Perspectives

The dream after the wound 

~ DC ~ Leave a comment

The Dream After the Wound


A hypothesis on waking reflection, trauma patterns, and the possibility of becoming


Prologue: The Work of Looking Again
This is not an argument that dreams are prophecy, coded instruction, or a perfectly accurate archive of childhood. It is a more modest—and perhaps more useful—hypothesis: when we examine dreams in waking life, we may find a temporary clearing in which old emotional patterns become visible.
For a person shaped by developmental trauma, the past does not always remain in the past. It can persist as an automatic orientation toward danger, abandonment, shame, appeasement, isolation, or self-erasure. These patterns may have begun as intelligent adaptations: a child’s effort to preserve safety, attachment, or emotional survival when there was not enough protection, explanation, or comfort available. The problem is not that the child adapted. The problem is that the adaptation can continue long after the original danger has passed.
Gabor Maté’s formulation is useful here: trauma is not only the event; it is also the wound that forms within a person as a result of what happened. In childhood, this inner wound may deepen when difficult experiences must be endured without a dependable adult to help name what occurred, regulate overwhelming feeling, or restore a sense of safety.[cbc]
Dreams may not give us a literal replay of the past, yet they can present its emotional architecture. A dream may place us in an unfamiliar house, a lost city, a crowd, a classroom, a family gathering, an impossible journey, or a relationship that never existed exactly as shown. But beneath the altered scenery, a recognizable pattern can emerge: I am alone again. I cannot speak. I must rescue someone. I will be punished for being seen. I cannot get home. I must work harder to be loved.
The hypothesis explored here is that writing down and reflecting upon such dreams can make these patterns more available to conscious thought. The dream becomes less a verdict and more a scene for inquiry. Rather than asking, “What does this dream prove?” we might ask, “What old emotional rule is appearing here, and does it still have to govern my life?”
This approach is not a replacement for trauma-informed therapy, medical care, or sleep treatment. It is a personal testimony and a perspective open to examination. For me, DC Gunnersen, the practice has offered a way to meet old material at a distance—not to deny it, not to dramatize it, but to look again, with more adult capacity, more language, and more choice than I had when the original experiences occurred.
A Waking Study of Dreams
I have lived with the reverberations of childhood trauma and what is often called complex post-traumatic stress. I have known how the past can become a hidden operating system: working underneath ordinary life, shaping expectations, reactions, attachments, fears, and the instinct to abandon oneself before anyone else has the chance.
For years, some of these patterns were not fully visible to me in daylight. They arrived as reactions before they arrived as thoughts. A moment of silence from another person could feel like rejection. A disagreement could feel like danger. A need could feel like a burden. A private shame could masquerade as a moral obligation to remain quiet, useful, agreeable, and unseen.
Then dreams began to offer another kind of encounter.
I have used methylene blue for several years and have noticed unusually vivid dreams, often remembered in striking detail upon waking. I do not offer this as evidence that methylene blue is a treatment for trauma, or as a recommendation for anyone to use it. It is not. In particular, methylene blue can interact dangerously with serotonergic medications and substances, and should be reviewed with a prescribing clinician or pharmacist who knows a person’s complete medication and supplement list.[fda +1]
But the vividness itself led me toward a practice: I began to record dreams, sit with their emotional atmosphere, and ask what old pattern might be moving through a new story.
The important insight was not that every image possessed a fixed symbolic definition. A locked door is not always “about” one thing. A childhood home is not necessarily a recovered factual memory. A threatening stranger may not stand for one identifiable person. Dreams can be strange, composite, theatrical, and irrational.
Yet their emotional movement can still be instructive.
A person may dream of being late, but the deeper experience is terror at disappointing someone. One may dream of losing a way home, while the living theme is disorientation after years of emotional neglect. One may dream of trying to speak but having no voice, and recognize an old learned rule: My truth creates trouble. My needs cannot be safely heard.
The waking examination of a dream can therefore become an exercise in compassionate pattern recognition. It may allow a person to notice the difference between an old survival expectation and a present reality.
That difference matters.
What Evidence Supports
There is evidence for the broader claim that sleep, especially REM sleep, is involved in emotional-memory processing. Researchers have linked REM sleep with the processing of emotional and fear-related memories, while PTSD is associated with disturbing dreams, recurrent nightmares, and disrupted sleep processes. This does not prove that every dream reveals a hidden personal truth. It does suggest that dreams can be connected to the emotional material the brain and nervous system are working with.[nih +1]
There is also evidence that deliberately engaging dream imagery while awake can help some people with trauma-related nightmares.
The clearest example is Imagery Rehearsal Therapy—also called nightmare rescripting. In this structured cognitive-behavioral approach, a person identifies a recurring distressing dream, changes the storyline into a less threatening or more empowered version, and rehearses the revised imagery during waking hours. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine identifies imagery rehearsal therapy as the recommended treatment for nightmare disorder and PTSD-associated nightmares.[va +1]
Research does not promise identical results for everyone. Some studies find meaningful improvement in nightmare frequency, distress, sleep quality, and PTSD symptoms; others find smaller or mixed outcomes, especially among people with severe, chronic PTSD. That uncertainty is important. The responsible conclusion is not that dreamwork cures trauma. It is that intentional, supported work with dream imagery can be beneficial for some people and deserves serious consideration.[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih +2]
This matters because it validates a modest version of what I have experienced: a dream need not be obeyed, feared, or decoded as a supernatural message in order to become useful. It can be observed, written down, felt, questioned, reframed, and placed beside present-day life.
The potential benefit lies in turning an automatic experience into a conscious inquiry.
The Hypothesis of Reorientation
My working hypothesis is simple:

When a dream repeats an old emotional pattern in a new situation, waking reflection may help a person identify the pattern, separate past conditioning from present reality, and choose a less self-destructive response.

