Mountain Vision

I just want to thank you for Mountain Vision. My husband is having major surgery in a couple of weeks and I find myself searching for mental escapes in all which ways. I work and have house to take care of, plus anxiety about him and his care for the next few months. Anyway, Mountain Vision gave me a Real Lift! There is magic in those words.

Mountain Vision

by Mark Gorkin, LICSW, "The Stress Doc"

A few months after a hiking vacation in the Smoky Mountains, I began to write an inner visualization/poetic lyric about my spiritual connection with mountains. I had a few lines, mostly capturing a physical presence - sculpted peaks (actually, more The Matterhorn and The Grand Tetons than The Smokys) green valleys, ice blue streams, etc. I decided to show the initial sketch to a friend who dabbled in songwriting. He liked what he read but bluntly suggested, "Throw in a relationship." "A relationship?," I cried out. "This is my ode to nature, to the purity of spirit, to the great mystery." I didn't want to sully the work's essence with something as mundane as a relationship!

Of course, I was being defensive. (Can't remember if I was in a relationship at the time.) Gradually, his challenge crawled under my mental block and started gnawing at my heart and mind. While initially disoriented, his remark actually motivated me to grapple with a more complex and, ultimately, more meaningful creative problem: the parallels between climbing a mountain and building a loving bond. "Mountain Vision" was and is the answer:

Close your eyes for a journey A deep breath to unwind Now contemplate a mountain The mountain of your mind.

Sculpted peaks, green valleys The rush of ice blue streams Sway to the cosmic ebb and flow The rhythm of your dreams.

You're not a solo traveller This is a trip for two Can you climb together? Will you make it through?

Higher and higher Can you aspire? Lighter and lighter Spirit afire Deeper and deeper Beyond desire? Deeper and deeper Beyond desire.

Put aside all questions Let your mind be free. Just step into the mirror Let go...and follow me.

We begin in the forest Enchanted beyond time. Its dance of light and shadow Primeval and sublime.

The forest as the artist Trees willowy and bold The brushstrokes of the branches Leaves afire red and gold.

And then God-like fingers Stream down from above Solar rays caress you both A touch of nature's love,

(Chorus)

Have you found your Eden? Or have you lost your will? To build a loving lasting bond You must go higher still?

So head upstream, the gentle stream The babbling soothes your brain A crystal clear reflection To find yourself again.

Suddenly, black moody sky The winds shakes trees and roars The rain and thunder crashing down The wolf is at the door.

A fearful growl: "Go back! Or beware this tempest Adjust to the plateau life Give up your childish quest."

Old pain begins to erupt Your soulful streams pour forth To blend as soular fusion Igniting light and faith.

You radiate an aura The storm soon starts to ease A howling psyche transformed Now two phoenix on the rise.

(Chorus)

Soar above the tree line...Look A serpentine waterfall With mist soaked pastel rock-face Rainbow rock-face...magical.

Onward past the snowline To the windswept peak A swirl of endless flurries As if homage to your feat.

An oh so splendid silence Defies the spoken word A moment of transcendence A oneness with the world.

So two alone together Now embrace the humbling view: To envision higher power Both within and outside you.

Higher and higher You can aspire Lighter and lighter Spirit afire Deeper and deeper Beyond desire Deeper and deeper Beyond desire.

Just remember...Practice Safe Stress!

Singular Man

A Humor From The Edge reader recently mentioned his plan to incorporate some of my poetic patter in a marital role play skit he and his wife are designing for an off-line couple's workshop. I feel ethically bound to provide a warning: when it comes to marriage, use my material at your own (and your audience's) risk! Or, at least, this is what a female attorney with whom I once had a personal ad date would have counseled, especially upon hearing that I, a member of that 40 something male species, had never been married. (Of course, having been divorced twice, one might infer that this lady was my photographic, if not psychological, negative. But not me. I will not resort to such personal ad hominem or women attacks.) What I will always extol is the importance of getting to know the individual; getting beyond stereotypic and formulaic thinking.

Here's how I subsequently responded to Ms. Attorney's cross examination proving, once again, when it comes to defending the male ego, the stylus is mightier than the phallus! At least for this "Singular Man."

How come you've never married, sir With flashing eyes that smile? For Miss Perfect so you've tarried Oh we're wise to your guile.

A knot tightens in my throat Color flushes over my face. Single man, the true scapegoat For outfoxing half the race.

Now Miss Blond Lady Attorney I know it's your nature to probe About my unlikely journey And whether I'm "commitment-phobe."

"You just haven't met the right one," She notes with sly empathy. "I haven't been the right one... I've spared you from neurotic me."

Why aren't kids in your dreaming As a father you'd be real good. And don't talk about wrestling demons From your inner childhood.

Well I'm making up for lost time Having fun being center stage. But evolution's become a crime Crucified by scorned again rage.

Maybe it is a "C"-word: "Commitment," perhaps "Control." Or, maybe life flows from the absurd Not by your timeline and goal.

It's a kaleidoscopic nature Blazing my singular path. Contradiction confounds the culture And often generates your wrath.

My folks also let me know it. I'm depriving them of grand kids. Such fine genes, hey, don't blow it Why is your manhood on the skids?

Perhaps I'm used to my freedom I have a certain style and way. For those with infinite wisdom Go ahead, presume that I'm gay.

So am I clinically selfish Or do I have a phobia? Maybe I'm fighting a death wish... A lifetime in suburbia.

I just don't fit any label I'm so hard to pin to the ground. From a tower of psychobabble Don't bother letting your hair down.

But I'm open to a partner Someone to share that center stage: She's a gutsy fellow wanderer A travelin light in this Dark Age.

Just remember...Practice Safe Stress!

Mark Gorkin, LICSW, "The Stress Doc,"™ is the Internet's and America Online's "Online Psychohumorist"™. An experienced psychotherapist, The Doc is a nationally recognized speaker and training and OD consultant specializing in Stress, Anger Management, Reorganizational Change, Team Building and HUMOR! His writings are syndicated by iSyndicate.com and appear in a wide variety of online and offline forums and publications, including AOL's Online Psych and Business Know How, WorkforceOnline, Mental Health Net, Financial Services Journal Online, Paradigm Magazine and Counseling Today. Mark is an online chat expert for AOL/Online Psych, AOL/Digital City-Washington, DC and WebMD. Check out his USA Today Online "Hotsite" Website -- www.stressdoc.com . For info on his workshops or for his free newsletter, email stressdoc@aol.com or call 202-232-8662. Spring 2000, look for PracticeSafe Stress with The Stress Doc™, published by AdviceZone.com.