose Field Are We Playing On?

Psychotherapists should welcome the findings of neuroscience as they should any findings from fields that deal with human nature and human interaction. We should not fear that what we do will be taken over by another field of endeavor. Such fear will only lead us to remain closed off to what various other endeavors discover that can be useful. One thing we do not want to do is practice in a way that has become outmoded. Although I think neuroscience will radically alter our view of human nature, I don’t think it will substantially alter the way we sit with clients to work with them. In some areas, however, it may do just that. Working and counseling with brain-injured clients, for example, will definitely undergo a major shift. Certain neurological findings will also alter the way we understand the effects of trauma on human beings, both immediate and long-term trauma. Methodologies such as EMDR and mindfulness are already making an impact on psychotherapy. Correlations between brain activity and mindfulness exercises are showing the positive effects that mindfulness can have for people experiencing depression and anxiety. We need to be aware, however, that the fear that neuroscience will replace the field of counseling is simply the fear of the unknown. Neuroscientists will not replace counselors. But the knowledge they bring to human nature will rock the world, and there’s no turning back the impact of discovery. The animosity that goes on between what are called the hard and soft sciences, unfortunately, has a long history, going back to the time that the first analysts were medical doctors.

There is a change that must occur that therapists will have to be willing to embrace. We will need to learn to communicate with neuroscientists as we look into different conceptualizations of our clients and how we work with them. This means, furthermore, we will need to do some reading and studying in the field of neuroscience to get up to snuff on some things. Likewise, we’ll need to radically understand, and take a stand, on the boundary between fields of endeavor. More holistic understandings of human nature will require that we look at fields outside of psychology and psychotherapy to see what they offer. This is simply the logical conclusion of expanding our knowledge of  mind/body interaction. Rather than being reactionary, we need to welcome what the integration of various domains of knowledge can mean, both for therapists and clients.

Correlation Versus Cause-Effect

I don’t want to overstate my case, but many neuroscientists are materialistic reductionists. Hence, mind reduces to body. The human being is now his neurons. There are several supposedly bases to which human beings have been reduced over the decades, including genetics and environment. Next up are the neurons. Many of the findings we see coming out of the field of neuroscience show us in real time the activity of our neurons as people perform certain activities – e.g. exercise, problem-solving, meditation, and experiencing various emotions. Biofeedback practices have been tapping into this knowledge for sometime, helping people associate certain states of mind with bodily activities, such as breathing and finding ways to calm in certain situations. These findings show an interaction between human endeavors and neurons for sure. Logically, however, it’s a jump to reduce the human being to his neurons. This is a confusion of correlation with cause-effect. With such reductionism, there is a logical tendency toward strict determinism. But with many such reductionistic positions, one wonders how anyone can know that we are strictly determined by our neurons. Anything that a person knows or concludes must too be strictly determined by his neurons. No doubt there will be a tendency of some to reduce the field of therapy to biology. Such reductionist thinking has long been a premise of the hard sciences. Again, we as therapists need not overreact to this reductionism to the point that we discount or minimize findings from these fields that can, no doubt, be helpful in our work. But we must also ask whether or not we agree with such a reductionist and deterministic view of human nature. No doubt there are some in the field of counseling that will have no problems with such conceptualizations. Others will not find such thinking palpable.

Conclusion: Into the Unknown

Regardless of some of the frictions that may occur between neuroscientists and therapists regarding the boundaries of their fields, I believe we can and should embrace the field of neuroscience with all the excitement and cutting-edge knowledge it brings. To embrace new knowledge, we do not have to relinquish the important themes that emerge from human engagement, such as passion, creativity, trusts, pain and joy, and love and hate. But reconceptualization we may in fact have to do. Likewise, we have to listen, engage, and study with a critical eye what neuroscience brings to the field of psychotherapy. We may indeed need to rethink the entire way in which counseling theories are approached and studied. The schools of psychotherapy may indeed have run their course. I personally think we do need some major revision in thinking about the way we conceptualize in the field of counseling. Theory is about how we conceptualized human nature. Our practices as therapists draw on our understanding of human beings. There are major shifts in our understanding of human experience going on at the moment. One of my favorite TV series back in the late 1960’s was Star Trek. The ominous theme of searching the unknown where no one has ever gone before is still a strong pull on human beings. People simply must move beyond present understanding of things to expand and build upon knowledge in new and different ways. Neuroscience is here with a robust impact. It’s going to shake things up. So with a critical eye and open mind, let’s continue to move forward, not fearing what we learn. Along with The Clash, let’s Rock the Casbah.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D., LPC-S/March 14th, 2017