This is not an invitation to overinterpret every dream. It is an invitation to listen for emotional repetitions.
The questions that have helped me are uncomplicated:
• What was I trying to do in the dream?
• What feeling governed the scene?
• What did I fear would happen?
• What did I believe I had to do to remain safe, loved, or acceptable?
• Where does this same rule appear in my waking relationships?
• What would I want the adult self to offer the younger self who learned that rule?
• What one present action would express a different understanding?
The purpose is not to blame oneself for childhood adaptation. A child who becomes vigilant, pleasing, silent, detached, or excessively responsible is trying to survive emotionally. Such patterns deserve respect before they can change.
But survival is not the same as freedom.
The dream can become a private theater where the old rule is exposed: the need to appease, the fear of abandonment, the belief that love must be earned, the habit of disappearing before one’s needs become inconvenient. In waking life, one may then begin to build a different response: a boundary, a request, a pause, an act of self-trust, a refusal to chase what repeatedly wounds.
For me, this is not merely dream interpretation. It is a form of reorientation.
It is the slow recovery of an inner persona that was kept trapped—not because it lacked worth, but because it lacked enough room, witness, safety, and language to process what had happened. The work is to meet that former self with a mind that can now understand more, forgive more carefully, and live with greater authority.
Perhaps that is what healing sometimes is: not erasing the past, but refusing to let its old instructions remain the sole author of the future.


A Poem: “The Dream Asks Again”


What enters when the daylight thins,
And draws the old rooms into view?
A child still listening within,
To learn what fear once taught was true.
Why does the hallway have no end,
Why do I search for keys at night?
What broken message did I send,
To make myself become so slight?
A face appears, then fades away,
A door is shut without a sound;
Did I believe I had to stay,
Where love was never safely found?
I wake and ask the dream its name,
Not as a prophet or a judge;
Perhaps it holds an older flame,
That asks my heart to shift and budge.
What rule was written in my chest,
When no one helped me bear the storm?
Must I still fail the secret test,
Or can I give my life new form?
The dream is not a map of fact,
Nor proof of every wound I knew;
It is a stage where shadows act,
And show what old alarms still do.
Can I look back without retreat,
And name the fear without its reign?
Can I stand calmly on my feet,
And let the past unclose its chain?
I was not made to always hide,
Or beg for warmth I could not claim;
The child I was still lives inside,
But need not carry all the blame.
So let the dream return at dawn,
With questions I can meet awake;
From what was lost, a self is drawn,
And wiser roads are mine to make.

…

DCG


A Perspective, Not a Prescription
This essay offers a hypothesis rooted in personal experience, established trauma concepts, and limited but meaningful evidence from nightmare-focused therapies. It does not claim that all dreams are therapeutic, that all trauma can be resolved through dream reflection, or that anyone should force themselves into distressing material alone.
If dreams are recurrent, terrifying, sleep-disrupting, or accompanied by worsening anxiety, dissociation, depression, self-harm thoughts, substance escalation, or physical dream-enactment, professional support is warranted. A trauma-informed therapist, particularly one familiar with PTSD, CPTSD, nightmares, and imagery rehearsal therapy, can help make dream exploration safer and more structured.
Still, I believe there is a possibility worth considering.
For those of us who have spent years governed by unnamed patterns, the dream may offer a strange but usable gift: an image of the internal life that ordinary consciousness has learned to avoid. If we meet it gently in the morning—without superstition, without certainty, without self-condemnation—it may help us see what we have been carrying.
And once seen, what was automatic may become discussable.
What becomes discussable may become understandable.
What becomes understandable may, little by little, become changeable.

Sources and Further Reading
The following sources support the limited claims made in this essay: that sleep and dreaming are connected to emotional-memory processing; that trauma-related nightmares can reflect ongoing distress; and that structured waking work with nightmare imagery—especially Imagery Rehearsal Therapy—has evidence of benefit for some people. They do not establish that every dream has a fixed meaning or that dream reflection alone resolves trauma.

