tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post6350379961671997680..comments2024-02-11T18:16:53.445-08:00Comments on Janov's Reflections on the Human Condition: The Simple Truth is Revolutionary: What Lingers On (Part 1/2)Arthur Janovhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16709863014923629409noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-39613171743241728542016-04-15T09:52:34.541-07:002016-04-15T09:52:34.541-07:00Katherina, absolutely. artKatherina, absolutely. artArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-23322489306082228192016-04-15T07:14:27.324-07:002016-04-15T07:14:27.324-07:00Dear Paul
Had to look up the word 'aphorism...Dear Paul<br />Had to look up the word 'aphorism'. Glad I did ! :-) <br />Yeh they're not called 'needs' for nothing, they're called needs because our life depends on them . That's how important they are. I was thinking that the root cause of my problems must be something really complicated, and hence why it had eluded me and many specialists, all my life. So the thing that astonished me was how simple it all was. A simple need gone unfulfilled. Simple, but devastating when not understood. <br />K. Katherinaninahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16332073848086460414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-85589715164337581392016-04-15T03:25:13.959-07:002016-04-15T03:25:13.959-07:00Although Gary,
there are times when the things I ...Although Gary,<br /><br />there are times when the things I could have (& should have) done and didn't, haunt me and play over and over and over obsessively. . . And I think that goes all the way back to a drugged birth where I couldn't 'move'. Powerless to act, stuck in the birth canal. Many people I see fearful to act when their action could save the day. . . This is the modern New World Zeitgeist of 'caution' in the face of adversity but I reckon it has it's roots in people being stuck in the birth canal unable to or fearful to 'move', to act. Ultimately to help others out. . . Then later we are forced by repression to act out endlessly the tension between 'paralysis' and the need to move. There we have the 'stop / go' so prevalent in life. . . Widespread.<br /><br />Take care Gary.<br /><br />Paul G.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006514330039884557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-70708451998660685062016-04-14T19:38:17.654-07:002016-04-14T19:38:17.654-07:00Bill, what wonderful words. thanks so much. It ...Bill, what wonderful words. thanks so much. It will not be forgotten artArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-68812882622035473782016-04-14T17:12:44.394-07:002016-04-14T17:12:44.394-07:00This is your best written work so far Art - you ar...This is your best written work so far Art - you are getting better and better - this is written straight from the heart and every word counts - this is the stuff that will reach to the hearts of the people of the World. There's no clinical verbage (psychotherapy is an social-art rather than a clinical-science after all - and this point has to be understood by all and sundry)I have read all of your books - some many times over and lots of your blogs and articles. You are one of the World's greatest Materialist-Dialecticians and this is the field in which you truly excel and truly go unrecognised. You now hold the position where you are recognised in your own right as a person rather than a professional and so you have earned the right to talk about anything you like under the Sun and people will listen to you with respect and love. If you are talking - we are listening whether that's here or on the Tonight Show - go for it!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09743501332534825927noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-12879804469395210762016-04-14T04:31:10.282-07:002016-04-14T04:31:10.282-07:00That´s exactly how I feel when I see beautiful, fr...That´s exactly how I feel when I see beautiful, friendly kids being treated like dirt by their parents. They´re transforming something wonderful & precious into something sick and suffering, and the kids are helpless to do anything. As an adult, sometimes i stand up for myself or for children or animals when people make offensive remarks about or mistreat or neglect them, but just as often I do not. And when i do not I know i have betrayed my own self, my humanity, which is innately compassionate. I tell myself it´s because it´s just too much for me to confront someone every single time they step out of line. But in my heart i know I´m lying. I don´t make a stand because of my early pain. Someone i respect very much said something along the lines of "It´s not the times you kept your mouth shut and said nothing that you will remember with pride when you are old, but the times you made a stand for justice & what is right". Or something like that. Amen. GaryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-71802464802179561652016-04-13T00:19:34.516-07:002016-04-13T00:19:34.516-07:00Katherina,
-"it's not bad to need, it ju...Katherina,<br /><br />-"it's not bad to need, it just feels bad when our needs aren't met"-. . . <br /><br />And there's no harm in being reminded of that because we blame ourselves for the lack and that is torture no-one deserves. . .<br /><br />Thanks for the aphorism. . . Now I gotta go have my feelings too.<br /><br />P.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006514330039884557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-88751018127645793302016-04-13T00:13:16.179-07:002016-04-13T00:13:16.179-07:00-Except in writing excellent psychology books. Sti...-Except in writing excellent psychology books. Sticking to your principles, setting up and running a clinic AND school of psychology. . . Staying sane, fit & productive into your 90's. . . No, nothing extreme there, but maybe a tad ironic?<br /><br />Paul G.