The following is an excerpt from the book “Everyday Tao” by Deng Ming Dao. I found this passage especially enlightening and wanted to share it:

How strange a comb is. It enters the hair and separates the strands. But afterward, the hair falls together in an orderly mass.How clever a comb is. When it is put into hair, it can stay there and hold the hair in place. Yet it does so without exerting itself. It borrows the strength from the hair.

How even a comb is. Its effectiveness is due to its regular and evenly spaced teeth. To be …

As I mentioned in the beginning of the year, I plan on posting excerpts from the draft of the book I am writing about addiction recovery. The book combines my training in the field along with professional and personal experience to provide examples. This excerpt is from an early chapter and discusses bottoms. As always I welcome any feedback.

Whether an addict has to hit bottom or not is a topic of much debate. It is often heard when someone who has tried recovery briefly and failed that “they did not hit bottom yet.” Using this reasoning and …

Recently I was lucky enough to attend a John Mayer concert. As I was excited about it, I mentioned it to quite a few people. In response to my enthusiasm two of my clients and several of my students remarked that they didn’t like him. Curious, I inquired as to why. The response that those who disliked him gave related to his behavior in regard to women, not to his musical talent. I have to admit I think I relate to John Mayer. As my latest attempt at a committed relationship has come to an end I will discuss why …

Story by Wm. Berry with Very Special Thanks to Belinda Paez for Editing

He stood and looked out over the ocean. He loved the water, the sand, and the memories it brought back; memories of fishing in the Delaware Bay with his grandfather and memories of his youth.   That was all so long ago.  His grandfather had died some thirty years before.  He himself was now a grandfather, but there had been no more fishing trips. He hadn’t done that since his grandfather died. It seemed it couldn’t be that long ago. Time had moved too quickly.  And now, time …

Most who have taken a psychology theories class in college have heard of therapist Irvin Yalom. He is one of the leading writers on Existential Therapy. His book “The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy” is owned (because it is required reading) by every therapist I know with a graduate degree. Not only is Yalom the master therapist that I most respect but he’s become one of my favorite authors, and more so after reading his fictional novel, The Schopenhauer Cure.
The Schopenhauer Cure centers on a therapist that finds out …

I was a pretty ordinary guy, at least I believed myself to be so. I had experienced a rough path in my earlier life, which resulted in my turn toward a search for enlightenment. I guess its best to start there. My name was Joseph Egareva.

I was born in 1960 to working class parents. My dad was a truck driver, my mom a homemaker. I was the oldest, and following four years of being an only child, my sister was born. About 10 years later another sister was added to the Egareva family. My childhood didn’t have any significant events worth mentioning. Of course there were family arguments, fights with my sister, parental marital discord, but most of this was …

I have been ruminating about death. Perhaps it is one of the books I am currently reading, “The Schopenhauer Cure” by Yalom. Or maybe it’s the continued failing of my senses (I walk around with cheater glasses on while at home almost the whole time. I can barely read a text on my phone without getting closer to the sun for direct light). Perhaps it is the frequency with which I have been visiting heights, and the impending threat of sky diving. Or, perhaps it is in my nature and existential leanings. Whatever the reason, I am ruminating.
Most …

Recently someone requested I write an article about loneliness. I wasn’t sure what to write. Then I watched the first season of “Californication” and was feeling a little down myself and figured I could parlay that into an article.

First it is important to identify two types of loneliness. People can feel lonely because they are missing someone or are simply alone when they would prefer to be with someone else. The other type of loneliness is more pervasive and is felt even when in the company of many others. As both types can be distressing, this …