  1. Morgenthaler, Timothy I., et al. “Position Paper for the Treatment of Nightmare Disorder in Adults: An American Academy of Sleep Medicine Position Paper.” Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, vol. 14, no. 6, 2018, pp. 1041–1055.
    The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for nightmare disorder and PTSD-associated nightmares. IRT involves revising a nightmare’s imagery while awake and rehearsing the revised version.[pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih +1]
  2. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “New Position Paper Recommends Treatment Options for Adult Nightmare Disorder.” 14 June 2018.
    A plain-language summary of the AASM position paper, including its recommendation of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for nightmares associated with PTSD and nightmare disorder.[aasm]
  3. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD. “Sleep Problems in Veterans with PTSD.”
    Explains that Imagery Rehearsal Therapy, also called nightmare rescripting, involves changing the content of a recurring nightmare to make it less intense or distressing. The VA notes positive civilian trials while also acknowledging that results have been mixed in some veteran populations.[ptsd.va]
  4. Bishop, Thomas M., et al. “A Retrospective Pilot Study of Imagery Rehearsal Therapy for Trauma-Related Nightmares.” Journal of Clinical Medicine, 2023.
    Reports preliminary evidence that a modified, single-session imagery-rehearsal intervention reduced nightmare frequency and intensity, nightmare-related distress, and PTSD symptoms in a veteran sample. As a pilot and retrospective study, its findings should be treated as promising rather than conclusive.[ncbi.nlm.nih]
  5. Casement, M. D., and L. M. Swanson. “A Meta-analysis of Imagery Rehearsal for Post-trauma Nightmares: Effects on Nightmare Frequency, Sleep Quality, and Posttraumatic Stress.” Clinical Psychology Review, vol. 32, no. 6, 2012, pp. 566–574.
    A meta-analysis finding that imagery rehearsal was associated with substantial improvements in nightmare frequency, sleep quality, and PTSD symptoms, with benefits reported at follow-up.[nih]
  6. Hutchison, I. Claire, and colleagues. “Emotional Memory Processing During REM Sleep With Implications for PTSD.” Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2023.
    Reviews evidence that REM sleep plays a role in emotional and fear-memory processing and discusses how PTSD can involve recurring, emotionally charged dreams and disturbed sleep processes.[nih]
  7. Walker, Matthew P., and Robert Stickgold. “Sleep and Emotional Memory Processing.” Sleep Medicine Clinics, 2011.
    Reviews research connecting sleep with the processing and consolidation of emotional memories. This research supports the general proposition that sleep can be relevant to emotional processing; it does not assign a fixed meaning to an individual dream.[nih]
  8. Maté, Gabor. The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture. Avery, 2022.
    Maté’s central formulation—“Trauma is not what happens to you; trauma is what happens inside you as a result of what happens to you”—helps frame trauma as an enduring internal adaptation, not merely a past event.[cbc]
  9. Herman, Judith L. Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. Basic Books, revised edition, 2015.
    A foundational account of trauma recovery centered on safety, remembrance and mourning, and reconnection. Useful background for understanding why paced reflection and supportive relationships matter in recovery.
  10. van der Kolk, Bessel. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Viking, 2014.
    Explores how trauma can shape bodily alarm, memory, emotion, and relational patterns, and discusses approaches to restoring present-day agency.
  11. Fisher, Janina. Healing the Fragmented Selves of Trauma Survivors: Overcoming Internal Self-Alienation. Routledge, 2017.
    A practical, trauma-informed account of understanding entrenched reactions as protective survival responses rather than character defects.
  12. Hartmann, Ernest. Dreams and Nightmares: The New Theory on the Origin and Meaning of Dreams. Plenum Press, 1998.
    Hartmann’s work is especially relevant to the idea that dreams may represent emotional concerns through images and metaphors rather than through literal replays of experience.
  13. Hill, Clara E. Dream Work in Therapy: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action. American Psychological Association, 1996.
    Presents an integrative model for working with dreams in psychotherapy through exploration, insight, and practical waking-life action. The approach emphasizes the dreamer’s own associations rather than an authority imposing a universal symbolic interpretation.[marquette]
  14. Ullman, Montague, and Nan Zimmerman. Working with Dreams. Delacorte Press, 1979.
    A classic collaborative method of dream exploration that treats the dreamer as the final authority on a dream’s personal meaning.
  15. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. PROVAYBLUE (Methylene Blue) Injection: Prescribing Information. Revised 2024.
    Included solely for the medication-safety note in this essay. FDA labeling warns that methylene blue may cause serious or fatal serotonin syndrome when used with serotonergic drugs or certain opioids. Any use of methylene blue should be reviewed with a qualified clinician or pharmacist who has a complete list of medications, supplements, and substances used.[fda +1]

Note to readers: This essay is a personal reflection and a hypothesis, not medical or mental-health advice. Dreams do not provide a certain diagnosis, recovered factual history, or one universal meaning. Anyone experiencing recurrent nightmares, severe distress, disrupted sleep, dissociation, or worsening trauma symptoms should consider working with a licensed, trauma-informed mental-health professional or sleep specialist.

Limerence 

~ DC ~ Leave a comment

I write to you from inside the storm,
and from the doorway where I watch it form.
I have loved you mostly inside my head,
a theater of scenes that never get said.
You appear, then vanish, a flickering sign,
and my heart runs after what is never quite mine.
I call this love, but it burns like a fever,
a vow to a ghost and a distant believer.
I rewind small moments until they all blur,
a glance, a breath, the way you never were.
You stay perfected, framed in my mind,
and I fade smaller just to keep you kind.
I have abandoned myself chasing your name,
walking over glass while calling it flame.
Each silence from you becomes a loud judge,
each crumb of regard, a banquet I won’t budge.
Your armor is heavy, your doors stay closed tight,
yet I camp at the gate, praying you’ll turn toward the light.
You retreat into distance, I rush into fire,
thinking if I burn enough, you’ll feel desire.
I have studied our pattern like scripture and code,
watched it etch scars in my nervous road.
You step back whenever I try to draw near,
and I step in closer every time you disappear.
The gap between us is more than just space,
it’s all of my effort poured into your grace.
Now a new voice trembles under my skin,
asking why I keep losing myself to not win.
It tells me love is not meant as a chase,
not an endless exam I must constantly ace.
It whispers my worth is older than you,
that my pulse didn’t start when you came into view.
So I gather my pieces from altars and floors,
and start closing shrines with your name on their doors.
I turn these letters inward for the first time,
writing truth to the self I left out in the grime.
I step back, not to wound or accuse,
but to finally stop making myself the one I lose.
I still ache, I still want, I still remember your face,
yet the fantasy no longer gets to set the pace.
I walk away on unsteady, unfamiliar legs,
carrying both my longing and unanswered begs.
Somewhere beyond this unfinished, jagged bend,
something real may rise—if I dare not write the end.

RSP

…

DCG

Screenshot

If/then: a philosophical treaties on Empirical observation in epistemology 

~ DC ~ Leave a comment

Prologue

This poem examines what it means to observe, to remember, and to imagine within the limits of human awareness. It follows a chain of simple “if–then” reasoning to explore how perception shapes reality, how memory reshapes the past, and how expectation invents the future. It does not claim answers, but traces consequences—drawing from ideas in physics, psychology, and everyday experience—to invite reflection on what we truly know when we say we are present.

