Mind Matters:Books for the beach and beyond

Amidst summer vacations, graduations,
Father’s Day, let me offer some suggestions for some very different beach
reading—no juicy novels here—but hopefully something that might be
life-transforming. Consider the following hodgepodge of books as possible gifts
to the graduate or to Dad or to yourself!

·
I Am An Emotional Creature: The Secret Life of Girls Around the
World
, by Eve Ensler.
Through fictional monologues, poetry, and stories, Eve Ensler weaves together
universal themes of young women the world over. A powerful read that invites
each girl, every woman, to find her own voice, and follow her own dreams. (I’ve
already given this as a high school graduation gift!)

·
Bounce, by Dr. Robert Wicks
A practical little book on how to handle life’s stresses and become more
self-aware. “Bounce” refers to how we can resiliently bounce back no matter
what we face. Wicks offers that we need both solitude and socialization as part
of our regimen for self-care.

·
Full Body Presence: Learning To Listen To Your Body’s Wisdom, by Suzanne Scurlock-Durana. A fascinating book from the first
page, Scurlock-Durana invites us to experience directly “the deep flow of life
energy we all have available to us—a connection that brings us into the moment
and naturally feeds our sense of Full Body Presence, making true compassion
possible.” ‘Nuff said, an excellent read for connecting us to a life more fully
lived.

·
Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life, by Karen Maezen Miller.
There is a Buddhist saying, “What do you do before enlightenment? ‘Chop wood,
carry water.’ What do you do after enlightenment? ‘Chop wood, carry water.’”
Miller reminds us, that in our contemporary everyday lives, this adage remains
true.

Finding peace and meaning in the everyday meanderings of an ordinary life,
Miller reminds us that enlightenment doesn’t need to be found at the top of the
mountain but, instead, at the bottom of the laundry basket.

·
The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, by Pico Iyer.
Okay, Pico Iyer is probably one of my favorite authors. His writing can be
found in such contrasting places as a Conde-Nast travel magazine and a Buddhist
journal. As a friend of the Dalai Lama for many years, Iyer is able to convey
the complexity as well as the compassion of the Dalai Lama as private monk and
global leader.

So there are a few nuggets of non-fiction to
ponder to balance the beach reading this summer!

* Kayta Curzie Gajdos holds a doctorate
in counseling psychology and is in private practice in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
She welcomes comments at
MindMatters@DrGajdos.com or 610-388-2888.
Past columns are posted to
www.drgajdos.com.

About Kayta Gajdos

Dr. Kathleen Curzie Gajdos ("Kayta") is a licensed psychologist (Pennsylvania and Delaware) who has worked with individuals, couples, and families with a spectrum of problems. She has experience and training in the fields of alcohol and drug addictions, hypnosis, family therapy, Jungian theory, Gestalt therapy, EMDR, and bereavement. Dr. Gajdos developed a private practice in the Pittsburgh area, and was affiliated with the Family Therapy Institute of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, having written numerous articles for the Family Therapy Newsletter there. She has published in the American Psychological Association Bulletin, the Family Psychologist, and in the Swedenborgian publications, Chrysalis and The Messenger. Dr. Gajdos has taught at the college level, most recently for West Chester University and Wilmington College, and has served as field faculty for Vermont College of Norwich University the Union Institute's Center for Distance Learning, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has also served as consulting psychologist to the Irene Stacy Community MH/MR Center in Western Pennsylvania where she supervised psychologists in training. Currently active in disaster relief, Dr. Gajdos serves with the American Red Cross and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts as a member of teams from the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Now living in Chadds Ford, in the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Gajdos combines her private practice working with individuals, couples and families, with leading workshops on such topics as grief and healing, the impact of multigenerational grief and trauma shame, the shadow and self, Women Who Run with the Wolves, motherless daughters, and mediation and relaxation. Each year at Temenos Retreat Center in West Chester, PA she leads a griefs of birthing ritual for those who have suffered losses of procreation (abortions, miscarriages, infertility, etc.); she also holds yearly A Day of Re-Collection at Temenos.Dr. Gajdos holds Master's degrees in both philosophy and clinical psychology and received her Ph.D. in counseling at the University of Pittsburgh. Among her professional affiliations, she includes having been a founding member and board member of the C.G. Jung Educational Center of Pittsburgh, as well as being listed in Who's Who of American Women. Currently, she is a member of the American Psychological Association, The Pennsylvania Psychological Association, the Delaware Psychological Association, the American Family Therapy Academy, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Delaware County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board. Woven into her professional career are Dr. Gajdos' pursuits of dancing, singing, and writing poetry.

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