Good news from Finland at last a volume from the author of Pickpocket in a Nudist Camp. There is no such thing as a perfect childhood. Where circumstances are subverted, promises are broken, expectations are dashed the balance is lost. Here are stories selected from over 300 contributions showing how it is possible to win out. Our past is a story we can tell ourselves in many different ways. This book suggests how to turn the past into a powerful resource. "It's never too late to have a happy childhood. I don't think we ever lose our childlike eyes, really. In fact, it's when we deny their curiosity and desire for growth and learning that we become our troubled past. Then we allow it to lead us through troubled lives with excuses of why we 'can't.' The key to a more fulfiling life may not be in searching for stress relievers, happiness or peace, but in placing ourselves in the environments that encourage childlike joy." Ben Furman is the co-author (with Tapani Ahola) of Pickpockets in a Nudist Camp and Solution Talk: Hosting Therapeutic Conversations. |