Advice

[click "Play" to hear Dr. Hokemeyer's conversation with Susan]

 

By Dr Paul Hokemeyer

Dr. Paul Hokemeyer Dr. Hokemeyer is a nationally recognized expert on Eastern philosophies, relationships, and emotional healing. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, he holds a PhD in psychology, as well as a doctorate in the law. A part-time Telluride resident, Dr. Hokemeyer is based in the New York City office of the Caron Treatment Centers. He is also a weekly contributor to "The Dr. Oz Show," CNN’s "Headline News," and other media outlets, including "Good Morning America," "truTV," and "Oprah Radio." His new column, Shrink Rap, is scheduled to appear at least bi-monthly on Thursdays on Telluride Inside... and Out.

Albert Einstein gave us what has become the pop definition of insanity: "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." No place to point the finger but at yourself if you find yourself involved with the same type of person over and over again despite the fact these relationships always tank.

August 18 to 25, 2011   Visible Planets: Morning: Mars and Jupiter    Evening: Saturn

The Edge of Precipice Between the Natural and Virtual Worlds

Maya pyramid Lately I’ve been noticing the radical edge of precipice where the natural world meets up with the one we have come to know as the virtual world. One we can touch, feel and smell, even eat. It sustains us physically and provides us with food, materials for shelter and clothing, gifts us with rain, sunsets and seasons. The other we view with our eyes and experience with our brains. Via information, imagery and mental perception, we travel to places and spaces that could previously be accessed only through art, imagination or magic. Today it’s the invisible land of business and commerce, social and professional networking, communication and education. The World Wide Web – the spider’s web of Native American prophecies, the predicted Aquarian Age of information, technology and knowledge – all in a wink, all with a click.  Evolution and revolution, together in the here and now, clashing and slashing in a contest of what’s real and what is not.

August 11 to 18, 2011

Visible Planets: Morning: Mars and Jupiter Evening: Saturn

Leo/Aquarius Full Moon Love and Joi de Vivre

Lovers There are two Leo/Aquarius full Moons each year – one when the Sun is in Leo (Jul./Aug.) and one when the Sun is in Aquarius (Jan./Feb.) These lunations take place in the middle of summer and winter, respectively, when electromagnetic forces peak and seasonal energies surge. I often call these the two full Moons “party Moons” because they are filled with the strong, passionate power of the Leo/Aquarius polarity – strength of heart in both the individual and collective psyche – and the manifestations are found in every home, brothel, bar and bedroom; on the street, in the country, on the field, in the garden, at the theatre and in the galleries. We feel the desire to laugh and play, connect with others and indulge in fun and frolic, kiss and hug, toss and tumble. This is the time to celebrate life - in all its guts and glory - to love it like a lover and enjoy each and every precious moment of living and breathing here on this beautiful planet Earth.

[click "Play" to hear Dr. Hokemeyer's discussion with Susan]

 

By Dr. Paul Hokemeyer

Dr. Paul Hokemeyer Dr. Hokemeyer is a nationally recognized expert on Eastern philosophies, relationships, and emotional healing. A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, he holds a PhD in psychology, as well as a doctorate in the law. A part-time Telluride resident, Dr. Hokemeyer is based in the New York City office of the Caron Treatment Centers. He is also a weekly contributor to "The Dr. Oz Show," CNN’s "Headline News," and other media outlets, including "Good Morning America," "truTV," and "Oprah Radio." His new column, Shrink Rap, is scheduled to appear at least bi-monthly on Thursdays on Telluride Inside... and Out.

From the bra-burning days of the early feminists, what's really changed? Is life out from under a pile of laundry or flour all that women imagined it would be? Is being a 21st-century mom a whole lot better than life as Mrs. Cleaver? From my vantage point as a family therapist, maybe not so much

August 4 to 11, 2011   Visible Planets: Morning: Mars and Jupiter  Evening: Saturn

Dancing Divas and Laughing Lions

Tomatoes We experience the exact point of mid-summer on the cross-quarter day of August 7th this week, marking the halfway point between summer solstice and autumn equinox. This is when we notice the days are growing shorter, high country leaves begin to change and a wistful fragrance of summer’s end is in the air.