GENERAL ESSAY

Introduction

Each month I come to this blog trying to decide what pearls of thoughts I will leave before the public for its perusing. Sometimes, but rarely, I have a choice among topics that crowd my mind from which I can choose. Other times, more regularly, a topic occurs in between monthly postings due to something I’ve read or experienced. Other times something gels on which I have been reflecting for some time, finally deciding to put some words to it. This month the ol’ writer’s block has set in, the dreaded deadline is staring down at me, and I literally don’t know what to pen. I guess I could talk about deadlines, writer’s block, or simply what it’s like to write a blog like this one. All of that would be some good reflective writing on what’s going on with me in the moment, like one of those rock songs where the lyrics talk about writing the song you’re hearing. Is there anyone out there who remembers 25 or Six to Four? Alas I don’t want to do that either, or not exactly that. A good self-reflective question that emerges, however, is why do I want to write this blog? What do I expect it to accomplish? Why is important to me that I get my words down on this blog to be placed spread-eagle before the public and all those critical eyes out there? That question can be pushed even to another level with the hopes that people who write blogs can reflect as well on their experiences as bloggers. Maybe, and most likely, many other bloggers go through the same experiences I do when little fruit is available as the deadline approaches. So what about this blog? What does it mean to me? And for those whose eyes connect with this blog article, what does your blog mean to you? Why do you write your blog? What do you hope to gain from it? And what do you gain from it?

In the Beginning

This month’s blog article marks the 43rd time I’ve presented a monthly offering for the public. To put that in perspective, last month’s posting reached three-and-a-half years of monthly endeavors for this website. Looking back over the topics tells its own story of how and why I began this blog. As a Licensed Professional Counselor and Supervisor (LPC-S), I own a private practice where I work with clients and supervise counseling interns. The blog articles from the beginning and into the early months of this blog revolved around topics of therapy. At that time, the website had a different name as well, Contemplations: Center for Existential Psychotherapy. Given that emphasis, my early writings focused on existential work in counseling. Logical articles focused on what existential therapy entailed. An existential approach comprises many themes that speak to the struggles that people face day-to-day. So other articles delved into the richness of existential themes: transitions in life; encountering major struggles that living brings our way. Additionally, I focused on some existential therapists and philosophers whose writings influenced me, such as Albert Camus and Viktor Frankl. Straightforward counseling topics emerged as well that I thought would be useful to therapists. An example of the latter is an article I wrote sometime back on the counselor and finances, delving into the notion that some counselors have a difficult time thinking about how they should charge clients. A topic on career counseling also made the grade as a possible path for counselors to take. So it’s easy to see that the early postings were directed at the field of counseling and professional counselors whom I hoped to reach in order to simply reflect on the field in which we’re engaged, and how counselors want to pursue their work.

Arts & Literature

With a master’s degree in Literature, I’ve always been interested in reading and writing. What I had written about certain therapists and the various themes of existentialism served as a springboard into other areas I wanted to approach. I reached a point several months in where the desire hit me to write about more than the field of counseling. I still wanted my writings to serve the basic framework of counseling, but I wanted to spread out to other areas. That desire showed itself in writing about things literary: book reviews, lives of historical figures, and day-to-day encounters and struggles. An example is a book review I did of Jane Hirshfield’s Ten Windows, a book about how poetry can speak to the notion of mind, personal experiences and struggles in living. These topics still served a wider framework for counseling, but they were not specifically counseling oriented. I strongly believe in the notion that the living out of our lives is what brings people into counseling in the first place. Many enter therapy because they’re depressed, anxious, going through relationship problems, moving through major changes, etc. All of these presenting concerns in counseling are cached in a larger picture called life. So I wanted to tap into how the themes of writers, philosophers, and other artists could help anyone understand their personal journey. Although such topics may be germane to counseling, they could also reach a wider audience of people who simply want to reflect on what they’re going through and how the arts could speak to their concerns. Hence I discussed historical authors, the work of being a writer, and various poets. I did a couple of book reviews that touched on ideas I felt were well-fitted to the purpose of the Contemplations website. Hence a name change occurred several months in: Contemplations: Exploring Literature and the Arts. The name change most definitely would not signify a counseling practice, which reflected my desire to expand the audience I hoped to reach. What I discovered was that I was hoping for interaction with a wider audience to engage is discussion about ideas. Ideas have consequences. I hoped for a dialogue about ideas.

