The Stress Doc reflects on his recent transitional vacation - going from Summer to Fall and East to West while escaping DC's conservative political theatre. Better to embrace LA's creative theatrical professionals. And now he's dreaming about a favorite '60s group.

Falling In/Falling Out

My recent trip to the Southwest and West Coast, reminds me that Fall has always meant renewal and giving thanks. Maybe it was a penchant for ending relationships in the summer and for starting afresh in the Autumn. Hope doesn't just Spring; it also falls and flutters. And like the Autmun leaves, my friendships have often been fiery yet, alas, short-lived. As I once penned in Fallout:

As the hot air lingers... The downfall of New Orleans: A friendship changes season.

The summer passion fading A coolness in the air. For the moment The change of colors is a drab Mix-up of mellow and melancholy.

Thank God for cycles!

Actually, my years in New Orleans, with it's drawn out summer and lack of Fall color, often left me seasonally deprived. But not this year; I'm seasonally piqued.

Westward Ah

My trip was sparked by a conference planner in Phoenix discovering my website and eventually asking me to kickoff an addictions conference. Well, if I'm in easy driving distance of one of the most beautiful places I know - Sedona, AZ - then mixing business and pleasure is a no brainer.

Sedona overwhelms you with it's larger than life landscapes -- ever-present majestic red-green-cream rock formations. There's the starkly beautiful desert terrain with surprisingly colorful flora and fauna. And then the contrast of Oak Creek Canyon. Just ten miles north, the Canyon boasts sheer, multicolored skyscraper high rock faces, towering pine trees, rushing water that must be traversed frequently by carefully hopping across rocks. One descends deeper and deeper into the forest; the rock faces of the canyon progressively converging. There's a feeling both of claustrophobia and a state of glorious oneness. Maybe the heart of darkness and lightness are closer than we believe.

Of course, you start getting a little "woo woo" in this place. (Twilight Zone music would be fading in if this was a radio broadcast.) Sedona with it's supposed mystical, enlightening Vortex energy centers does attract it's believers in the metaphysical. Some guy at our Bed and Breakfast was proselytizing how getting true enlightenment was a fairly simple undertaking. He had the gift and was able to pass along his spiritual transcendence to others. A few simple steps were required -- letting go of the past, accepting one's body and learning how to tune into the cosmic source. I must confess I get impatient with gurus who have a patented formula for spiritual transformation. After raising some basic questions which, of course, were dismissed with, "One day, perhaps you will be prepared to understand that which I am sharing," I ruminated quietly. In these situations, I draw inspiration from the words of French novelist, Andre Gide: "One must allow others to be right...It consoles them for not being anything else."

California Dreamin

Alas, Sedona was short-lived. Onto LA after only two days. I was connecting with a new and old friend. The new was a woman with whom I have been communicating regularly for the past six months, primarily in cyberspace. She's an aspiring comic and actress. We even had shared performance videos. Still, meeting in person is a surreal experience for which no video can truly prepare you. I think we were on an emotional roller coaster, highs and lows quickly unfold. There's insufficient time to make sense of and process all the feelings and ideas that have been built up over months in a few hours face to face. Suddenly it/we are unleashed; it's almost too real. And yet, something connects, sustains...and hope (not just hype) does spring eternal.

In contrast, and without the romantic haze, with my friend of ten years, who I haven't seen in five or six, it's easy to pick up where we left off as friends and colleagues. In fact, she unexpectedly asked me to lead a workshop for her staff. She runs a headhunter business for lawyers and paralegals. The workshop energy and rapport was great. Met sharp folks -- by day headhunters and administrators, by night actors and stage managers.

Maybe it's too many years in bureaucratic, politically correct yet witchhunting Washington, DC. The places and people of LA burned bright and touched me, in all my senses. I'm more than ready to trade Starr power for star power. To play upon Sam Goldman's email observation: "Better LaLa Land than Lewinsky Land." (Though Monica's presence looms over both coasts.) My acting friend reminded me, predatory sexual behavior hardly begins and ends in the White House. Hollywood's casting couch reputation is well-deserved.

So from nature to human nature. As well as the new Getty Museum nestled in layers in the Santa Monica Mountains, which demonstrated that human nature -- elegantly simple, spacious and airy human architecture amidst the natural splendor of mountains -- can be a synergistic achievement not an adversarial conception. So, maybe I'm a few decades behind, but these days, Mamas and Papas, I'm humming your number. And, of course...Practice Safe Stress!

Mark Gorkin, "The Stress Doc," Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is a nationally recognized speaker, workshop leader and author on stress, reorganizational change, anger, team building, creativity and humor. He is also the internet's and the nation's leading "Psychohumorist." The Stress Doc is a columnist for the popular cyber-newsletter, Humor From The Edge -- HUMOR FROM THE EDGE HOME PAGE . Mark is also the "Online Psychohumorist" for the major AOL mental health resource network, Online Psych -- ONLINE PSYCH: THE STRESS DOC and Financial Services Journal Online. And he is an offline writer for two mental health/substance abuse publications -- Treatment Today and Paradigm Magazine. His motto: Have Stress? Will Travel: A Smart Mouth for Hire! Reach "The Doc" at (202) 232-8662, email: Stress Doc@aol.com, or check out his "Hot Site" website: http://www.stressdoc.com or click STRESS DOC HOMEPAGE. (The site was selected as a USA Today Online "Hot Site" and designated a four-star, top- rated site by Mental Health Net.)

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