birds eye view

Follow ontheten on Twitter

Friday, July 3, 2009

peace train



Everything one does in life, even love, occurs in an express train racing toward death. To smoke opium is to get out of the train while it is still moving. It is to concern oneself with something other than life or death.
Jean Cocteau


what a day this has been. i started with meeting with two people who are both struggling with alcohol use, but they reside on two completely different sides of the intellectual spectrum. the first person seems quite simple and has challenges recognizing that his behaviors have led directly to his life issues. but we will work on that. the second person seems very bright, but has had a multi-decade relationship with booze that has likely sucked much of the brightness and joie-de-vivre directly out of him like a kiss from lestat.

a quick introduction to a new person who still dabbles with meth (about 4-2day binges a month according to him). he did not initiate the introduction and appeared cautiously frozen in his tracks like an intuitive deer caught in a hunter's scope. he answered questions freely and honestly, but remained close to the bench that was seating him. pre-contemplation is the space on the wheel of change that he has landed for quite some time. no income, no employment, and no prospects for change (as well as several missing front teeth) indicate that he has lost sight of his own reflection.

the afternoon brought a revisit with someone who is working on quitting smoking. there is great confusion about a specific plan for stopping including a date as well as developing alternative behaviors or activities to replace the need for the relief that smoking a stogie brings. upon further clarification, it is revealed that the real task is to reconstruct the living situation as it glares as a much more important issue that tobacco cessation. decreasing the nicotine intake is taking place. but the total stoppage is doubtful at this point. adding pharma support at this time does not make good sense.

this is a sampling of a day. absolutely no resolution was found for any of these passengers. an impression of who these characters once were is more evident than is easier to discern than where they are headed.

all are passengers who are holding tickets for this journey... i can only hope they have boarded the train going in the direction they intended.

today's sound choice is cat steven's with "peace train"




Documents

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Intriguing words from Cocteau, but I think that perhaps he focuses too much on the destination. I think that the focus should be on the journey. Your work is about the journey of living, no resolution necessary just an appreciation for the ride.

Related Posts with Thumbnails