“Today my forest is dark The trees are sad
and all the butterflies have
broken wings”
(Raine Cooper)
BLOG (1/1) posted on 2018/02/27 – check this blog for the next update in two week’s time
MOVE OUT FROM UNDER THE DARK SHADOW OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY
“He (my father) was very depressed and moody … like I am now … and I don’t want to be like that.”
(Patient in my practice)
It is all in the eye of the beholder: The story of the wise man from the west
There is an old story that, which I think, portrays a valuable truth about what your actual view of reality and your world is, as well as what your view is on the potential to experience happiness.
In the days when the settlers were moving to the West, a wise man stood on a hill outside a new Western town. As the settlers came from the East, the wise man was the first person they would meet before arriving in the settlement. They would eagerly ask what the people of the town were like.
He answered them with this question: “What were the people like in the town you
left? ”
Some would reply: “The town we came from was wicked. The people were rude gossips who took advantage of innocent people. It was full of thieves and liars.”
The wise man would then answer: “This town is the same as the one you left.”
They thanked the man for saving them from the trouble they had just actually left behind. They then moved on further west.
Another group of settlers arrived and asked the same question: “What is the town like?”
The wise man would ask then again, “What was the town like where you came from?”
They responded, “It was wonderful! We had dear friends. Everyone looked out for one another’s interests. There was never any lack because all cared for one another. If someone had a big project, the entire community gathered to help. It was a hard decision to leave, but we felt compelled to make way for future generations by going west as pioneers.”
The wise old man said to them exactly what he had said to the previous group: “This town is the same as the one you left.”
These people responded with joy: “Let’s settle here!”
How they viewed their past relations were their scope for their future ones. Was it one of misery and failure, or was it one of happiness and success?
The way you view your world
To experience happiness in your life depends a lot on how you view your world. Your perspective can determine the outcome. The American author Anaïs Nin writes:
“We don’t see things as they are,
we see them as we are.”
What might mean happiness to you, can imply sadness for another person. Something you see as success, another person can write off as a failure.
Depression? What is depression really?
When you hear the word “depression”, you probably attach your own, unique meaning to the word and your concept thereof. .Each person forms a very distinct perspective about things. When hearing the word “depression”, one person will immediately think of the dark cloud of depression or today my forest is dark. Another will think of the big black hole of depression. Yet another will imagine a feeling of emptiness perhaps symbolised by the empty branches of a tree without any leaves or fruit.
One patient’s first words, with which he described his problem to me, were: ‘I feel very depressed. I’m hiding. I am withdrawing from the community.’ He associated his depression with social isolation. For me personally, depression has to do with feeling a sense of total abandonment and alienation. One can feel that people do no care anymore. This makes me feel as if my existence does not make a difference in their lives, which I am realizing is also only a perception. I’m dead to them and that tends me to feel dead inside. Depression is indeed the opposite of a feeling of being vibrantly alive.
Meanings associated with the word depression differ from person to person, because it is a human phenomenon: people’s perceptions about the same issues differ – so many people, so many perceptions. I believe that God created each person uniquely and therefore people will view the same things in different lights. Different meanings are attached to the same things. People can experience the same things on different levels. One person may perceive the dry branches of a tree picked up from a dry riverbed as a work of art to be showcased under a bright light, while another person can view the same dry branches as the pitty end or death of a once lively tree...One person will become depressed about the loss of the presence and attention of a significant other, who has disappeared from his/her life. Another person may have the need to be more independent, free and have more space. This person would be better off without the presence of that significant other . One woman becomes depressed because her career robs her of precious time with her children. Another thrives on the challenges offered to her by her career, as well as being a mother.
In this part of the blog – Move out from under the dark shadow of depression and anxiety - I would like to offer you psychological as well as spiritual perspectives on depression. This will be formulated and demonstrated not only in theory, but also from observation of patients in my practice during the past 24 years, people around me, and through myself. This should help you to become more aware of the symptoms of depression in yourself or others. After an awareness has settled in, the problem can be addressed, and you may be able to even help someone you know, in some of the ways I will suggest.
Please let me know: What meaning does a tree hold in for you and your emotional state?
Share something about your story and or relationship with trees.