Where to Now?

The second phase of Contemplations still informs what I hope to accomplish with this website. But a further expansion has occurred. No doubt one of the major foci in counseling is the mind of the human being. How we are in the world, what Heidegger calls being-in-the-world, speaks to the mindset we hold as we approach and encounter our living out what we believe. What I became truly interested in was the notion that how we live day-to-day is a portrait, a working out, of what we believe and value – our ideas that we hope to see become real in the world. In other words, how we go about navigating our lives uncovers our mind. Questions that became interesting to me included: Do we live out what we say we believe? If not, what is preventing our living out what we believe? Do we really believe what we claim we believe? The readings of Walter Kaufmann brought me to these interests in his voluminous works on various psychologists and philosophers. A few months back (July 14, 2016), an article I penned titled “Random Thoughts” noted this shift in interest for me. In that article I laid out some themes and research areas that I wanted to explore more in depth. They included mind, meaning, knowing/doing, humility/finitude, and worldview. Hence I began reading more in these areas and blogging on such topics as human change, risk taking, the search for personal meaning, values exploration, pursuing our dreams, etc. So this third phase builds on the expansion of the second; I’m still targeting a wider audience than counseling and counselors. But this phase also is somewhat full circle with its emphasis on mind, returning to the world of psychology, but in a larger sphere that involves literature, the arts, and critical inquiry. This focus represents a third change in the title of the website: Contemplations: Exploring the Mind: Literature, the Arts, & Critical Inquiry. The critical inquiry piece represents a change of mind on my part in wanting more critical pieces for the blog that hopefully lead people to generate their own questions by which they can engage the website in some form of dialogue. I strongly believe that the various endeavors in the arts and in the sciences uncover the minds of human beings. The counseling field now is in a transition that began a few years back on integrating mind-body, a theme that has been discussed and debated for centuries. Yet that very transition represents ideas, the thinking, that’s going on in the field. The explorations of the categories I delineated – mind, meaning, knowing/doing, humility/finitude, and worldview – entail where I want to take this website.

What Do I Hope to Accomplish?

Basically, and really it doesn’t get any deeper than this, I blog because I want to. And I blog about what I want to explore. Exploration is key for me rather than persuasion or debate. Although I have my positions, I hope the blog articles here over the months and years that follow will engender dialogue, discussion, and interests that people can integrate within their personal journeys. On one level, I simply like writing about the topics I’ve merely touched on here. I believe the world of the arts and sciences can provide wonderful grist for the mill for discussion, exploration, and discovery. For you other bloggers out there who come across this blog, why do you blog? What do you want to accomplish with your blog besides building your business? What ideas are important to you, and why are they important to you? The one tidbit of information I can provide through the evolution of this blog is just that. It evolved. It went places I didn’t expect when I first created this website. The name changes for sure reflect its evolution, but more importantly, my own thought process changed. Hopefully this blog represents my mind and what I value. Moreover, I hope through this blog I’m living out my own values. Given that it’s changed over the three-and-a-half years I’ve been posting blogs, no doubt it will continue to change in ways I have yet to anticipate. I think being open to that is important. So I close with this question, as much or more for me than for others. Quo Vadis?

Not that bad of a blog coming out of writer’s block just before the deadline, huh?

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D., LPC-S/February 14, 2017

GENERAL ESSAY

Introduction

It’s the end of the year, so I thought I would jot down a few thoughts that have been meandering in my head. The end of 2016 brings new beginnings for me that I hope to follow out for some time.

