In the continuing saga of Miss Sun and Mr. Moon, Mr. Moon regales Miss Sun with his traumatic psychic-cosmic origins. This poignat tale sheds light on Mr. Moon's seeming clairvoyance when it comes to both being trapped by and, ultimately, transcending dysfunctional systems.
Miss Sun and Mr. Moon IV: The Origin of Dysfunction
In the previous segment, Miss Sun has informed Mr. Moon that she is not ready to elope, soular fuse and create a new soular system with her celestial suitor. After emailing the Stress Doc, Miss Sun, with the help of that bio- engineering, holographic and cloning wizard, the Cyber Doc, intends to fulfill her personal ambition: to come down to earth and prove her stellar nature, not just in the heavens but also in Planet Hollywood. Our lunar lover, at first crestfallen, eventually understands the need for self-exploration and actualization. In fact, Mr. Moon volunteers to share both his troubled past and his process of rejuvenation, including a mystical-like experience, that may help illuminate Miss Sun's proposed risk-taking path. (For copies of the first two segments, email stressdoc@aol.com .)
Risky Fusion
"Where shall I begin, Miss Sun," thought Mr. Moon out loud. "I suppose at the beginning…The birth of my galactic system was solar, not soular. It was a traumatic, no, make that catastrophic, affair. There was a perilous imbalance between the active-receptive energy fields between the "Cosmic Force" and the "Cosmic Object." (Narrator's Note: While the Cosmic Force will be referred to as he and the Cosmic Object as she, traditional labels of masculine and feminine do not apply. All intergalactic bodies have a mixture of and potential for the aggressive-controlling "Power Mode" and the receptive- nurturing "Empathy Mode." Of course, there are personality and inter- celestial "species" differences along with situational contexts that tip the active-receptive scales. In the cosmos, the theory of relativity, not the illusion of black and white Earthly rigidity, prevails. Intergalactic autonomy and soular interconnection yield the dynamic psychic-cosmic balance. And let me continue with the narrative in which Mr. Moon enveloped Miss Sun.)
The Cosmic Force had not sufficiently developed and harnessed his integrity, power and energy balance. He had many psychic-cosmic gaps in his inflated ego and his self-awareness, practical knowledge and maturity level. He had not performed many successful intergalactic mini fusions. Even his attempt at producing meteors and asteroids had malfunctioned or had to be abandoned. Alas, he was not ready to participate in nor prepared to assume the responsibility for a fusion experience.
The Object, while more psycho-cosmically mature than her mating partner, still had some of her own self-delusional tendencies. She felt her superior strength and energy would prevail and would carry them through. The Force's talk and boastful nature seduced her, too. She also was concerned about her cosmic clock. Time was running out for having a soular fusion experience. So The Force and The Object traveled to the hallowed and hollowed breeding ground, that vast blank yet dark cosmic canvas in the farther reaches of space - the fertile force field - to stage their cosmic connection.
And the disastrous results were all too predictable. When united, The Force was practically swallowed whole by the compelling and consuming Object. Fears of annihilation so terrified The Force; it was like being stripped of all self-control. He experienced being submerged in a black hole and then held down. The Force felt he could not breathe. And when terrified, one forgets that celestial bodies do have the capacity for sustained breathing even in the darkest of holes for a considerable time period. The Force's tumultuous thrashing and desperate attempts to escape this symbiotic state were now threatening The Object's physical integrity and safety.
Because of the titanic convulsion induced by imbalance in their cosmic essence and ebb and flow, The Object began chaotically spewing immature elements both of The Force and her own nature, as well as their joint fusion. Being in a premature and underdeveloped state, the elements were ejected far and wide outside the fertile force field. Instead of the formation of a new standard soular system, a more scattered, erratic and weakened galactic force field was created. An unusual number of cosmic bodies randomly and dangerously streaked in and out of the system. No stable and orderly nexus of sun and orbiting planets, moons and other celestial bodies ever coalesced. There was no cosmic force, no gravitational glue, keeping the system components aligned and providing a sense of their natural roles and responsibilities in the celestial family system.
