[Friday Flow #26] Peace, priests, prestige
Hey, happy new year!
I’m back from my two-week holiday and ready to rock 2021, although as it turns out the year is already in full swing, between fresh news about Covid and news from the US.
So what’s on the menu?
✌🏾 Peace in our time
🛋 Thera-priests (archive)
😎 Prestige (Proverb)
✌🏾 Peace in our time
I spent much of Christmas thinking about what peace means, and I thought it made a great start to the new year.
When you hear the word peace, what first comes to mind? A still lake? Or a sense of calm within?
What if I told you those long before us thought of peace as something around us—as more relational than emotional. And I believe the way we’ve come to see it has serious implications for how we think about mental health.
This came together for me last Christmas while reflecting on the holiday spirit.
The idea of peace within couldn’t be more appealing after the turbulent year that was 2020…
Continue reading it here:
🛋 Thera-priests (archive)
In this week’s essay I linked to an older essay about how therapists serve for us today as priests used to:
In confession, the priest sits behind a screen while the parishioner opens up about where they have messed up since their last time at confession. The screen, and the knowledge that the priest was subject to a vow of confidentiality, enables the parishioner to feel more at ease. Both facilitate a one-way vulnerability: you’re vulnerable with the priest, but not vice versa—any wish of the priest to confess must be directed to another priest.
Read the rest here: https://docayomide.com/therapy/
😎 Prestige (proverb)
Recent events in the US brought this proverb to mind:
He who loses his prestige will not regain it by going where he is unknown.
Basically, whatever makes a person throw away their reputation is very likely within them, and simply running away won’t change it.
I’ll leave you with the words of a prayer from the 90th Psalm, may this year bring good for all the terrible we’ve had.
Once again, a truly happy new year, to you and yours.
Doc Ayomide