how do you pass on experience without sounding preachy? after all, one person's clean house is another person's sterile tomb. (see the picture of the painter francis bacon in his studio, the room now part of a museum in dublin.)
that said, the hope of helping doesn't die. so i'll pass on a few (hopefully very succinct) observations.
1. most of the troubles of love come from the questions that are not asked. we'll avoid conflict until the war is huge and destructive.
2. physical and mental stress change our body chemistry. (age, diet, and a lack of exercise too.) endorphin highs come from running. all but one anti-depressant work the same way: they raise your serotonin level. simple as that. looked at this way, something can be done, otherwise it becomes a matter of existential anguish - my parents didn't do right, society's to blame, i was born in the wrong age, my character sucks.
3. julia kristeva in 'black sun' maintains all depression comes from not mourning the loss of the mother. (jung calls it 'anima' or 'animus' possession.) whenever i want to be taken care of like a child i get depressed.
4. ach, this morning i don't want to be where i am. which means: i don't want to be who i am. is self-acceptance (self-celebration) the cure for all ills? under such circumstances i have to get back in my body. the famous 20 minute nap often changes my mood.
5. and one last observation from oscar wilde: one doesn't do well in a world where everything is symbolic of something else.
recent posts, including a debate between a poet and a president (1983) and more fire pictures http://www.pbase.com/wwp/root&view=recent