If time is a line we feel but never see,
Then now is the only place our mind can be.
If light can act as wave until we stare,
Then what we watch may change what is there.
If measurement turns the spread into a point,
Then seeing may fix what was once disjoint.
If the observer plays a hidden role,
Then knowing may shape what we call whole.
If we can only stand inside the now,
Then all that we know must happen somehow.
If each thought is bound to present sight,
Then past and future are made in this light.
If memory is built from fragile trace,
Then truth may bend as we give it a face.
If minds rebuild what they think they recall,
Then stories of self may not be all.
If witnesses often disagree,
Then memory is less than certainty.
If the brain fills gaps it cannot see,
Then fiction may feel like history.
If we imagine a future ahead,
Then we walk through thoughts, not paths we tread.
If fear can paint what has not come,
Then the future can feel already done.
If we compare ourselves with those we meet,
Then identity forms from what we see on the street.
If aging is known by watching others decay,
Then we borrow time in a secondhand way.
If the body changes beyond our control,
Then time writes its mark on the living whole.
If the mind resists what it cannot keep,
Then loss becomes a thought we bury deep.
If we observe ourselves as we think,
Then we stand both inside and at the brink.
If self-awareness splits the view in two,
Then we are both the watcher and the view.
If attention selects what we hold tight,
Then reality narrows within our sight.
If what we ignore fades into the blur,
Then absence can feel like it never were.
If focus acts like a quiet gate,
Then what gets through may shape our fate.
If perception is filtered before it is known,
Then the world we see is partly our own.
If language frames the thoughts we keep,
Then words decide how ideas speak.
If simple terms can carry deep weight,
Then meaning can grow without ornate state.
If emotion colors what we perceive,
Then feeling decides what we believe.
If fear and hope both guide the eye,
Then truth may shift as they pass by.
If logic follows what we assume,
Then flawed first steps can lead to gloom.
If we test belief with careful doubt,
Then clearer paths may sort things out.
If science shows limits in what we can know,
Then certainty is softer than we show.
If quantum rules suggest chance at the base,
Then order may rise from a shifting place.
If randomness lives beneath the seen,
Then control is less than it may seem.
If cause and effect still guide our day,
Then patterns help us find a way.
If we learn from error and revise our view,
Then growth is built from what is not true.
If each mistake can refine the mind,
Then wisdom is error redesigned.
If we live through moments one by one,
Then life is never fully done.
If each “now” replaces the last we knew,
Then we are always becoming new.
If identity shifts with time and thought,
Then the self is a process, not a spot.
If we cling to who we think we are,
Then change may feel like a distant star.
If awareness can soften rigid belief,
Then seeing clearly may bring relief.
If we accept limits in what we know,
Then honest thought can still grow.
If meaning is made from how we attend,
Then purpose depends on the lens we send.
If we choose where our focus will stay,
Then we help shape our lived display.
If reality meets us through mind and sense,
Then truth includes both world and lens.
If we question gently what we assume,
Then thought can open a wider room.
If no final answer is firmly sealed,
Then wonder remains unrevealed.
If we stand in the present, aware but unsure,
Then the human condition remains obscure.
:::

DCG

Screenshot

An epistolary collection of an anxious attacher as of June 1, 2026 

~ DC ~ Leave a comment

Complete List of RSP/DCG Signed Posts

  1. A Leap of Faith
    • Published: October 25, 2017
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2017/10/25/a-leap-of-faith/
    • Summary: A poem about the complex legacy parents leave their children — particularly the emotional wounds children carry when parents fail to show love. It speaks to the need for recognition, healing, and passing on a legacy of love rather than pain.

• Closing Signoff:  DCG 

  1. My Morning Prayer
    • Published: January 30, 2018
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2018/01/30/my-morning-prayer/
    • Summary: A romantic and spiritual poem about longing for connection with someone whose presence feels like medicine — a healing angel. The author reflects on loneliness and the desire to share time with this person as a kind of morning prayer.

• Closing Signoff:  DCG 

  1. No Matter How you Define Austere
    • Published: October 16, 2018
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2018/10/16/no-matter-how-you-define-austere/
    • Summary: A reflective poem about working 35 years for an employer, navigating workplace politics and corruption, and persevering through trials with faith. It speaks to endurance and wisdom drawn from hardship.

• Closing Signoff:  DCG

The first Poem
It’s a deeply personal piece written in short, free-verse stanzas — structured as a journey from wounded childhood to adult reckoning and, ultimately, a choice toward love.
What It Means
The poem traces a psychological arc rooted in childhood emotional neglect. It opens with children questioning their own worthiness of love — a feeling shaped by their parents’ inability to bridge the emotional gap. This maps closely to ambivalent/anxious attachment theory, a theme consistent with much of my blog’s work.
The middle section is viscerally interior — a child lying awake at night, frightened, numbing out, finding small comfort in the hum of a fan. There’s no rescuer, no safe adult. The child fights alone in the dark.
The turn comes in the final stanzas: that same child, now an adult, faces life with hard-won but still fragile awareness. The “leap of faith” is the central act — choosing to believe in love and goodness despite a history of diminishing returns. It’s not naive optimism; it’s a conscious, courageous decision to love those around me anyway, as the greatest gift I can give.
Core Themes
• Childhood emotional wounding and the intergenerational cycle of unmet needs
• Ambivalent attachment — the numbing, the fear, the aloneness
• Redemption through love — not as something received, but as something chosen and given
• The existential act of faith as resistance against a painful past
It’s one of my earlier pieces, and it reads like a foundational statement of the philosophy that runs through my broader body of work.

