Today's challenge theme is words. I had always planned on taking a picture of a book page for this one, but I didn't know which one. I'm a big-time bibliophile, so the possibilities were a little overwhelming. I already used the Bible for Day 9, so I figured it should be something else, but what? Harry Potter? C. S. Lewis? Emily Dickinson? So many wonderful choices. I assumed this would be an after-work decision.
But then, I had a no-show at work. Sometimes--and especially on Thursdays when I work at a small satellite office away from all my stuff--this means I have nothing to do. So I always have a book in my purse for these occasions. I had just finished one (The Know-It-All by A. J. Jacobs), so it was time to start something new: The Schopenhauer Cure by Irvin D. Yalom. He is a brilliant psychiatrist and psychotherapist and probably my favorite living writer. He writes about psychotherapy in a way that reminds me why I love it and gives me hope that helps me keep coming to work everyday despite paperwork and bureaucracy and budget cuts and an overwhelmingly large caseload. His books have helped me believe (on good days, anyway) that in spite of all that junk, I can be effective by engaging with people in an authentic way and acknowledging all those existential issues that are hard to talk about. Like the fact that we are all going to die:
Yep, that's the first page. Good stuff, huh? I'm excited for the rest of this journey with Irv. (That's what his clients call him, and I kind of feel like I'm one of 'em.)
I guess the sentiment here isn't so different from Day 9. The grass withers, and bubbles burst, but life is beautiful in spite of that. Or, perhaps, because of it.