Comments on: Joseph Campbell

By: Barbara

Barbara — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:20:05 +0000

This is so true. Lifes biggest lesson.
How I loved watching Joseph Campbell with my favorite Bill Moyers. Couldn’t wait for each new episode.
I’ve done my best to “Follow My Bliss” ever since.

By: Barbara

Barbara — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:12:09 +0000

Sorry responding to Sincerely, Susan.
May23 10:39

By: Barbara

Barbara — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:08:57 +0000

How beautifully you write.
Your words are like music.
I hear a french or european accent.

By: Sabrina

Sabrina — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 04:29:13 +0000

Dear Jane, I so appreciate this Joseph Campbell quote. In my life, the hardest losses–including the death of my younger son 12 years ago–changed me and my life’s path profoundly. I think of the grief journey as a path from deepest grief to joy.

At age 51 I am in doctoral school studying counseling psychology. I plan to research the concept of resilience in bereaved parents for my dissertation. What fascinates me is how some individuals grow and blossom after huge losses and crises, yet others get stuck or never allow themselves to feel the grief. I hope to study how the individuals in a couple differ in resilience and how that affects their marriages after the loss of a child.

Thank you for your website, which I discovered tonight after watching “On Golden Pond” with my 19-year-old son. Believe it or not, we watched the movie while sitting in our family’s 70=year-old cabin on Lake Champlain, our own version of Golden Pond, in Vermont! And earlier today we were trout-fishing! It has long been one of my favorite films but my son had never seen it until tonight. A perfect night for it. Thank you.

Warmly,
Sabrina

By: Lisa Lilienstein

Lisa Lilienstein — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:25:03 +0000

Hi Jane…Didn’t know Nietzche lived this philosopy. I think because I do look at life in this way…I’ve not only
survived but have also loved my life. Ernest Hemingway said something like (not verbatim) “Life has a way of getting us in the end”. And Tennessee Williams said something to the effect of…The sensitive don’t fail, they’re destroyed. I think this way of thinking
might be the perfect defense against being “gotten” and being “destroyed”. I do understand what they
both were saying, though. In my own life I’ve survived
some pretty heartbreaking and difficult times…and I do think it’s largely because of looking at life in this way.
I also think this perspective gives us a way to preserve some of our innocence and vulnerability…giving us a way of surviving life with grace. Think it’s great you’re
sharing this on your blog!

By: Jane

Jane — Sun, 24 May 2009 04:02:44 +0000

Dear Susan, your questions about maintaining a relationship with the ex and putting your psyche back together are profound. I don’t mean to be self-serving, but my memoirs, “My Life So Far” addresses some of this. Onward! Jane

By: Susan Von Der Haar

Susan Von Der Haar — Sat, 23 May 2009 14:49:33 +0000

May 22, 2009
Subject: If you don’t ask, you will never know.
Dear Ms. Fonda:
I was touched by your candid talk on May 11 at Place des Arts in Montreal. Your intelligence radiates and your sensitivity towards men and women was a welcome breeze in a climate that can be rather black and white in regards to women and men.
I have been separated from my husband for 18 months. At the time I left my husband we had shared a marriage and life together for 32 years. He continues to say he did not reject me, never expected to not be married to me and I was a great wife. Without doubt, he is being honest. He left because I asked him to leave and ultimately for himself. I left because I discovered he was having an affair. We continue to care for each other, but of course it still hurts. Not surprisingly, his life on the surface did not appear to change appreciably while mine totally changed.
Sadly at first, and still sad in other ways, I do not anticipate reconciliation. However, one moves forward in life and I am trying to find the wisdom to create a relationship with him in what often can be a disposable world. In this regard, I am interested in knowing more about the evolution of your self following dramatic change? The Q & A period following your talk did not capitalize on the opportunity to explore this deeper.
I have been a psychotherapist for 26 years and both my pride and heart were broken when I discovered my husband was having an affair. In the past months, my life totally changed, but change has also brought insight and opportunity.
As I started this short letter, I will end. You can reply yes or you can reply no, but at least you will decide and I will not assume the answer.
p.s. on a light note. Philippe is French from Paris and never lost his charming accent or love for women.
Sincerely, Susan

By: Hannah Castellaw

Hannah Castellaw — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:59:12 +0000

I love taking care of my mother who is in late-stage Alzheimer’s Disease. It is hard, exhausting, frustrating,heart-breaking, rewarding, beautiful, touching, magical and it has taught me that the most powerful force in the world is love. It allows you to find strength within yourself that you never could even imagine to do things you never thought you could. And love transcends the ravages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Love or the memory of it does not exist in the brain.

By: Crys

Crys — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:12:45 +0000

I love this. Nothing is more true of my personal life than this piece.

I am living the life I have always wanted after suffering a month of horrible-things in Nov 2007. 21 days of hell. Had I not been so terribly low, there is no way I would have had the strength and courage to completely try something different and pursue a career path that I have always wanted.

Not sure how my ride will last… but its’ 18 months and counting.