There Is a Place Where We Meet
(The Poetic Journey of a Psychotherapist)
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
After over 25 years of working with people, and attempting to help them, as a psychotherapist, trainer, and teacher, I have not only walked through the joys and struggles of my own life experiences, and those of family and friends, but I have had the benefits and privilege of learning and living vicariously, while listening to untold hours with literally thousands of clients during their own struggling and searching. I have been encouraged by and privileged to watch the healing, growth, and transcendence from life’s struggles of thousands of people, and I have felt pain and sadness in witnessing the deterioration, resistance and self-destruction of countless others. I have come to believe that the primary determining factor of whether one experiences transcendence or deterioration is a determined willingness to go through the struggles, and to develop an attitude: “…that looks courageously into the eye of the storm, and says assuredly: ‘You will not break me…’”
These poems are captured moments of my own experiences, and reflections on the journeys of others, as we have separately and together enjoyed the sunrises and sunsets, while sometimes weathering the storms in between. May these poems help you better understand yourself and your fellow travelers, and no matter how difficult or deep your own abyss of darkness, may you always find Hope!
THE RHYTHM OF LIFE
Today could not have been
Without yesterday's haunting wind,
Blowing by and changing my life,
Stirring up realities and other sundry strife.
The happenings of this hour
Would rightfully have no power,
Without the joys and pains of past,
Shaping and creating me at last.
Had even one conversation been altered,
Or one person or event faltered,
This moment in which I now breathe
Would not now be, as is, conceived.
There is a Great Choreographer, somewhere, someplace,
Who orchestrates my moves and your every pace,
Matching our steps in infinite, perfect time;
Then, this dance, once confusing starts to rhyme...
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
After over 25 years of working with people, and attempting to help them, as a psychotherapist, trainer, and teacher, I have not only walked through the joys and struggles of my own life experiences, and those of family and friends, but I have had the benefits and privilege of learning and living vicariously, while listening to untold hours with literally thousands of clients during their own struggling and searching. I have been encouraged by and privileged to watch the healing, growth, and transcendence from life’s struggles of thousands of people, and I have felt pain and sadness in witnessing the deterioration, resistance and self-destruction of countless others. I have come to believe that the primary determining factor of whether one experiences transcendence or deterioration is a determined willingness to go through the struggles, and to develop an attitude: “…that looks courageously into the eye of the storm, and says assuredly: ‘You will not break me…’”
These poems are captured moments of my own experiences, and reflections on the journeys of others, as we have separately and together enjoyed the sunrises and sunsets, while sometimes weathering the storms in between. May these poems help you better understand yourself and your fellow travelers, and no matter how difficult or deep your own abyss of darkness, may you always find Hope!
THE RHYTHM OF LIFE
Today could not have been
Without yesterday's haunting wind,
Blowing by and changing my life,
Stirring up realities and other sundry strife.
The happenings of this hour
Would rightfully have no power,
Without the joys and pains of past,
Shaping and creating me at last.
Had even one conversation been altered,
Or one person or event faltered,
This moment in which I now breathe
Would not now be, as is, conceived.
There is a Great Choreographer, somewhere, someplace,
Who orchestrates my moves and your every pace,
Matching our steps in infinite, perfect time;
Then, this dance, once confusing starts to rhyme...
About the Author
Mark Purcell is a licensed psychotherapist, an accomplished photographer, and the Director of Lighthouse Counseling and Consulting, PLLC (www.lighthouse2008.com). He began his journey of helping others over 25 years ago as a teacher, trainer, and presently as a psychotherapist. His love for reading and writing poetry began in childhood, and has continued throughout his adult life, as a meaningful and inspiring avenue for understanding himself and others. This collection contains a sampling of over 100 of his favorite poems. As a practicing psychotherapist for over two decades, Mark has an insightful understanding of people’s emotions, life struggles, and desires for hope and connection with others and one’s self.
Mark is a Creek/Cherokee Indian and of Irish descent. He is an Eastern Creek Indian tribal member, who participates regularly with his family in Muskogee ceremonial traditions at Pine Arbor Tribal Town in north Florida. Though he grew up on a few hundred acres of hard work in the beautiful country land of Kentucky, he has also enjoyed living on the picturesque Atlantic Ocean shore in south Florida, as well as the mesmerizing desert of southern Arizona. Mark has been a frequent traveler and occasional gypsy wanderer, who currently resides in Somerset, Kentucky with his wife, Martha, who is also a licensed psychotherapist. Together, they share the love and care of their four wonderful children and a few adorable German Shepherds.