  1. You always bring out in me
    • Published: July 17, 2023
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2023/07/17/you-always-bring-out-in-me/
    • Summary: A poem written to RSP about a brief interaction — she came in, said hi, and bought lunch — that sparked deep appreciation. The author reflects on how positivity and genuine connection lift the spirit and bring out the best in him.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. If you leave your heart open
    • Published: August 9, 2023
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2023/08/09/if-you-leave-your-heart-open/
    • Summary: A poem about the possibility of love when one remains emotionally open. The author reflects on respecting those who choose solitude while expressing his belief that shared life is more fulfilling, and extends that sentiment toward RSP.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. As this is what I want to share
    • Published: November 5, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/11/05/as-this-is-what-i-want-to-share/
    • Summary: A poem expressing the author’s desire to get to know RSP better, not to change her life but simply to share in it. He acknowledges a mysterious, natural connection and hopes they can spend time together.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. The unexpected delight of what you perceive
    • Published: November 13, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/11/13/the-unexpected-delight-of-what-you-perceive/
    • Summary: A poem comparing the feeling of new love to the anticipation of Christmas morning — the warmth, the joy, the gift of perception and hope. It reflects on the thrill of beginning a new chapter while forgiving the past.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. We accept the love we think we deserve
    • Published: November 15, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/11/15/we-accept-the-love-we-think-we-deserve/
    • Summary: A poem about self-sabotage in love — how people close doors to opportunity because they don’t believe they deserve better. The author encourages RSP (and himself) to wrestle with the subconscious and open up to what friendship and love can offer.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. I don’t know what the future holds
    • Published: November 16, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/11/16/i-dont-know-what-the-furure-holds/
    • Summary: A prayer-poem in which the author surrenders the future to God while expressing hope that the people he cares about (including RSP) are part of God’s plan. He expresses stubborn hope and believes that “kindred spirits” may come to a shared understanding.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. There is a battle going on inside us
    • Published: December 1, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/12/01/there-is-a-battle-going-on-inside-us/
    • Summary: A poem where DCG describes noticing RSP’s happy smile while sensing her hidden vulnerabilities. He speaks to the internal battle between opening up and self-protection, and invites her to allow him to share what he sees in her.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. The secret of my affection
    • Published: December 5, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/12/05/the-secret-of-my-affection/
    • Summary: A poem about attraction without agenda — the author’s affection for RSP is described as pure, without manipulation or expectation. He simply wants to communicate how he feels and leave the choice to her.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. This emotional embargo
    • Published: December 8, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/12/08/this-emotional-embargo/
    • Summary: A poem about the emotional cage people build around themselves to avoid vulnerability — described as an “emotional embargo.” The author encourages mustering courage to break the cycle of avoidance, noting that the imagined danger is often not as bad as feared.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. When your love becomes a gift
    • Published: December 14, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/12/14/when-your-love-becomes-a-gift/
    • Summary: A poem reflecting on the dual nature of love — how it can heal and hurt. The author tells RSP that when genuine love is offered, it becomes a gift even to broken hearts, though it may send a guarded heart adrift if not received.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. If you see what I can see
    • Published: December 25, 2024
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2024/12/25/if-you-see-what-i-can-see/
    • Summary: A Christmas poem to RSP about love — patient, kind, forgiving, and blind. The author wants to understand her sorrow and silences, compares her smile to Cupid’s arrow, and says he wouldn’t be blamed for trying, even if it’s not meant to be.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. If you wear your heart on your sleeve
    • Published: January 29, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/01/29/if-you-wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve/
    • Summary: A poem about the vulnerability of wearing one’s heart openly — the risk of pain, the temptation to build walls, but ultimately the author’s conviction that it’s better to live genuinely and be brave than to hide in emotional safety.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. I’ll prove every day that you can trust me
    • Published: March 2, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/03/02/ill-prove-every-day-that-you-can-trust-me/
    • Summary: A poem of commitment and attraction — the author tells RSP he is drawn to her electric presence and promises daily effort to earn her trust, ending with the confession that he genuinely cares and is sending these messages because of that care.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. It takes two to tango
    • Published: March 3, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/03/03/it-takes-two-to-tango/
    • Summary: A poem about the playful, flirtatious side of romantic pursuit — the author admits he’s a hopeless romantic who chases what he wants with laughter. He reflects on the dynamics of friendship and love and the healthy “friction” between two souls.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. At least that is what I’ve been told
    • Published: March 8, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/03/08/at-least-that-is-what-ive-been-told/
    • Summary: A poem about how happiness is measured by the quality of our relationships. The author reflects on people who come and go in life, great matches that exist, and the ultimate wisdom that our bonds are proportional to our joy.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. At least I gave it a shot
    • Published: March 21, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/03/21/at-least-i-gave-it-a-shot/
    • Summary: A poem about the mental weariness of confusion and maladaptive thinking born from following pride rather than wisdom. When we fail, we console ourselves with “at least I gave it a shot” — the author reflects on how this resignation can also mask deeper emotional avoidance.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. I self sabotage
    • Published: March 25, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/03/25/i-self-sabotage/
    • Summary: A confessional poem about self-sabotage rooted in guilt, shame, and a difficult childhood. The author admits his low self-esteem and cognitive dissonance have made relationships hard, connecting these patterns to RSP’s own parallel experience.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. With every prayer
    • Published: April 20, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/04/20/with-every-prayer/
    • Summary: A spiritual poem in which DCG prays for strength, courage, wisdom, and forgiveness. He reflects that God gives him opportunities to demonstrate these qualities in hardship, asking how best to manage difficult emotional moments in relationship.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. A one-sided love affair
    • Published: April 28, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/04/28/a-one-sided-love-affair/
    • Summary: A poem about the pain of unrequited love — the burn even a saint feels when emotion erupts and there is nowhere to turn. The author reflects on what it costs to love without it being returned and asks what we learned and lost in the process.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. And so goes our training
    • Published: May 6, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/05/06/and-so-goes-our-training/
    • Summary: A poem encouraging openness in sharing feelings despite fear of rejection. The author uses perspective and emotional balance as tools for growth, saying use your feelings as motivation and look for someone compatible — a partner, not a mirror.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. It warms my heart
    • Published: May 7, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/05/07/it-warms-my-heart/
    • Summary: A warm poem in which DCG tells RSP it warms his heart when she expresses herself to him — her excitement about a new job, her energy. He admits he doesn’t understand why he’s drawn to her but feels it like déjà vu, genuine and unexplained.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Why are we so confused?
    • Published: May 12, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/05/12/why-are-we-so-confused/
    • Summary: A poem about meeting a “kindred spirit” and recognizing shared childhood wounds — anxious vs. dismissive attachment. The author questions why connection and rejection are so hard to distinguish when trauma bonds are involved.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Am I allowed to express what I feel?
    • Published: June 6, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/06/06/am-i-allowed-to-express-what-i-feel/
    • Summary: A vulnerable poem about being emotionally imprisoned — an “emotional straight jacket” formed in childhood by emotionally impoverished parents. The author wonders whether he is even allowed to express what he feels to RSP, or whether that right has been forfeited.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Anxious attachment
    • Published: June 20, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/06/20/anxious-attachment/
    • Summary: A poem about the trap of anxious attachment — the cycle of seeking approval rooted in unresolved childhood wounds. The author acknowledges being triggered but asserts that choices still exist even after falling to our knees.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Because this is my heart’s echo
    • Published: June 27, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/06/27/because-this-is-my-hearts-echo/
    • Summary: A poem about feeling less empty and more purposeful when RSP is in his heart and thoughts. He reflects on shared childhood neglect and wonders if they crossed paths for a reason — his heart’s echo reaching toward hers.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. It’s your spirit that’s longing to suffer no more
    • Published: June 27, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/06/27/its-your-spirit-thats-longing-to-suffer-no-more/
    • Summary: A forgiveness poem written “— for Robyn —” encouraging RSP to release old pain and resentment. It argues that forgiveness frees the forgiver rather than the forgiven, and that the soul in the mirror is the one truly liberated by the act of letting go.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG  (poem dedicated “— for Robyn —”)

