September 28, 1988
DHS Writings
CONTRONYM HI KU*
OVERLOOKING THE
VAST EXPANSE OF SEE BEFORE ONE …
SELF CLARITY CLEAVES
*ku is a Japanese word: meaning: 1)section (i.e. of text); sentence; passage; paragraph; 2) maxim; saying; idiom; expression. Pretty cute: saying “Hi” to “Ku” and getting a Haiku!:)
Wow – and 3 in the morning! Your brain is really a remarkable brain. This is quite clever – overlook and cleave, and even the pun of see/sea. And apparently even haiku is a contronym (part and whole). Amazing. Plus I’m sure KU is shorthand for me (cutie!!). And so full of meanings – does the self cut clarity in half? Cling to clarity? Does the one (or One) see while staring out over the sea? Is there both a vast expanse of sea and of seeing available? Is the whole philosophical paradigm supervised, or ignored? I’m sure you have many more!!! Brilliant! Love, J
Yesterday we looked up the meaning of contronym, known as a ‘Janus word,’ that is its own opposite—like ‘fast’, which can describe both quick movement, and lack of movement. Last night I had this dream of one! I was pretty amazed at this contronym hai-ku! First, to have dreamed it (with a little polishing). Second to engage in such clever wordplay, including not only contronyms but homophones (words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and have different meaning – see/sea [implied]; hai [implied]/hi). Third, to express really deep philosophical insights – through seeing (or taking the large perspective on seeing) or NOT (as in ignoring) seeing, we achieve self-clarity, to which we cling (or which we sever). Lots to ponder here, folks!
Who’s in Control? A Female Client Sharing in Therapy
Deane H. Shapiro, Jr., Ph. D.
Client Asks “Who is in control?”: A Relational Vignette for teaching
Johanna’s comment: The questions at the end are excellent. It’s fine to keep my comment, it shows one way of responding to the situation. It’s an interesting scenario and certainly worth putting on your website.
A Relationship Case: Several sessions; my letter to her.
Johanna’s comment: The value of this is seeing the step-by-step more behavioral approach to intervention after her negative experience with psychodynamic psychiatry, Also recommend putting this up. I value your honesty openness in your self-appraisal about how frustrated you were about not knowing how to motivate the client to face the abyss. No wonder! I thought the letter you wrote to her was superb, so empathic, encouraging. It showed you really cared about her and were thinking about her.
The Wave
Two undulating waves
sway
beneath the moon’s guiding hand
their trajectories destined to cross
as the swells pick up speed, foaming cresting, then
crashing into each other
colliding creates diamond like fragments
glistening as they shatter and are hurled
toward the sky
A brief pause, defying gravity,
then pulled downward , they merge…
reform into the water from which they came.
Then continue to roll patiently and tenderly on their journey to the beach
Only to once more say goodbye to the sand,
and be pulled back into the sea
* * *
J comment The Wave ..I really like the beautiful imagery of disparateness and yet unity; waves sway and are apart; then collide, glisten, shatter to be re-connected , tenderly; then goodbye at end, yet leaving to join what they always were … comes across perfectly – clear separation and union; lovely
Sights and Sounds, Inner and Outer
1979 Carmel
Sights and Sounds, Inner and Outer
I meditated this evening to
the sun setting
into the ocean
My knees and buttocks nestled
into fine grained white sand
on a sloping soft beach
My hands resting on top of my lap,
my spine and neck are straight
while letting thoughts come and go
As internal chatter slows, I hear the
ocean waves as they dance and rumble,
soothing, majestic, wild
My hands leave their resting position,
pick up my flute, and breath
plays some notes
To join in counterpoint and harmony
J comment (2022) This is lovely. I like the title, it captures the flavor of the poem, and suggests that what you describe in the external world is mirrored in your inner world. I especially liked the idea that breath, rather than you, played the notes. Love, J
From Novel J’s
(poem ascribed to the Frenchman, Jean-Claude, l970, Translated 2019)
Je ne comprends rien…cette vie.
En effet, il n’y a aucune chose
que je comprends. Rien.
C’est seulement…
rien.
DARKNESS: AN ODE TO INDEPENDENCE
(1970, from Novel J’s)
Oblique setting
sun caressing my shoulders,
legs, crossed yoga-style,
sitting on the hard dirt.
Freely rooted?
From Novel J’s
(poem ascribed to the Frenchman, Jean-Claude, l970, Translated 2019)
Seul?
Qui, je suis seul,..mais,il n’y a
aucun difference entre moi et
les autres
Tout le monde nait seul, meurt seul.
Mais il y a des amis, comme toi.
Tu viens et nous partageons
le pain et le vin
Puis, bien que nous soyons seul, nous ne
sommes pas
solitaires.
The Path
by D Shapiro
The broken pine needles irritated his feet where the leather sandals had worn through and he found it necessary to stop and pull out a splinter. He decided it was necessary to take a short rest and he messaged his swollen feet.