If you want to know me, then you must know my story, for my story defines who I am. And if I want to know myself, to gain insight into the meaning of my own life, then I, too, must come to know my own story. I must come to see in all its particulars …
1) Language. Being able to put your thoughts and feelings into words is essential to human existence. Our ability for what is called “symbolic thought” is what distinguishes us from most of the animal kingdom. So, for example, my little boy is starting to learn that round things are balls. At first he would call …
Last week South Africa celebrated its Day of Reconciliation. The shifting significance of this day tells an interesting story, in itself, about our nation’s transformational history. Originally signifying the victory of the Afrikaners over the Zulus, at the Battle of the Blood River, later becoming the anniversary of the formation of the armed wing of …
Working with grief is not necessarily considered one of my specialisations. But, when you work with people’s life experiences on a daily basis, grief becomes an inevitable theme in many of your conversations. A young woman has been meeting with me for several weeks and, from time to time, the subject of her father’s death …
Over more than a year, I have been having conversations from time to time with a deeply committed couple. The two of them actively engage with each other (and their individual self’s) on an intellectual, emotional and spiritual level. The last time we met, something about the conversation (that I cannot recall) led me to …