Here in the West End, emerald pastures are now touched with gold, tall grasses have gone to seed and fields lacking irrigation glow a bright platinum blonde. Azure bluebirds feast on fluttering butterflies and hummingbirds suck nectar from wherever they can find it. Cumulous clouds tower above deep blue horizons and snowfields still dot the mountain peaks. Brilliant yellow sunflowers sway in the breeze, tomatoes ripen, zinnias blossom and roses bloom. Olathe sweet corn is on the table and Paonia peaches are approaching harvest. Fruit stands are popping up along the roadside, filled with melons, peppers and beans.

July 28 to August , 2011     Visible Planets: Morning: Mars and Jupiter  Evening: Saturn

 2012 Mayan End Times: Hubris or Humility?

122-doomsday2012 I’ve been thinking about 2012. It’s loaded, it’s wild, it’s awesome to know that there’s a collective force at work – the collective consciousness of an ancient prophecy coming to fruition - the long awaited Mayan end times.

I remember back to one day in the '90s – before the millennium turn and the predicted chaos of Y2K – when I was driving out of Telluride toward Lawson Hill with one of my editors. We were talking about how time seemed to have speeded up, how it felt as if the pavement beneath us was moving at a velocity much faster than the car traveling upon it. It was a kind of gravity free, out-of-body sensation, like flying through space at warp speed, meteors and galaxies whizzing by.

July 21 to 28, 2011

Visible Planets: Morning: Mars and Jupiter   Evening: Mercury and Saturn

The Mid-Summer Leo Heart of Soul and Spirit

Leo As the Sun moves into Leo and we approach the annual cross-quarter mark of mid-summer, I can’t help but feel the intense vibrations of the Mother Earth. Life is a mystery, its magic and magnificence is everywhere. And the full-on vibrancy of the Leo sun-time brings it on full- force. Heart-centered, courageous, strong of will and full-of-life, the Leo archetype - symbolized by the proud and powerful Lion – is a typically masculine or yang energy that creates, excites and pursues. A fixed fire-sign, ruled by the Sun and characterized by romantic dreams, inspirational faith and optimistic generosity, it is where and when we feel and follow our hearts - guided by the pure, essential spirit, force and power of love. Loyal, childlike, creative, affectionate and fun, Leo energy is the self-centered ego and will - the heart of soul and spirit – that requires attention and is fueled by recognition. Seasonally, it is the height of summer’s glory – flowers blossom and fruits ripen – we can see, smell, feel, touch and taste nature’s awesome creative, regenerative, productive power.

July 14 to 21, 2011

Visible Planets: Morning: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter   Evening: Saturn

The Incandescent Flush of Purple and Gold of Spirit

“Throughout my whole life, during every moment I have lived, the world has gradually been taking on light and fire for me, until it has come to envelop me in one mass of luminosity, glowing from within…The purple flush of matter fading imperceptibly into the gold of spirit, to be lost finally in the incandescence of a personal universe…” Pierre Tielhard de Chardin 

Delph&clem2 I love the full-bloom blossom of “high” summer. Luscious shades of green, fragrant roses and magnificent wildflowers make the days and weeks from mid-July to mid-August some of the most vibrant and delightful of the year. Meadows kissed with golds and blondes, glades of fluttering, lime-colored aspen and gardens bursting with kaleidoscope reds, blues and yellows open my heart to Mother Nature’s awesome power and grace. I am reminded that life’s most inspirational, transformational moments come at times of communion with mystical forces and mysterious sources; energies far greater and more powerful than I.

[click "Play", Dr. Paul Hokemeyer talks about parenting]

 

By Dr. Paul Hokemeyer

Dr. Paul Hokemeyer (Editor's note: After a pause to refresh, Telluride Inside... and Out's favorite shrink returns with his every other week column: Shrink Rap. Welcome back, Dr. Paul.)

In my psychotherapy practice I treat lots of adolescents and their parents. One of the changes I’ve observed over the past five years is how dismissive and disrespectful children have become. I attribute this increased lack of respect to the displacement of traditional, human manners with manners learned through the world of technology. Remember the computer from "2001: A Space Odyssey?" Assuming the answer is "yes," is HAL  – or  his digital spawn – raising your kids or are you?