Tag Archives: psychology

Dreamer Finding His Way by Moonlight

A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.
Oscar Wilde

Iargo Springs, Huron Nat’l Forest, Michigan

Beauty, the Voyage and the Harbor

If the path be beautiful let us not ask where it leads

Anatole france

In Our Own Heart

If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?

–Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Nobel laureate for literature, Soviet Gulag survivor

Hartwick Pines, Michigan

Beauty’s Persuasion

Beauty itself doth of itself persuade,
The eyes of men without an orator.

William Shakespeare

The Au Sable River, in northern Michigan.

Au Sable River, Michigan

The Possible Dream

Some people see things as they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not.

George Bernard Shaw, and oft quoted by Robert Kennedy

River Rouge, Michigan

Knowing Yourself and Patience

The more you know yourself,
the more patience you have for what you see in others.

Erik Erikson

Kensington Park, Michigan

Matthaei Gardens, Michigan

New Chances and a Divine Leeway Shared

Two psychologists’ insights about play remind us of renewal in this Spring haunted by the specter of pandemic.

Play is the answer to how anything new comes about.
–Jean Piaget

The model of true playfulness lies in the need of all young creatures, animal and human, to leap. To truly leap, you must learn how to use the ground as a springboard and how to land resiliently and safely. It means to test the leeway allowed by given limits. Wherever playfulness prevails, there is always a surprising element, and at its best suggesting some new chance conquered, some divine leeway shared.
–Erik Erikson

Fleming Creek, Michigan

Fleming Creek, Michigan Spring runoff

New Chances and a Divine Leeway Shared

Two psychologists’ insights about play remind us of renewal in this Spring haunted by the specter of pandemic.

Play is the answer to how anything new comes about.
–Jean Piaget

Fleming Creek, Michigan

Fleming Creek, Michigan Spring runoff

Hope–Indispensable

Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive.

Erik Erikson

I have used the eminent psychologist’s quote in prior posts, but I felt it had special meaning in these uncertain times. As Dr. Erikson often ended his talks, Take care. Which especially applies now to yourself and all of us together.

Hope can be symbolized by a blue sky reflected in tranquil water or flowers budding by a stream swollen with Spring rains. Or hope can be seen in the shimmering light gracing trees on a hill or heard in a stream gurgling over rocks in a northern forest.