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006514330039884557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-14010699727676058442016-04-12T17:24:49.899-07:002016-04-12T17:24:49.899-07:00And my answer: Thanks so much and your are dead ri...And my answer: Thanks so much and your are dead right artArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-37483574185203660442016-04-12T17:24:17.182-07:002016-04-12T17:24:17.182-07:00An email comment: "Thanks Art for writing thi...An email comment: "<em>Thanks Art for writing this... <br /><br />Your childhood was dam bleak... Its a wonder you survived at all with even a semblance of sanity.. <br /><br />My guess is that if it wasn't for your dog things would have been a lot more crazy for you. The worst thing about having a father like thats the unpredictability of his actions, and you had no where else to turn so you had to take it. <br /><br />I remember a picture of you at the institute, ;your holding your dog. You seemed like a great kid. Its sad that your parents never really knew just how great you are. <br /><br />Best wishes... </em>"Arthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-34954195974038833842016-04-12T12:46:11.199-07:002016-04-12T12:46:11.199-07:00Richard: Yes but it helps to have it confirmed and...Richard: Yes but it helps to have it confirmed and thanks for taking the time to write. artArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-14001431771244242842016-04-12T12:44:58.318-07:002016-04-12T12:44:58.318-07:00Thanks Gary. How do any of us make it through, tha...Thanks Gary. How do any of us make it through, that is the question. artArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-711068503008109072016-04-12T12:43:06.521-07:002016-04-12T12:43:06.521-07:00I am not an extreme in anything. Don't ask me ...I am not an extreme in anything. Don't ask me why. artArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-32459999180751030452016-04-12T12:41:09.154-07:002016-04-12T12:41:09.154-07:00Thanks for the kind words Erik. artThanks for the kind words Erik. artArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-17782706154522289422016-04-11T15:46:24.519-07:002016-04-11T15:46:24.519-07:00I was very moved by this and other articles by Ar...I was very moved by this and other articles by Art Janov relating his personal life experiences. I think we can feel more empathy and liking for someone when they speak personally than when they express themselves solely through theory. The point of the theory of course is not to necessarily generate empathy for its author, but considering the depth and humanity of that Primal theory I personally still have always felt an immense respect for Janov despite not knowing much about him.One always wonders what travails exceptional innovators have gone through to create something apparently constructive for humanity despite all the crushing negative forces at work in the (in)human world.<br /><br />MarcoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-26105492845741816872016-04-11T15:41:44.477-07:002016-04-11T15:41:44.477-07:00Art,
Thanks for sharing this. This piece about yo...Art, <br />Thanks for sharing this. This piece about yourself is above any positive comment I can possibly make, it is just outstanding, invaluable and oh so inspiring. A universe apart from any other writings by any other writer.<br />Yep. So it is. Looking forward to more of the same, please.<br />Erik<br />Erik Lundholmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488110108743043969noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-52383731639706621762016-04-11T04:11:12.562-07:002016-04-11T04:11:12.562-07:00Art, let me explain.
You did not survive your c...Art, let me explain. <br /><br />You did not survive your childhood. No child could. You did not escape and remain sane as your beautiful admiring wife would suggest. And war did not give you sanity - it gave you hope, and it made you suffer in your insanity when the hope faded.<br /><br />Your parents had been completely divorced from you; they had forced you to be self-governing. That is the key to your success.<br /><br />That is why you did not seek explanations from text books when you saw a man primalling. You relied on your insane but independent self. And you started to escape your insanity when you started to feel. <br /><br />You see, it's no mystery at all but you already knew that.Richard Atkinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13587935146938446604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-52444977745383448952016-04-11T04:00:45.988-07:002016-04-11T04:00:45.988-07:00Art,
After 20 years, you escaped one madhouse, re...Art,<br /><br />After 20 years, you escaped one madhouse, rescued by "the evolution" and this experience helped you through next madhouse, WW2. Your superiors in the US military, the Navy, had the good taste to try out / discover your obvious talent and you were offered academic studies in psychology. Strengthened by the new knowledge did you get to the cuckoo's nests, number three and four, Hackers Psychiatric Clinic and Brent Woods Neuropsychiatric Hospital. <br /><br />In 1967, you found out of evidence of how repressed memories and feelings, under the right conditions, can be re-lived. More than one of us owe our lives to this paradigm shift in psychotherapy in which you have spent 50 years acting out your early pain. Even at age 90, and thereafter, evolution has made you able to demethylate, re-live and feel your primal madhouse-traumas.<br /><br />My own “madhouse” had no asphalt. It was an agricultural university dominated by repressed, well-educated professors, researchers, instructors, and administrators. Most families, for at least one of their members, had regular contacts with the asylums of those days. Instead of being insane, I, fortunately, developed epilepsy at 20, which resulted in that I developed an inner obsession to prioritize everything in my life to know why I had epilepsy. Your discovery became eventually my way.