A Cosmically Dysfunctional Family System
While the resultant Mother Sun (MS) was the most consistent presence, she too was left enervated by the erupted fusion experience. And the solar systems' planetary offspring of The Force had also been compositionally compromised. My Primary Planet (PP) always felt the burden of having been sourced by an immature Force. There was a defuse feeling of primal shame. Also, my PP was often burned by an inability to maintain healthy boundaries with his solar mate. Of course, MS, in her needy deenergized state would foreshorten other bodies' orbits. At times she tried to siphon off celestial energy, or she needed others close by to distract from her own emptiness and post-traumatic fusion pain. When PP could orbit far enough away from his sun mate, he seemed to need time to be alone, to tend to his PTBB (Post Traumatic Big Bang) wounds and cacophony inner voices.
Perhaps the soular family member I felt closest to was Uncle Moon. For years, while thrown into a different unstable galaxy by the aborted Big Bang, he would periodically orbit into our system and visit. Somehow Uncle Moon seemed less scarred than the others. He showed me how to play moonball and how to adjust to or compensate for an erratic gravitational force field, whether with an inconsistent or detached Primary Planet or an anxious Mother Sun. He was my model moon. But then he found a traveling solar system to hook up with. He moved to a faraway galaxy, and I didn't see him too often. I understood why he needed to settle into a more functional solar system. But I really felt sad and lonely; I missed so much my Uncle Moon.
Supposedly I had a brother. But we never had a chance to be very close. He also traveled in different orbits and systems. And, of course, there were dangerous asteroids and meteors constantly streaking through our unstable system. MS and PP just seemed to be bombarded right form the start. There was this constant background dread. The system was on the verge of exploding; we were on the verge of totally breaking up or flying apart. I don't know if that was absolutely true. Childhood memories are easily exaggerated by one's sense of smallness and vulnerability around the greater solar bodies. I do know that I was a very frightened little moon pie for a long time. Mr. Moon's eyes began to water and he seemed to gaze longingly into the depths of space. He regained his composure and continued.
This went on for many eons. And as I physically matured, I did learn to reflect most of the phases of the moon. But I could never quite reach my luminous potential. I never was able to be a full moon. As a young adult moon, I often tried fusing with mid-size meteors to fill my craters of emptiness and erase pockmarks of inadequacy. In hindsight, I probably had been depressed for a long time. This depressive condition, in all likelihood, also constricted my range of luminosity. And of course my casual fusion attempts never had the desired result. In hindsight, I was repeating the self-defeating scenario of my progenitor, Cosmic Force. You recall how he also tried to soular fuse prematurely.
The Astral Connection
Then, one day, I encountered Astral, an experienced asteroid, who seemed to see through both my luminous persona and my shadows and darkness. She confronted my seemingly compulsive need to fuse with almost any celestial body that came along. She asserted with celestial conviction that what I needed didn't come from some external and casual mini-bang. I couldn't simply absorb a more powerful sun, planet or meteor's energy to make me whole. I was retarding my intergalactic evolution by being so celestially codependent. To become a full moon I must confront my past, especially with Mother Sun and Primary Planet. I would need to harness genuinely my aggressive and gravitational energy, establish healthy celestial boundaries and vital intersystem force fields. I had to start exercising my moonbeam muscle. And, of course, to learn to flow and glow with a variable nature. Actually, it was Astral who helped me realize that even a cyclical, bipolar condition of depression and moonia could be advantageous to a psychic-cosmic body that must continually wax and wane.
Anyway, Astral said I should set up an appointment with the IIPTBBD - the Intergalactic Institute for Post-Traumatic Big Bang Disorder. Miss Sun, who had been listening as if in a trance, suddenly flared up and asked, "So did you?"
Alas, readers, we are running out of time and space. The answer to such a vital question must wait until our next (Friday) edition. Until then, of course…Practice Safe Stress!
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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.)