Science and the Mystic

I could write to you about the nighttime mountain air, the rapids over rocky streams, each ripple and eddy a study in chaos, complexity, and the intricate order of all things, even the most seemingly chaotic. I could write about the deep beauty of being with Mommy and Daddy, seeing the loving way they were welcomed at this year's Banff International Quartet Competition. They are regulars, and are loved. I could tell about the vibrant young energy of the quartet playing in the lobby, or of the woodland view from Mommy and Daddy's room. I could tell you that Daddy is turning over a new leaf and taking on a project. I could tell you the white downy bedsheets at the log cabin in Lake Louise and this cozy feeling of return to a place where we loved each other so well when we were young, and love each other an older, more accepting, love, now that we are older. But tonight I will tell you about the book I am reading. Daddy is practicing a most strenuous form of reading. I have often over the years tried "Read a page, Write a page" letting the words I read serve as a diving point into the clear alpine lakes of my own writing voice. But this method is different. It varies from summarizing each paragraph, to Daddy's current work of meticulously selecting quotations from the book that may convey in brief the main ideas in the text. The book I am gulping hungrily is Imagery for Pain Relief, by David Pincus and Anees A.Sheikh. I can't explain the years long allure to me of any writings about imagery, metaphor, ways of seeing. Poetic Medicine by David Fox is a favourite of mine. Here is the paragraph in imagery for Pain Relief that launched me into opening this dear old blog again, here in Lake Louise. A sort of call and response. "In the age of space travel and 100-year life spans, how did we end up becoming such strangers to our ancient, familiar, and universal companion, pain? The answer lies in the history of our relationship to pain, to healing, and to some unfortunately overblown assumptions of the scientific revolution such as mind-body dualism and reductionism." More in a moment, as I read on.