<br /><br />After my first primal 1980, turning a grand mal seizure into re-living my birth trauma, I developed excellent qualities for a crisis consultant and business leader and I was asked to take on more jobs than I could handle. Those were fascinating years and I managed to make a living, become sane and healthy and can look back on life with satisfaction and gratitude. Lots of pain to re-live, but what a gain to finally feel and understand how my life was put together / changed.<br /><br />Thank You so much! <br />Jan<br />Jan Åke Johnssonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15107966321155297159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-18551574877283462162016-04-11T03:42:17.884-07:002016-04-11T03:42:17.884-07:00Art: How you remained sane is one thing, but how y...Art: How you remained sane is one thing, but how you achieved what you did between 1965 and 1980ish is completely beyond me. Virtually every word you wrote describing your parents and their treatment of you could apply to a huge proportion of the rural Portuguese amongst whom I live. The look I see on the faces of massively deprived and despised young children here is best described by what Vivian Janov once wrote: "It is death". Generally the children of expats in Portugal run and play and scream quite freely, whilst those of the rural Portuguese - even by age 3 - are afraid, quiet, reluctant to play. I shudder to think of what these uneducated, unenlightened God-fearing Catholics do to their children, though what I have seen is cold, harsh, angry and often violent. The little "warmth" is not empathic and usually overemotional as if showering love on a cute puppy. the pre-school usually attended by 3-5 year olds is run by anxious-hysterical control freaks trying desperately to keep in check the eruption of what they apparently fear to be destructive mayhem in their charges. I´ve yet to meet any parent who questions the status quo. The motto in Portugal is "Tem que ser", roughly "That´s the way it has to be". It is a society based upon unthinking acceptance of authority. Teachers, doctors...are rarely questionned. You often see adults having conversations in which the phrase "The doctor said..." is repeated over and over, the doctor assumed to know everything, and the speaker nothing. The attitude verges on reverence, which I guess is inculcated very early in the psyche of the average rural Portuguese, even now, 2016, in the fear and guilt sermons of the Catholic priests. And yet, I cannot even imagine any of these people achieving anything like what you have, and your load of pain was at least as bad as the mean in Portugal. Gary Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-32671249221864852882016-04-11T03:36:43.477-07:002016-04-11T03:36:43.477-07:00Hi Gary,
anyone might think Art's an extreme ...Hi Gary,<br /><br />anyone might think Art's an extreme sympath, but, I dunno, I don't think so; Art?<br /><br />Paul G.Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02006514330039884557noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-39016222962698905082016-04-11T01:46:47.933-07:002016-04-11T01:46:47.933-07:00Art: You said "Blog". Do you mean "...Art: You said "Blog". Do you mean "Biog"?<br />I know so many people who feel terrible pain for abused & murdered animals, and it seems very real to me. Do you think it is nothing more than our own pain? GaryAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-13252071496661464662016-04-11T01:17:02.685-07:002016-04-11T01:17:02.685-07:00Loneliness!
Love is an imagination and has nowher...Loneliness!<br /><br />Love is an imagination and has nowhere to be!<br /><br />Life in it self flows on in an stream away from its beeing. To know is to much of suffering... to feel is to painful and there is no other place to be!<br /><br />I am where i ones were... I am like a bark boat that nothing else has but to follow the stream for where I ones where... where I am. <br /><br />I am where I where in a stream of nowhere... not a thought gives me hope!<br /><br />I ring the bell to a locked door for how long it ever lasts!<br /><br />FrankFrankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02242354226308728116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-40924730466223898412016-04-10T16:04:02.429-07:002016-04-10T16:04:02.429-07:00Thank you Katherina.
Yes, no one can tell you ho...Thank you Katherina. <br /><br />Yes, no one can tell you how to live. We have to find that out for ourselves through feeling. It is through feeling that one finds oneself. <br /><br />In an earlier blog you said that you had a birth that was uncomplicated, satisfying and not traumatic. And that it was the after birth that was traumatic where the midwives took you away from your mother. Your mother wasn’t there to hold you. So sad that she didn’t take you immediately and keep you close to her. She had worked so hard to give birth to you. Her reward at the end is to hold her beautiful baby close and love and cherish her.<br /><br />Jean <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-38777778200780271392016-04-10T11:33:52.682-07:002016-04-10T11:33:52.682-07:00Your asphalt flower, ayayay. artYour asphalt flower, ayayay. artArthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3420173096635836108.post-24303946562356852982016-04-10T11:30:19.271-07:002016-04-10T11:30:19.271-07:00An email comment:
"Dear Art and France,
You ...An email comment:<br /><em>"Dear Art and France,<br /><br />You are amazing. I wonder if harsh conditions sometimes yield the greatest inspirations? Or is it that the core reality, the optimistic survival core of human beings is inspired to act when challenged and not too much overwhelmed? Where do you think your strength came from? Generations past perhaps? I am trying to feel my helplessness the depths of it seem devastating with lots of compounding. Yet, because of your efforts and writings and influences I have some small hope. Thank you for that!<br />"</em>Arthur Janovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18009571728800026496noreply@blogger.com