"What is right with you?" Part 12: "Normal?" What is that?

I apologize for the long break from my blog, but I do find myself delighted to return to write more about the question of "What is right with you?"  Sometimes we make fun of the concept of normal, or ask what it is, as if we know it is quite elusive.  Yet, somehow we are quite afraid to venture towards something of who we are for fear of this strange inner part of ourselves that we have internalized.  There is this "norm" that we must not depart from.  The consequences seem drastic.  And we are not talking about something like whether to wear clothes or not here!  We talking about the slightest risks to share a new idea, or wonder about expressng a feeling, etc.  We are afraid to not fit in.  The release of the newest edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, 5th Editon (DSM-5) brings this to mind.  Why aren't normalcy, and the elaborate measures that we can sometimes go to, or at least fear in the back of our minds, and/or trying to be sure that we fall squarely within the bell curve, considered to be a disorder?  I mean, lets stop and think about that.  Do we make ourselves crazy trying to be normal?  I tend to think that efforts to be "Normal" become an emotional straight jacket.  Just try to notice that as you go about your day!  Does trying to be normal take us closer or further from what might be right with you?  My Website

"What is right with you?" Pt. 6: Life Themes and their power

When a person begins therapy, themes begin to emerge.  Sometimes a powerful theme emerges in the first (and on some occasions only session) session.  This theme usually dominates thinking and life choices.  Often, it can be simple like, "I want my life to be like one long highlight film!"  At other times, it can be painful and disappointing like, "I never feel like will be enough for anyone to love me or want to stay with me."  While themes can change, be numerous, or remain somewhat constant, it is through elaborating them, their power, and their consequences that determine not only what has been silently assumed, but how we might work together to find other ways of living.  The themes that are self-defeating have been a part of a life story, but are not the path of the "What is right with you" story.  What is right with me can be expressed in terms of one's true self, one's always known inner truth, one's innate talents, who God created me to be, etc.  But when the theme has been destructive, tearing down those latent abilities that remain part of an un-lived life.

Steven M. Harris, Ph.D.  My Website