BELIEF SYSTEMS PART II

If the forecasts are correct, last night was the last night, this season, that the nighttime temperatures will be substantially below zero. It will be cold this week and next week there supposed to be a substantial warmup.

I wasn't inclined to delve into my personal history, but to really answer the question, "Where does your belief system come from?" I have to at least give a sketch of my life experience. I gradually recovered from the negativity created by my early scholastic experience. High school wasn't as painful as grade school. I worked in a factory for two years and then joined the Air Force in 1954. My goal was to go to college and this was not a feasible goal without the GI Bill.

I discovered an ability to get good grades in Air Force technical school. I was trained as an electronic technician and generally earned the highest grades in my class in electronic theory. I could write a volume about my time in the Air Force. I had many valuable and broadening experiences, at many levels. I was stationed mostly in the South. My home base was in South Carolina, we were a mobile radar unit and we had maneuvers all through the Southern states mainly Texas and Louisiana. Thank God I was in the service between wars.

I enrolled at the University of Minnesota in 1958. I majored in Psychology and minored in Anthropology. I was married after my freshman year [1959] and bought a house in the Spring of 1960. My first child was born in June of that year. My undergraduate experience was a rich and rewarding time. I proved to myself that I could not only do well academically, I could, at the same time, become a husband, homeowner and father.

Upon graduation I was not prepared to go right to graduate school. My goal was to become a psychotherapist and my wish was to get a doctorate in psychology and then attend the Chicago Institute of Psychoanalysis. At that time I was still a devotee of psychoanalytic theory.

I was open to finding any kind of job remotely relating to my education. I applied for a job as a Social Worker without having any real idea of what a social worker was. I got the job and a new world opened up to me. My job was to provide social services to families who had a 'disturbed' or a 'disturbing child'. I discovered social workers could be psychotherapist.

I went back to the University of Minnesota in 1964 and received my MSW in 1966. In 1968 I joined a child guidance clinic and received a Certificate in Family Therapy the next year. I was in the private practice of psychotherapy, on a part time basis, since 1967. I went into full time practice in 1970.

During all this time I was growing up. I was proving to myself that I could fit into the world of real people. I had to first join the group, before I could discover if I wanted to be part of the group. I could always see the emperor had no clothes. The craziness of the world was always obvious to me. I could now see that I could achieve anything; but how do I change the world? Do I accept it and chafe occasionally? I wasn't really the type to lead demonstrations.

Also, during this time my wife and I discovered we were on different tracks. We worked very well together and had four beautiful children. When we reached a stage in our evolution where we no longer had survival struggles; we had enough money, a good car and a nice house, good friends. What more was there? And that was the question. I knew there was something else I wanted to pursue. We didn't have the same answer or didn't even ask the question the same way. I was a person that couldn't imagine divorce. How could that happen to me? It did and it was right. I do not regret a day of my first marriage. It was wonderful and I think we both made tremendous growth. At some point we realized the growing stopped.

From the time I met Jamie, and part of it was attributed to her, I was on an accelerated learning curve. I was discovering that many of the conclusions, by established science, were simply not true. In my own profession, I was taught that graphology, hand reading, astrology etc. were simply nonsense. Yet, I encountered people who did handwriting analysis who came to more sound conclusions than an MMPI could demonstrate. This is merely an example of many, many experiences I had that demonstrated that I didn't know what I thought I knew. It seemed like our whole consciousness was going through an evolution. At the time I read an interesting book titled, "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg" by Joseph Chilton Pearce {1971]. A good read.

What Jamie and I had in common was a wish to find our roots in the Earth. How did we get so separated from the Earth? As a species, how come we act like we don't want to be here? Our technology seems to take us further and further away.

We wanted to explore what it was like just a couple generations ago when people had to live closer to the Earth. We lived for seven years without electricity or running water. We heated our house with wood and had a wood cook stove in the kitchen. We had a pump outside the kitchen door and an outhouse out back.

We had our ups and downs, because of no regular income, but for the most part our life was rich and elegant. Wherever Jamie is, elegance surrounds her. Our house became filled with books mostly dealing with the meaning of life. I have learned not to go heavy on recommending books, because when one asks the question, "What is the meaning of life" the right book seems to arrive at the right time. There are many great books on spirituality. I must have read over a hundred and to this day a new book will make its appearance and I will be urged to read it.

Early on the Edgar Cayce books were very helpful to me. I enjoyed the Carlos Castaneda books. I learned a great deal from the Urantia Book. There were many more. Some books are temporary learning experiences, some are like an oasis. None should be treated as bibles {especially the Bible itself}. My touchstone is probably "The Course in Miracles" but another might find something else equally as helpful.

During this seven year sabbatical we had two children. I hoped that the rest of the world would join us in our lifestyle. It was obvious that wasn't going to happen and we didn't feel it was fair to raise our children in an environment where they would feel alien.

I rejoined the regular world in 1984. I started over at the bottom, as the lowest paid social worker in a rural county. A couple years later I worked as a family therapist for a private social service agency. From there I went to an urban county; first I worked as the Children's Mental Health Supervisor and then became Program Director for Family and Children Services. I retired in 2000.

On an informal basis, I am involved in some form of counseling, when requested. Helping people sort out their feelings and understanding of life remains my first love.

I hope people find some value in this background information. I won't be revisiting it unless I am asked to. I will be happy to elaborate on any aspect of my life experience in the comment section.

What is happening in the world right now is what is really fascinating. I hope to be back to that on Wednesday.

Love and Peace,  Gregg