  1. Doesn’t always mean what it seems
    • Published: July 1, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/07/01/doesnt-always-mean-what-it-seems/
    • Summary: A poem about bottled emotion — the author has “all this emotion” but must keep it locked away because RSP doesn’t want to hear it. He reflects on how surface behavior (“what you see is what you get”) doesn’t always reveal the inner truth.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. My nervous system has been hijacked
    • Published: July 2, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/07/02/my-nervous-system-has-been-hijacked/
    • Summary: A poem/reflection on how childhood family dynamics hijack the nervous system and shape adult emotional responses. The author connects his anxious attachment to early nurturing deficits and prays for divine help in breaking the cycle.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. However, it turns out
    • Published: July 8, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/07/08/however-it-turns-out/
    • Summary: A spiritually committed poem in which DCG says his heart, soul, and mind are committed to this path, leaving the outcome to God. He asks God to work through him and promises that however things turn out, he will always extend his hand to RSP.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. One built for me and you
    • Published: July 9, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/07/09/one-built-for-me-and-you/
    • Summary: A poem about the painful paradox of getting close to someone who pulls away — the closer he gets, the farther she drifts. He references “the closer to the fire, the more you get burned” but remains committed to building something meaningful together.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. I believe in you
    • Published: July 10, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/07/10/i-believe-in-you/
    • Summary: A poem of faith and affirmation directed at RSP — the author believes in her ability against an unfair world, references shared California memories (OB, South Beach), and tells her that her charms are not lost on him.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. One that we host
    • Published: July 11, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/07/11/one-that-we-host/
    • Summary: A poem about the social masks people wear — walking on eggshells, not knowing who to trust, dressing up and flirting to cover loneliness. The author reflects on the emotional chaos “we have created and now host” within ourselves.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Heal with me RP
    • Published: July 18, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/07/18/heal-with-me-rp/
    • Summary: A poem addressed directly to “RP” (RSP) about two damaged people meeting at the right moment. The author calls himself “damaged goods” and sees in RSP a mirror — “birds of a feather” — and asks, may we heal each other?

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. I filled in all the missing parts
    • Published: July 27, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/07/27/i-filled-in-all-the-missing-parts/
    • Summary: A poem about the gendered paradox of attraction — women fall in love with what they hear, men with what they see. The author reflects on filling in “all the missing parts” in his imagination about someone, and the emotional risks of that projection.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Despite our perplexity
    • Published: October 1, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/10/01/despite-our-perplexity/
    • Summary: A philosophical poem about how reason and self-reflection are the best diagnostic tools available to us. As an ameliorist and pragmatist, DCG believes our choices define us despite our confusion — and that we learn by comparing perception to reality.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. When your confidence is shrouded by insecurity
    • Published: October 6, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/10/06/when-your-confidence-is-shrouded-by-insecurity/
    • Summary: A poem about how unhealed emotional wounds prevent growth — the shame of bottled pain reigns over the subconscious and prevents resolution. DCG tells RSP (and himself) that you can find resolution, but you must first expose what you so often hide.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. The fragile triumph
    • Published: October 18, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/10/18/the-fragile-triumph/
    • Summary: A poem about the human condition — we “wake as gods with trembling hands,” building thrones on fleeting dreams. We strive for love yet fear its weight, and the heart once fractured eventually replies; the fragile view was always the holy one.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. How can I be a part of the solution?
    • Published: October 20, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/10/20/how-can-i-be-a-part-of-the-solution/
    • Summary: A poem about forgiveness as a razor’s edge — knowing when to forgive and when to walk away. DCG reflects on being entangled by surprise and ruled by the heart, asking how both parties can share responsibility for finding a solution.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. You won’t know until the silence hit you
    • Published: October 31, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/10/31/you-wont-know-until-the-silence-hit-you/
    • Summary: A poem confronting passive-aggressive, dismissive-avoidant denial — the “quickest path of victimhood.” DCG quotes, “sometimes we accept the love we think we deserve,” speaking directly to RSP about unaddressed avoidance and the silence that follows.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Breathe deeply
    • Published: November 5, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/11/05/breathe-deeply/
    • Summary: A poem about releasing anxiety and trauma through forgiveness and deep breathing. Pain holds on relentlessly, but faith and the willingness to let go of drama are the path to freedom — breathe deeply, face the truth.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. I’m trying to seek approval
    • Published: November 6, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/11/06/im-trying-to-seek-approval/
    • Summary: A confessional poem about how the author’s absent, neglectful father created a trauma bond that drives compulsive approval-seeking in adulthood. He acknowledges this is common and names John Bowlby’s attachment theory as the psychological framework behind it.