Endings & Beginnings

Retirement: Now there’s a word for you. I’ve been a university prof for some 27 years now. That road is coming to an end. But retiring is not in my vocabulary. Not that it’s a bad thing, shouldn’t be enjoyed on some level, or recognized as a point on some journey one takes. But I simply do not want to cease doing some things, work-related, that fulfill me. What does this next year bring? For me, it brings an expansion of my private practice, some time to do more writing an traveling, and an opportunity to carve out things in my life in a new direction. From the private practice and writing perspective, the coming year and those that follow, provide a challenge for me to see if I can cut in the free market. Yes, I’m a free trader and looking forward to the challenge. I particularly like the idea of expanding my work with clients (professional counseling) and mentoring interns who are entering the profession. Some things end, while others begin. Interestingly, for those in the professional counseling world, my pathway is a bit ass-backwards. Most professional counselors nearing retirement go into teaching. I knew I wanted to teach on the university level many years ago. Sinuous paths, decisions and re-decisions, and fortuitous events led me to my goal somewhat late in life. But I’ve had a good 27 years of teaching, so I can say, I’ve done that. And I will probably keep my foot in that ballpark, albeit more restricted to adjunct work. Things end; things begin. Is not this the cycle of life?

Reflections

I’m one of those people who journal. Like many who do, this time of year leads me to look back on what I’ve written down over the year, if not the past couple of years. Such reflection allows me to build on my thoughts, goals, and values. Sometime just before 01/2017, I’ll take a morning to re-read some thoughts I jotted down over the past year, hopefully to clarify where I’m headed next year. It’s also fun to peruse what I’ve written. Why the hell did I write that, always comes to mind; or even more comical, What the hell did I mean by that, pops into my brain more than just a few times. It’s also fun to recognize how I have modified to various degrees the directions I want to head. I used to think: One needs to nail these things down ASAP. I no longer believe that. Indeed, I believe it’s rare that anyone can know all they want to do and accomplish at eighteen, twenty-eight, or even thirty-eight. More importantly, I believe that’s just fine, and I would say to anyone, don’t sweat it. We love the narrative regarding those precocious individuals who, from the time they were five-years-old, knew they wanted to be a ballet dancer or whatever. However, such an experience adapted as standard for people’s lives can wear out the soul rather quickly. We’re all on a journey that’s chock-full of unknown barriers, obstacles, surprises, and changes-of-heart. Embrace the journey and let it ride.

Writing

I’m to the point now that I want to delve more into my personal writing. Sometime back on this blog I penned my thoughts about writing. If you want to write, then write – and write everyday about something. I feel ready to gather a lot of my thoughts so as to explore various topics and interests for writing. Although, I would like to make some income from doing so, I can honestly say, I’m not focused on that as a goal. I simply want to explore some things and put my thoughts down regarding them, more so for me than anything else. I’ve published articles in professional journals, self-published a book of short-stories, and have done quite-a-bit of blog writing. All of that has solidified how I see writing playing a part in my life. I’ve not only never believed that I’m a great writer, but also, don’t even know what being a great writer actually entails. I’ve sure read some people I think are great writers. But that’s as far as that goes. I do believe that writing can help clarify, but writing also can bring more fog that one didn’t realize was present. Over the next few years, I have some loose goals concerning my writing and the topics I wish to approach. Then again, come next year, I might have a completely different take on things.

Reading

The one thing I love to do is read. I hope the future will open up for me even more time to pursue those topics of study that have come to interest me. Of course, those are not related merely to the counseling field. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and more are all on the bucket-list. Re-reading some works I read years ago is on the list as well. I love ideas. I view it as an adventure to encounter the ideas of various writers who write well about their thoughts, beliefs, and values. Whether or not I agree with a particular writer is only one thing to consider. It’s interesting to me to see how one comes to the ideas and conclusions one holds. Not a whole lot to say about this topic, other than I’ll continue to do, as always, what I enjoy doing.

Traveling

I’ve done some traveling in my time. One thing I really like to do, living in Austin, TX, is trip on over to New Mexico, particularly Santa Fe and the hot springs in Ojo Caliente. Sometime in the summer, I want to do the major Road Trip out west. And yes, I want to stand on the edge of the Grand Canyon. Another excursion I have planned is the Continental Train ride across Canada, preferably in the autumn months. No doubt, traveling opens one up to experience. Nothing more to say here, other than I enjoy getting out on the road.

Approaching 70

Who am I kidding? I’m 69, so I’m not just approaching 70. I’m there, pal. Old fartdom is an interesting place to be. The reality is that for sure, the fuse is shorter. But just how short, no one knows. Nonetheless, thoughts on the autumn and winter of one’s life emerge, fade into the background, emerge again, sometimes heavily and other times fleetingly. I don’t really care to dwell on such things, not because they’re uncomfortable or frightening, but because there’s not a thing one can do about it. When I was 20, I had thoughts about what it meant to be 70. Now that I’m 70, I have thoughts of what it must mean to be 20. And then there’s the Nirvana dream of being 20 again, knowing what I know now. [I know some of you out there reflect on that experience; so don’t blow smoke at anyone saying your don’t.]. More importantly, the journey continues, and that’s a good thing. So the same ol’ question never ceases: what’s next? What I would encourage anyone to do is live it out. I hope I can fully embrace that for myself.

