There is a tradition on the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy blog. Every Monday, I cite a quote or a poem that is related to mindfulness and psychotherapy in some way and then explore it a bit and how it is relevant to our lives. For me, quotes and poetry can often sink me into a state of greater understanding. So for today, here is a quote by Kahlil Gibran from his writing On Joy and Sorrow:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

In the past few years there’s been a big push on “Happiness” and how to get there. If you follow my blog, you know that I frequently reference and even at times review books in the self-development field. Where a lot of these books miss the boat is in the very wisdom of Gibran’s words.

He continues:

Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Today I bring back Dr. Daniel Siegel to talk with us how to use Mindsight to work with our fears. If you missed his earlier interviews, you may want to check out The Power of Mindsight and Mindsight and Blue Man Group. Dan received his medical degree from Harvard University and completed his postgraduate medical education at UCLA with training in pediatrics and child, adolescent and adult psychiatry. He is the co-editor of a handbook of psychiatry and the author of numerous articles, chapters, and the internationally acclaimed text The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are. He has also published a wonderful book on parenting with Mary Hartzell, M.Ed., Parenting From the Inside Out. His breakout book in the field of mindfulness is The Mindful Brain, which explores the application of this newly emerging view of the mind, the brain, and human relationships. His newest book, which I am thrilled about, is Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation.

Dan has been invited to work with some esteemed people as a result of their interest in his work including: the U.S. Department of Justice, The Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family, Microsoft and Google, early intervention programs and a range of clinical and research departments worldwide. He has been invited to lecture for the King of Thailand, Pope John Paul II, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

There are truly some people out there doing some amazing work. Dan Pink used to be Al Gore’s speechwriter, but now he is a career analyst helping companies redefine what motivates their executives and employees. If you haven’t ever checked out TED talks, they’re worth getting into. Not all of them will “roll your socks up and down,” as my wife says, but you may find many of them really illuminating.

In this talk, Dan Pink discusses the secret behind what motivates us. In my past career, I was in sales and management, and the companies always provided heavy financial incentives and trips for doing well. Dan Pink says this is a less effective way of helping you approach your life to get the job done.

There is a tradition on the Mindfulness and Psychotherapy blog. Every Monday, I cite a quote or a poem that is related to mindfulness and psychotherapy in some way and then explore it a bit and how it is relevant to our lives. For me, quotes and poetry can often sink me into a state of greater understanding.

This is a special day as it marks the release of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook. So, I’m going to begin with something from the book. We open up A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook with a very appropriate poem by Mary Oliver, entitled “The Journey”:

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice—

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

“Mend my life!”

each voice cried.