Irvin Yalom: Love’s Executioner

Irvin Yalom, one of the pioneers of Existential Therapy is in his eighties now but his zest for writing about his life and his encounters with patients continues unabated. In 2015 he wrote Creatures of a Day his title taken from the writings of Marcus Aurelius, ‘All of us are creatures of a day: the rememberer and the remembered alike. All is ephemeral-both memory and the object of memory.’. This book offers ten case studies of clients who came to him with particular problems, but ultimately Yalom sees their presenting fears and anxieties as an unavoidable part of the human condition. It is by accepting four hard truths about the nature of human life his patients come to terms with their pain.

Schadenfreude

The German language is famous for portmanteau words, none more popular than schadenfreude expressing the quite subtle emotion of joy in another’s misfortune, from schade meaning harm and freude meaning joy. But schadenfreude is not, to my mind, joy blasted from the rooftops, it is the secret little unworthy pang of pleasure we feel when our pompous boss chokes on his wine while holding forth at lunch, or our glamorous colleague comes back from the bathroom with her skirt caught up in her knickers. It is the also the way we feel when that moralising politician is caught with his pants down.

A wedding you’ll never forget

 

With weddings in the news (and who among you didn’t watch the recent Royal Wedding?) we have some suggestions of what not to do when planning one of your own. There are perils to be avoided far worse than gospel preachers.

Another Gert competition

Shark Tank bites fail to net deal once show goes to air

Jess Kidd: The Hoarder

I wade, tripping over boxes and piles of mildewing curtains, getting caught in cables, hooked on hat stands and assaulted by rutting ironing boards. I flounder over records, books, stained blankets, greasy collections of plastic bags, garden forks, antique mangles, a woman’s patent leather shoe and an unopened blender that also grates and peels. And cats, cats, cats.  (1)

Dancing with dogs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-EZY1JDR2g

Where has Gert been the last 10 years that she didn’t know about the booming sport of dancing with dogs?

Gail Jones: A Guide To Berlin

Autumn

Gaute Heivoll: Across The China Sea