Conclusion

These few meanderings are not meant to sum up 2016, or any other phase of life. They are a few thoughts I have regarding the coming year and beyond. Quite frankly, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about this month, so I sit down and just threw these things out. Not bad, for off the cuff, huh? Summing up: whether you’re 20, 50, or 70, keep plugging.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, and the start you hope for into 2017!

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D., LPC-S/December 14, 2016

GENERAL ESSAY

Introduction

One of my favorite writers is Albert Camus (1913-1960). Although I do not totally embrace his philosophy of the absurd (Absurdism), I’ve always admired how Camus addresses those events and experiences in living that we encounter that evades our making sense of them so that we can easily place them in our logic-box. Logic is a good tool, but, from my perspective, we stretch the tool beyond its limits when we believe it can sum up everything there is about life, providing us with certainty about all things. Whether it be The Myth of Sisyphus, The Rebel, The Plague, or The Stranger, Camus, through his philosophical and fictional writings, introduced readers to the kinds of experiences that we face in living, or at least those experiences we watch others go through, that challenge the notion that we fully, or even mostly, comprehend life. Born in French Algeria, in his early life, Camus fought in the French Underground during Nazi occupation, writing for the underground publication, Combat. In his activism as a writer, he sought to fight inequalities between Europeans and natives in Algeria. As an Algerian, he hoped for peaceful coexistence between France and Algerians, speaking out against atrocities on both sides. Having been a member of the French Communist Party, the party expelled him when he joined the Algerian People’s Party, embracing anarchism. (Anarchism is a term totally misused and misunderstood, which is an entire different discussion altogether. Suffice it to say here, anarchism does not mean lawlessness and despoil.) Indeed, it’s Camus’ anarchism that draws me to his writings and much of his philosophical thought. In regards to his supposed Absurdism, Camus stated later in life that he did not care to be associated with the philosophy of absurdism. As an anarchist, he instead was interested in how human beings face life events and experiences, which they cannot comprehend. He was more interested in the will of human beings to make sense and meaning of such experiences.

Writing more in-depth about Camus on this blog is something I hold open for the future. Anyone who has read Camus knows that his writings are packed full of statements that can be used aphoristically. While I enjoy reading aphoristic writings, we have to take care not to lift quotes from writers where they scream bloody-murder for being ripped and shredded out of their contexts. Having said that, what I want to do in this blog article is respond to three quotes by Camus that are some of my favorite. I don’t pretend to totally understand them, or have the right take on them. If I must give advice, the best I can do is encourage people to read this prolific author, who is anything but simple so as to place in a box of some literary criticism.

Summer and Winter

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was, within me, and invincible summer.

There are a lot of takes on this quote from general anthropological ones to various types of spiritual interpretations. Some attribute the quote to Camus’ supposed optimism. Others believe that Camus is saying that human beings have more power in them than they realize, and that they should find ways to ignite that power. Still others interpret Camus to be saying that human beings do not realize their true potential until they face difficult times.

Excuse me, if you will, but it’s somewhat difficult for me to view Camus as an optimist, encouraging people that if they simply think positively, then things will turn out okay. Personally, I cannot glean such an idea from his writings. Likewise, I don’t see Camus as seeking to make a general anthropological statement to the extent that he believes all people have an inner-light that they must turn on. Specifically, the quote says, .  .  . within me .  .  .  His discovery was personal. The notion that people do not realize what they’re made of until they face difficult times, comes close to what Camus may be getting at. The invincible summer, however, may not be what everyone finds. Moreover, the invincible summer does not appear to mean that, even for the one who finds it within himself, that all things turn out okay. Whether it was the French underground, the Algerian conflict, or his personal battle with tuberculosis, Camus dealt daily with the unknown. Could it possibly be that the invincible summer is Camus’ bearing what life brings his way, whether things turn out okay or not?

Knowing and Doing

There is no happiness if the things we believe in are different than the things we do.