• Closing Signoff:  … DCG  (RSP addressed in context)

  1. However, it may lead I will always find my faith
    • Published: November 8, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/11/08/however-it-may-lead-i-will-always-find-my-faith/
    • Summary: A poem to RSP — DCG tells her he knows she is feeling angry and resigned, and that her coping strategy of avoidance will not bring her peace. His heart breaks watching her struggle but he will always find his faith wherever the path leads.
    • Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG
  1. Scar tissue
    • Published: November 8, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/11/08/scar-tissue/
    • Summary: A poem of patient, faithful waiting — the author waits “beneath the weight of hollow years,” burning with prayer and tracing the path forward through scar tissue. Even if the way is lined with dread, he will walk it until it leads to her.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. The quiet between them
    • Published: November 9, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/11/09/the-quiet-between-them/
    • Summary: A short story/prose poem about Adrian (DCG) and a woman with avoidant attachment who goes silent for days. He finally types a message — “Thinking of you. Hope you’re okay” — then erases it. He closes his eyes and wishes he could love without fear, like the wind.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Yet here I stand
    • Published: November 10, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/11/10/yet-here-i-stand/
    • Summary: A poem of steadfast love — DCG sees RSP’s walls built from pain, recognizes that silence is the language trauma taught her heart, and yet here he stands as a patient guide. He promises to stay through the winters, as long as it takes.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. A walking contradiction
    • Published: November 18, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/11/18/a-walking-contradiction/
    • Summary: A poem that confronts the confusing, sometimes hurtful messages RSP sends. DCG empathizes with her self-protection but challenges her to self-reflect as well as self-protect — warning that without facing her fear head-on, decay follows.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. The parable of the gentle bridge
    • Published: November 22, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/11/22/the-parable-of-the-gentle-bridge/
    • Summary: A parable about a bridge maker (DCG) who builds bridges for divided souls, including a woman who lives behind glass (RSP). The bridge stands not as a demand but as a possibility — open to her courage, guarded by his quiet strength, never forsaking his post.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. This is the song that I sing
    • Published: December 17, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/12/17/this-is-the-song-that-i-sing/
    • Summary: A lyrical poem about a wounded heart recognizing familiarity in another wounded heart — RSP. The author says she places walls around her emotions, but that wounded hearts seek familiarity, and she has touched his heart so tenderly — this is the song that I sing.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. R and D
    • Published: December 22, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/12/22/r-and-d/
    • Summary: A narrative poem explicitly about R (RSP) and D (DCG) — two people with trauma-shaped attachment styles (avoidant and anxious) finding their way toward each other. With steady therapeutic guides and honest conversation, they may learn a bond where both can finally be free.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. The quiet charity of loving
    • Published: December 28, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/12/28/the-quiet-charity-of-loving/
    • Summary: A poem about love as an act of charity — given without guarantee of return. Each wound refines what faith began; love unspent is not in vain; unanswered hearts abide as proof that goodness lingers. Even if RSP never spoke his name, DCG is grateful for the sound.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Forgive and let go of the past
    • Published: December 31, 2025
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2025/12/31/forgive-and-let-go-of-the-past/
    • Summary: A year-end reflection on rumination and the push-pull of love — she loves me, she loves me not. DCG thinks of RSP and the times that make him hesitate, ultimately counseling himself and her to show the soft underbelly and forgive the past.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. It resonates as we
    • Published: January 23, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/01/23/it-resonates-as-we/
    • Summary: A vow poem — the author makes a pledge, says a prayer, and bares his soul, hoping he and RSP can live side by side. He has reached an awareness that a healthy relationship requires boundaries with clout, and is clear-eyed about what both of them need.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. You walked in
    • Published: January 25, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/01/25/you-walked-in/
    • Summary: A poem about the transformative moment RSP walked into his life — she made the room feel wide and listened like it mattered. Even if she doesn’t stay, the craft he learned in loving her will frame the way he loves others; her impact altered how he sees the world.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. I want you to know
    • Published: January 30, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/01/30/i-want-you-to-know/
    • Summary: A tender, reassuring poem in which DCG tells RSP: if you need space, I’ll give you grace; if you need to decompress, I won’t hesitate. He is patient and certain that what they have can work.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. And so you run
    • Published: February 1, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/02/01/and-so-you-run/
    • Summary: A poem confronting RSP’s pattern of running away — the author says her behavior has consequences, that silence brings clarity, and that deep inside her something still pleads for connection. He hasn’t given up, but notes she is “emotionally autistic” due to childhood wounds.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. The echo of your retreat
    • Published: February 4, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/02/04/the-echo-of-your-retreat/
    • Summary: A deeply introspective poem in which DCG wakes inside the echo of RSP’s silence and builds hope inside her distance. Ultimately he turns inward — the cycle breaks where he begins; forgiving what he cannot heal; steadying his pulse with honest will.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Exit stage left
    • Published: February 16, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/02/16/exit-stage-left/
    • Summary: Written in screenplay format — a dramatic interior scene of D writing unsent letters by candlelight, a cross on the wall, rain on the window. It’s a theatrical rendering of the inner life of the author after RSP withdraws — a stage play of emotional farewell.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. A heart’s whisper
    • Published: March 4, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/03/04/a-hearts-whisper/
    • Summary: A prayer poem subtitled “And so I pray (for RSP).” DCG prays for RSP’s healing and freedom, says if God answers let it be her freed from shame, and if their paths entwine, let it be two warriors laying down the fight — not rescue, just two broken people healing together.

• Closing Signoff:  … DCG  (RSP explicitly named in prayer)

  1. In the shadowed dance
    • Published: April 19, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/04/19/in-the-shadowed-dance/
    • Summary: A poem in which R and D dance through Proverbs-inspired imagery — R (dismissive-avoidant) and D (anxious-attached) navigating fear, armor, and vulnerability. Their entwined styles soften through grace, empathy, and forgiveness — RSP in prayer’s hold.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. When solemnity meets absurdity
    • Published: May 20, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/05/20/when-solemnity-meets-absurdity/
    • Summary: A comedic-philosophical poem about the absurdity of the human condition — praying for wisdom then fighting a parking ticket, telling the mirror to be sincere. Ultimately: the solemn and the strange must meet, and hope still waits around the bend even for bruised, muddy-footed souls.

