Take a Chance

Reaching out is often hard, when
The road is long and lonely, but
Take a chance to see.

Yet, if I reach out
And risk the touch,
Feelings can grow, just
Take a chance to feel.

In unexpected places, and
At unexpected times, I
Take a chance to flow.

Life is too short
To waste on fanning fears, so
Take a chance to love and
Take a chance to know.

Phil Smalley
PIM Training and Review Night
30th November 2007

A World Without Mirrors

To the contributors to our blog, with love and appreciation.

Suppose one day,
Zeus decided to free Narcissus
from vain obsession with his own beauty
and thereby removed all the mirrors from the world.
What would become of us?

A big silent black hole!
The first thing to go
Is the songs of birds
On and on they chirp,
On and on they sing,
Unreceived, unheard: vain sounds.
Then we will realize,
We have lost our sense of hearing.

A dark black hole!
The second thing to go
Is the beauty of trees and plants
On and on they grow,
On and on they bloom,
Unnoticed, unseen: vain visibility.
Then we will realize,
We have lost our sense of vision.

An indifferent black hole!
The last thing to go
Is the meaning of human existence
On and on they create,
On and on they build,
Unappreciated, unacknowledged: vain creativity
Then we will have lost our inner mirrors
We have gone past our last realization.
We have become indifferent.

In a world without mirrors
We would be absorbed into nothingness
But we would no longer care
Because we no longer mattered.

In a world without mirrors
Matters become non-matters.
Surely, a sign of the end of the world.

Tam Dinh
29.09.2007

A Book is Born…Out of Relationships

A couple years ago, during a training session, after having explained to my colleagues how I identify and name roles in psychodrama, one colleague suggested that I write a paper about it. Afterwards, I reflected on her suggestion a lot and came to the conclusion that she was ‘write’!, that was what I needed to do. Although, that paper is still evolving, what I have come to realize deeply since then is that paper was born out of my relationships with my colleagues. And so it was with the theme that I picked up from the launch of Psychodrama – Advances in Theory and Practice this evening.

The launch took place in the bookshop at Melbourne University. When Danielle Forer and I arrived at the bookshop, located in the Bailieu Library Building, a stone’s throw from the entrance to the library. It was just after 6.30pm and the sign at the front said it was closed for a private function. However, we knew the function was our function as we could see familiar faces standing not far from the glass doors. There were over a dozen of familiar psychodrama colleagues enjoying each other’s company and their pre-launch drinks and food. The spirit of the place was pleasant and light.

Neil Hucker, Sue’s psychodrama colleague of 30 years, introduced her and reminisced about his first contact with psychodrama nearly 35 years ago and how their passion for psychodrama brought them into contact with each other. I found it remarkable that their passion for psychodrama remains strong and fresh after all these years.


Sue looked strikingly soft as if she was a gentlest feeling. She started off by describing how the idea of the launch came about. It was born out of her relationships with Margaret Cunningham and Sue Benham both of whom rightly suggested a proper celebration for her contribution to the book. Among other things (which I did not register as I was busily deleting some photos from my camera’s full memory card to take photos of the occasion), Sue talked about her development of a new category of ‘freezing’ to expand the existing three – going away, going toward, and going against – in the description of coping or survival roles which is written about in her chapter. Sue also talked about how her involvement with the book came about. Again, it was in her relationships with the editors of the book with whom she have known and worked with for many years and the other authors. Ah, and she let everyone in on a secret that another book is underway!

Then in true psychodrama style, Neil got Margaret Shanahan to be the champagne that got popped, spreading across the stage toward Sue who was holding the book.

And so the book was launched and as Sue said, ‘It came from the world…it is now out in the world’. When I left the bookshop, I immediately opened and browsed through the book. As I walked through the trees on campus, something gently fell on my head and then landed on the open pages of the book. It was a tiny but beautiful young twig, half orange half red. The colours were striking and fresh. Then it suddenly dawned on me: ‘Oh yes, of course! The book has gone out into the world, and here is something from the world going into the book’. I studied the twig, fully intrigued, and decided that the twig would stay there between the pages.

22 November 2007
Tam Dinh
Psychodramatist in the world

Images from the Book Launch

Book Launch (Click on the image to enlarge)

Waikanae Beach Movie

Waikanae News Flash - 1

Well we have finished two bottles of Moet, had dinner at Mussel Boys and Sue, Ted, Lethe and I have decided to write some things for the blog. Outside there is an awesome display of fireworks happening. Have made a decision we will go and buy some of these fireworks tomorrow and have our own display Monday night!

Katrina

Fresh winds and turkeys

Hi Folks! Sue and Ted are at our kaainga here in Waikanae!!! Now we have seven people living in our house. No wonder there are fireworks going off in the heavens - literally actually, since its the old-fashioned Guy Fawkes celebration here. I'm nourished. I like how Sue says 'see those hedges' and I go 'oh yeah, those are hedges that I've been walking past all year but haven't seen'. Fresh eyes to see. Mirrors to us our beautiful home of mountains and sea and peace and hedges. Fresh breath, fresh heart, news from home, time to rest together, to play, to korero and share breath. I like how Ted just comes out with the description of the old turkey that I've looked at oddly all year; "he looks like a scrotum"!!!! (He does too!!!)

Here's a waiata (song)

Whakataka te hau ki te uru
Whakataka te hau ki te tonga
Kiamakinakina te uta
Kiamataratara te tai
E hi ake ana te atakura
he tio, he huka, he hauhunga.
Tihei Mauriora!

Cease the winds from the west
Cease the winds from the south
Let the breezes blow over the land
Let the red-tipped dawn come with a sharpened air,
A touch of frost, a promise of a glorious day.

Kia ora tatou e whanau! Neat to feel you all with the presence of the birds who've flown in from Melbourne, warm greetings and love, from Lethe

Stars and Sea

We arrived just after midnight in Wellington. Two sleepy koalas were there to meet us -Lethe and Katrina. After some warm long hugs, we all piled into the car for the hour drive north to Waikanae, through Paekakariki and Paraparaumu, a quiet road at 1.30 in the morning. Finally at 2 a.m we pulled up in the drive of the Gaskin family home. Getting out of the car, I first saw the blackest sky filled with stars and then I heard the sound of the sea. What a moment! My soul is filled.

Sue

It's all in how you look at it......

There's the "Church of the Three Sticks" so called because of the tall skinny black, white and red crosses in the front lawn of the house down the road here in Waikanae - the guy who's done this has a bus parked there with words of heavenly exultation emblazoned across its sides. If you don't like what's on offer, go ahead and create your own church!
Then there's Flag Boy, further on up the road here, where the master of the house trots out a new flag every day and hoists it atop his hefty flagpole - a new one every day; one day he even flew the flag of the land of "Smiley Face" atop the pole! If you don't like living in the same place every day, what a great idea-just change the flag. Now I'm Brazillian and tomorrow who knows? Maybe I'll be Polish......
And then there's "Driftwood Castle" down the road from Lethe and Katie's. This guy has dragged driftwood that's been tossed from the ocean, dragged it all to his house and planted it like ragged teeth along the perimeter of his home. Some the shape of snakes, petrified and rammed into the soil, twisted and gnarled. Here and there are driftwood placards with mysterious phrases burnt and scratched on them. Maybe it's comforting - being protected by this weird wooden wall.

All this plus the warmth and laughter of the House of Gaskin - these ordinary points along the road made magical by the laughter of us all in the car as we drive past.

Ted