The notion of living out what we believe is one in which I have become personally interested during the last several years or longer. I particularly am interested in the idea of what we know, we do, as well as the consequences from when we do and when we don’t do what we know. Expediency tends to trump principle these days. It is a temptation for all of us, I believe. I will even strongly personalize that statement – it is and has always been a temptation for me. I believe things strongly, and for the most part, I also think I’ve lived out in my life what I believe. Nonetheless, there are those times when the road seems easier to forsake principle and take the easy way out. Moreover, clarifying what one believes and values appears to be an ongoing process. At 69 years old, I’m not the same person I was at 29. (Thank the heavens.) Clarifying values from day-to-day is a most difficult task. I do believe strongly that it is important to know, not only what we believe, but why we believe it. Again, Camus’ work in the French Underground, his activism pertaining to the conflicts between Europeans and Algerians, and his fall out with Sartre’s embracing of Stalinism, all addressed stands that Camus took publicly. Camus, however strongly he argued a position, because that is what he thought he should do, he didn’t seem to ask for obeisance as much as he wanted his own life to be an example so as to challenge people to come to their own conclusions. Another pithy statement he made speaks to this understanding: We are all special cases. People have to clarify their own values and reach their own conclusions within their personal contexts. For Camus, such clarification comes through stepping into and experiencing life. Another aphorism he offers: You can’t create experience. You must undergo it. I strongly believe that the integrity to live out what we believe and value is worth our pursuit. There is a caveat. We appear always to be undergoing change, so what we believe and value, and particularly how we apply what we believe and value to living, evolves through our contact with the experience of living.

The Rebel

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

I find it rather comical these days when I hear social critics claim again and again that America is an individualistic society. Would be that such a claim were true! Personally, I believe the sickness of the day is conformity. Whether it’s the search for gurus, political leaders, or motivational speakers, people appear to be looking for someone to tell them how to live. We are surrounded by speech codes, political correctness, patriot acts, celebrity-ism, and dichotomous debates that reduce to the line, if you don’t agree with me, then you are .  .  . fill in the blank. Again, Camus states: Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal. I would add that a large sum of people expend a lot of energy to make everyone normal, as they, of course, define normal. Camus’ anarchism and personal rebellion against an existence that parasites and sucks the life-blood from an individual is one of the things about him I admire most. We seem to be constantly confronted by a social matrix filled with messages and narratives that want to claim our personhood to be either this or that. We have a war on sex, a war on drugs, a war on speech, and and war on thought – a war for one’s mind. Pithy though it may be, I like Camus’ simple definition: What is a rebel? A man who says No. Addressing the notion of living out what one believes, the quote that opens this section is one I hope to live out. There are countless times through the years that I have failed at doing so. Moreover, I’m not – and most likely cannot ever be – clear on how to live out such a claim. And it’s an existence that each person must search out for him or herself. It’s a rebellion against existence itself. There is a parasite sucking one’s brain among all the commercials, that which passes as art, that which passes as science, and politically-correct ideologies that seek to tell you what you should believe, how you should act, and even what words you should use. Maybe it’s time for people to say No. Saying no will be each person’s path; it’s not about everyone agreeing on everything. Indeed, disagreement appears to be something we can’t handle these days. To live as though one’s existence is an act of rebellion is a tough call. I’m not sure I can pull it off. But I hope to.

Conclusion

Camus’ writings are complex, difficult to digest, and impossible, most likely purposely so, to catalog. He neither liked being associated with the philosophy of the absurd, nor being labeled an existentialist. Although he joined certain political movements, he tended to fall out with them the second they sought to categorized his thought and existence. He despised anything that smacked of collectivist authoritarianism. His fallout with Sartre over Stalin’s atrocities proved to be life-long. It would have been more than merely interesting to watch Camus’ thought evolve had his life not been cut so tragically short. His life was one as a writer of fiction, an essayist, a playwright, and a committed philosophical rebel. He took his stand on freedom, which he described with another pithy saying: Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better. Each of us must define and describe that for ourselves, and decide on what ground or foundation, if any, we think our beliefs and values stand. Camus’ rebellion was anything but an unthinking one. What do I believe and why do I believe it? Each person, not only must decide his or her answer to those questions, but also must decide whether or not the question is worth asking for the pursuit.