• Closing Signoff:  … DCG 

  1. The case of Dane
    • Published: May 21, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/05/21/the-case-of-dane/
    • Summary: A third-person poem about “Dane” — DCG’s alter ego — a boy who held a guitar like morning light and grew into a man carrying childhood questions. The poem traces his philosophical, musical, and emotional journey, asking: is God the answer or just the voice still calling Dane home?

• Closing Signoff:  … DCG 

  1. I forgot the world was singing
    • Published: May 22, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/05/22/i-forgot-the-world-was-singing/
    • Summary: A poem about being lost in worry and “walking half asleep” until the morning calls him back. A friend reminds him the day is still warm, they talk about hopes and small endeavors, and in the present moment — sunlit skin and sea — he promises the world: I see you now.

• Closing Signoff:  … DCG 

  1. The dissolution of entropy
    • Published: May 25, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/05/25/the-dissolution-of-entropy/
    • Summary: A meta-analytical post reviewing the entire RSP/DCG relationship arc across the last two years of the blog. It documents how DCG began with hope that RSP would heal with him, and how the writing gradually discovered he must also heal from the story he built around her.

• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG 

  1. Cliff notes from the heart
    • Published: May 27, 2026
    • URL: thundergodblog.com/2026/05/27/cliff-notes-from-the-heart/
    • Summary: A poem of honest reckoning — DCG built a chapel out of hope, used his prayers to arrange what her silence would not say. Now he faces the truth: love that saves another must not teach him how to lose. He is ready to say goodbye if she cannot reach for lif• Closing Signoff:  RSP … DCG

📊 Summary Statistics

Note on “RSP”: Based on the June 27, 2025 post “It’s your spirit that’s longing to suffer no more,” which is dedicated ”— for Robyn —”, RSP is a woman named Robyn (last name initials S.P.) with whom DCG (Dean Christian Gunnersen) developed a deep, unrequited or unresolved romantic connection characterized by anxious-attachment (DCG) and dismissive-avoidant attachment (RSP) patterns. The  RSP … DCG  signoff appears throughout as both a dedication to her and a co-signature — two initials, two people, one story.

RSP

…

DCG

Screenshot

Live a Life of Possibility

~ DC ~ 1 Comment

 

... where we possess a greater capacity for “possibility thinking
Nicolas Sparks

 

I have sometimes limited my focus on my perspectives in life, and have often become caught up in a stream of events that I might not have anticipated.  If my decisions about how to behave in the world are not aligned to my aspirations, I will surely disappoint my vigilant intuitions.  Ultimately I reason that the mind is the charioteer of the will, the reflexive unconscious and gut, and the feelings of the heart that impels our behavior in the world.  But if we do not have a balance of these integral human motivating agencies, then we find ourselves beguiled and possibly left empty.  Precisely where we have a greater capacity for “possibility thinking” and achievement lies predominantly within the realm of the mind.  Those who do not stride forward with their life’s ambitions often have failed to sail toward a once planned venture.  They are rudderless, and follow a current that may lead them to unexpected courses in their voyages.

Plato's Charioteer
Plato’s Charioteer Tripartite Mind
1) Mind: Charioteer
2) White Noble Horse on Right: Spirit
3) Black Ugly Horse on Left: Appetites

 

Listening and acting on the advice from others and not acknowledging our own hearts may be a lifelong undertaking that leads us to misadventure.  When reaching for greener pastures, we ought not to overlook that which is right in front of us.  We become dissuaded and influenced by those around us, as we begin to doubt our own capabilities and ambitions which tend to slowly diffuse and disassemble as if they had never existed.  The passion once felt is shrouded deep within our former selves replaced by other transitional interests that cover the deeper longings of our hearts.  I have an affinity to what Henry David Thoreau set out to discover on his stay at Walden Pond.

Henry David Thoreau

 

“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.”

― Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

American philosopher and naturalist Thoreau isolated himself at Walden Pond in Massachusetts from 1845 to 1847.  His experiences during that time are published in Walden (1854), which Thornton Wilder called “a manual of self-reliance.”  In a well-known passage, Thoreau stated his purpose: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.  I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation…”  In the first essay, “Economy,” Thoreau comments that most men are slaves to their work and enslaved to those for whom they work.  He concludes: “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation….”

If we embrace our heart, activate our resolve and nourish the potential of our minds, we create a force that is so powerful, the world of possibility becomes exponentially larger.  But why do we not follow our “gut” feelings, and we delude our better judgements?  Much of this comes from listening to external sources, and all too often from our own voice of self-doubt.  We disband our goal to unify our lives with our passions by accident or by misdirection of an immersed ego caught up in a distraction filled world.

When we take a path with the least resistance, we may misplace our heart’s desires with a surrogate.  Our lives are tempered with contention that customarily helps us find a quintessence in contrast to the banalities met in a lifetime.  We must never allow ourselves to detach from possibility!  Fortuity can be a life renewing salvation or equitably a life saving virtue if we are cognizant of it.  The first step is taken when we recognize this dynamic in the equation.  First and foremost, we must be open for opportunity.  We must be receptive and keen to providential forces that dwell within our mortality.

But what creates possibility?  The most satisfying creation comes from our own doing even if it is initiated indirectly; such as the consequence of our own talents which may open opportune doors to us.  There exists possibilities that we are aware of, and those we are unaware of.  There exists possibilities that we may never actualize, and those that we may never appreciate because we are caught up in other distractions or have distorted the inner balance within our minds.

 

 ☥☥☥

 

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

Steve Jobs

 

I’ve realized that I must aspire to create a cohesion between the mind and the feeling centers of my being.  I usually operate on an intellectual level better than the emotional level because it comes to me more easily.  Ironically I show great depth of empathy for others yet I fail to sometimes envision my own deeper feelings and emotive motivators that direct me.  In establishing a cohesion with all of these forces is the challenge to be reconciled.  This could be a daily routine, and with practice one can hope to achieve the balance necessary to bring about change in one’s life that aligns with a true self image.  I ask of myself only for patience and dedication, as the rest will take care of itself!  I say unto you live a life of possibility, and you will realize the intention you set out to do.

Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao Tzu