Age, occupation, interests, culture, and religion. We use all of these and more to connect to another. As curious, social beings we instinctively gravitate towards making contact, finding love in many forms, and searching for meaning.
Despite this, we are born alone, and we must die alone, the only thing certain in life is death. Depending on your perspective contemplating this can be debilitating or liberating. Dr Irvin Yalom recognises through his work with cancer patients that being so acutely aware of the end drives people to live in the now. Within this there is a challenge, to embrace this mindset before experiencing illness, diagnosis, or prognosis. Keeping the end in mind can drive you to do more, to think more, to feel more. Keeping the end in mind can help you to focus on your own life process, to let go of the expectations you have of yourself and of others. You cannot control the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others but you can control you and now is the time.
Daughter, sister, friend, colleague, wife. As we go through our own life process, making contact, finding love, searching for meaning, there are but 23 words first uttered by Fritz Perls to remember, ‘You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful. If not, it can’t be helped’.
Therapy with Kirsty 