John V. Jones, Jr. Ph.D, LPC-S/November 14, 2016

GENERAL ESSAY

Introduction

I understand that it’s an old adage that to live life fully, to carve out a quality-filled life, entails risks. I also know that as human beings, we are risk-avoidant for the most part. And why not? Risks are what they are – risky. We would prefer to know what lies on the other side of the unknown before we step into it. We look for the safest ways to navigate risks, we search out ways that reduce the risks involved in major decisions, and, to our chagrin, we look for guarantees from others we trust that our endeavors will play out the way we hope. No one – our loved ones, our dearest friends, those to whom we are most close, those we consider most wise, or gurus or priests – can promise us that life will turn out the way we want it to turn out. A life lived with the deepest of meaning where each of us can say, I have truly lived, cannot be achieved without risks of stepping into the unknown. The mystery of the unknown makes life interesting and worthwhile. If we want a life well-lived, we must engage the risks involved in the pursuit of such a life. We must face the failures as well as the successes in our lives. We must take responsibility for our own lives. And we must live from the foundation of our values and principles. Not to do so is truly not to live.

Looking to Others: There Are No Guarantees

There is nothing wrong with looking to others for hope, encouragement, and wise feedback. But when we turn seeking wisdom into the search for a guarantee, we will reap at least a couple of things from what we have sown. First, we lay the responsibility for our lives onto other people, which is highly unfair to them, not to mention that it’s cowardice on our part when we do so. Think of it from the opposite perspective. Would you promise someone that their choices will turn out exactly they way they hope? We inherently know that when we make such a promise to people, we may be trying to encourage them, but we’re making a claim that we cannot possibly know to be true. Moreover, if we think clearly about the situation, we do not want the responsibility for other adults’ lives. (I have a difficult enough of a struggle being responsible for my own.) We inherently know as well, on some level, that when we ask for such a guarantee for our lives from others, we’re asking them for something they can’t offer.

Looking to others, however, can prove fruitful if we keep some things in mind. First, reiterating, we should not look to others for a guarantee they can’t possibly offer. We know people in our lives, family members, friends, and other people, whom we consider mature, accomplished, and wise. Seeking input and feedback about decisions we have to make from such people is a wise act itself. Taking a risk should not necessarily mean throwing all caution to the wind, as the saying goes. Obtaining information, feedback, and suggestions from people we understand to be trustworthy can provide ways of clarifying what’s involved in risky endeavors. There are people in our lives who have traveled similar roads we are looking to travel. We do not have to be alone on our journey. Other people can be wonderful sources of information and encouragement. What they cannot be is a guarantee that our risks will pan out as planned. Such a promise they can neither make nor provide for themselves, let alone others. When we relinquish personal responsibility for our own lives, we actually have chosen not to live at all.

Blind Risks versus Informed Risk

Rarely is there any action we can take, any information we can accrue, or any clairvoyant we hope that exists, that take the risks out of risking. But I have known people who approach risks at times without any planning whatsoever. Although they fear the road they are traveling and their anxiety soars beyond the clouds, they do nothing to help settle some of their fears. There is a difference between foolishly and wisely risking. Like dichotomies can be many times, there most definitely are false ones. Risks is not a matter of stepping blindly and foolishly into life. Taking risks does not mean that we not seek what information we can before making a major decision in our lives. Likewise, because we cannot alleviate all the risks involved in making a decision does not mean we should never make a decision. Such thinking leaves people stuck in the quicksand of their own doubts and fear. Hence, they never move. From my perspective, informed risk-taking is true risk-taking. Blind risk-taking is mere foolishness. Trying to stay safe because we don’t have all contingencies in place yields a life not fully lived. What feels safe may, indeed, become a vapid way of existing.

This is not to say that there may be some risks that inherently carry more unknowns than other forms of risks. And some people really get a rush out of such risks. If you have the stomach, fortitude, and nerve endings for such risks, then by all means, knock yourself out. Many people do have such fortitude, and many do not. For those who do not, however, a simple fact to embrace is that nothing worthwhile in life lacks risks. The level of risks for yourself and what you hope to obtain entail a pathway you have to determine for yourself. There is a quote, I believe from Thoreau, – Most people live quiet, desperate lives. People can settle for a comfortable path that is a default from living the way they would otherwise choose to live. Then they dream about what it would have been like to have pursued those things in life they yearned for but never took a step toward them. In later life, such dreams can become nightmares. For most of us, whatever level of risks we’re willing to undergo, if we choose to go after what we truly hope for and want to obtain in life, choosing that road will take us to the limits of our existence. I truly believe that what we desire most will entail our stepping out in ways that leaves us hanging over an abyss that only we can navigate.

Successes and Failures

One the biggest mistakes that people make in pursuing a meaningful life is that when they make mistakes and encounter failures, they immediately think they were wrong and shouldn’t have taken the path they chose. I know it’s a cliche and can be thrown around as a simple platitude; however, mistakes and failures can be some of the best lessons in life. They’re not fun, they’re not experiences we should hope for (that’s masochism), and they are not results we should necessarily relish and wear like a crown. More importantly, they are not signs that we should give up on what we want in life. I’ve heard it told that the great oil explorer, H. L. Hunt, drilled several oil wells and was heavily in debt before he ever struck oil. His history that followed speaks for itself. Many narratives abound about successful businessmen, artists, and scientists who encountered multiple failures before they ever succeeded. Their narratives are good lessons, yet engaging a failure is not easy for anyone; nonetheless it provides a crossroad. One major decision leads to others. Do I go on, or do I give up? Seeking to move beyond any failure, especially major ones, is one of the most difficult tasks one can undertake.

Values and Principles versus Expediency

I find myself wondering if we’re living in a time where expediency trumps principle. I would go so far as to say that expediency appears to be a way of approaching all life’s endeavors these days. Facing a failure on the basis of expediency can lead rather quickly to  giving up on one’s hopes and dreams. I don’t believe that a quality-filled life can be achieved without a foundation comprising one’s personal values and principles. Failures and hard times lead us back to our foundation, the values and principles we hold. Only on the basis of those values and principles can we pick ourselves off the ground when we do fail and proceed on. There may be a time to fold, but on the basis of expediency alone, it would seem that a time to fold is whenever we encounter any difficulties on the road to life. Courage entails facing failures, learning from them, gleaning from them, and then deciding what’s next. Mistakes and failures can point to different avenues to achieve what we want for our lives. But to do so, we must experience them, look them in the eye, and listen to and learn from what they have to tell us. Although the responsibility for traveling our path is ours alone, we are not alone on our path. There are those who can help us when we’re down, can encourage us when encouragement is needed, and can provide insight and wisdom that can help us move forward. I firmly believe, however, that we have to be surrounded by people who live by their values and principles rather than expediency. The risks of life are placed on our road as obstacles to overcome. It is up to us as individuals as to whether or not we take on the charge to make something meaningful of our lives. Or we can choose otherwise to live quiet, desperate lives. That crossroad exists for each one of us.  The nagging question that haunts us is whether or not a quiet, desperate life is truly a life at all.

Conclusion

Obtain what you can from others in terms of information, feedback, suggestions, and wise input. Accrue all the information you can in seeking to make a major decision for your life. Not to do so is unwise. But there comes a point of diminishing returns for garnering information. We can fall into the trap of wanting more and more information, believing we can take the risk out of risking. If we’re going to face life and live it fully, we must come to that point where it’s time to step out over an abyss, no matter what its size. If we avoid that moment, then we are avoiding living our lives fully.

It seems to me these days, and I may be wrong, that more than any other time of which I’m aware, we have a society and culture of entitlement. People are willing to disown their lives, placing their lives into the hands of others with the false promise that those in whom people place their trust can somehow provide them with a full life. But such a life is one that individuals must seize and take for themselves. The guarantee that someone can provide you with a  life is a false promise. And to buy into it is a waste of a life. The abandonment of personal responsibility is the abandonment of the freedom to live one’s life. I’ve talked to too many people who have looked back on their lives in their sixties and seventies, and feel nothing but regret for not having carved out the kind of life they wanted for themselves. It appears that there can be ways of living that are not truly living at all. Nonetheless, the years roll by and we’re left with the consequences of our choices. The desire to turn back time and do things differently is an empty daydream, if not a pipe dream. Living risky does not have to mean blind risk-taking. But it does mean, one way or the other, that risks are involved in the pursuit of a meaningful life. And if one desires such a meaningful life, then one has to truly live. One of my favorite quotes is from the libertarian anarchist, Frank Chodorov:

For when the theorizing is done, the books are all written, the debates have been resolved into a formula for action, there remains always this immovable obstacle: One must live.

So live.

John V. Jones, Jr., Ph.D., LPC-S/October 14th, 2016

GENERAL ESSAY