Koi Pond Counseling

For those of you into yoga, or into cats, this is a nice little feel-good video. Enjoy.

Hi there,

Welcome. And if you have stopped by previously at the different incarnation of this blog, welcome to the new pond. After much ruminating I have finally settled on a way to have all of Koi Pond Counseling’s web presence hosted in the same place. So this blog, as well as the Koi Pond Counseling website, are all here at www.koipondcounseling.com.

Not too much has changed in appearance regarding this site, but lots of things in the background have, thereby making it much easier for me to update both the website and the blog. This is a lot for me given that I do not do any coding and my primary job is providing counseling services to my clients. Previously my blog was hosted at blogger; the website was hosted by yahoo and build with an old and clunky web-design software that was difficult to update; and I was also responsible for the content management. Way too much. So I sat down one day and identified those things that were getting in the way of keeping the information and content fresh. I discovered it was too much work to write both the content and update the site, so I went looking for another way to do it. This is the result.

For now not too much has changed on the face of things other than marrying the blog with the rest of the site. However I do have some things in the planning and execution stages for the website. Soon there will be a “Resources” page with links to relevant websites, a “Library” page with links to helpful books with topics ranging from addiction to interpersonal neurobiology to parenting to psychological and spiritual development, and a section with helpful information for compulsive gamblers and their families. I will announce theses changes as they come online here on the blog as well as on the Facebook Fan Page (www.facebook.com/KoiPondCounseling).

Now that the behind the scenes work has been completed I will be able to provide more content and look forward to connecting with you here on the blog.

My best regards,

Brian

I came across this video that is making the rounds on the internet and social networking sites and found it touching and inspiring. I thought you might enjoy it and gain some inspiration to do the things you have wanted to do to improve your life.

It has been some time since I last posted but that does not mean I have given up blogging. Quite the contrary. I am actually in the process of re-thinking my approach to blogging and where this blog will be hosted. The possibilities on the web seem endless and I want to be sure I provide a platform that is streamlined and makes sense. To that end I have been working on combining this blog with my website and working on a website update to better serve current and future clients as well as anyone that checks this blog for information, inspiration, and creativity.

To that end, and to keep the energy flowing here, I am posting this video I came across today. I found it quite beautiful and was inspired by the creativity involved in creating it. I hope you like it too.

Lilac Wine from Matthew Landa on Vimeo.

As always feel free to share this blog and to drop by my website at www.koipondcounseling.com.

My best,
Brian

There seems to be a sense of play in living a creative life. All those that I know who live life creatively (whether they be artists or not) appear to be playing and having fun. Now, one might think that play is the natural outcome of living life creatively, but as one of my inspirations, commercial photographer Chase Jarvis, with the help of Carl Jung, mentions in his recent blog post that creativity is a natural outcome of play.

So here is a question: how can we play at this experience called life? With all of the work and responsibility that goes into living, how can we have a sense of play and wonderment supporting all of it? And what would that do to our sense of aliveness? My personal ideas are that life would become more fun, playful, enjoyable, creative, meaningful.

I’m also interested in Carl Jung’s idea that play might be an instinct acting from an inner necessity. Perhaps I’ll address that in a future post. For now, how can you bring a greater sense of play into your daily life with a sense of curiosity about what might come from it?

As always, your thoughts are greatly appreciated and feel free to take a moment to visit my website at www.koipondcounseling.com

My best,
Brian

I love short visual stories that warm my heart. Here is one for you; it’s a commercial, but it’s also a warm visual story.

My best,
Brian

Well, well…

I have just met with a friend from long ago to catch up and share some professional information and experience. I had a wonderful time as is often the case when I catch up with someone that life’s busy-ness keeps me from being in contact with more often. And at the end of our time together, when we were saying our goodbyes, she shared with me that she is subscribed to my blog and encouraged me to post more.

As a result I find myself wanting to write something for this blog during a short break that I have today; I am motivated. My motivation today reminds me of a podcast I listened to yesterday about the power of a compliment and the power of a person paying attention. This podcast (and I hope to perhaps post the link to it soon) pointed out that so many of us who create, be it writing, photography, drawing, painting, pottery, while we are motivated internally by a drive to create are very positively affected by people noticing our work and giving us a compliment.

This got me to thinking. If we are making an effort to live our lives creatively (and by this I don’t necessarily mean artistically, but also the simple act of creatively living our lives) won’t we be similarly encouraged? Can’t we all feel these good feelings I am experiencing by just knowing there is one person out there interested in reading my blog? In short, don’t we all thrive on compliments, or even just knowing someone is paying attention to us? I think so.

With this in mind, what would happen if we attempted to ripple a wave of compliments through the world? A kind of “paying it forward” of compliments.

So here is a challenge for you that might read this post: Try, at least once a day, to notice what someone in your environment is doing or creating that has a positive intent or positive outcome, and let them know you have noticed. Perhaps even offer them a compliment. You might just have made someone’s day.

My best,
Brian

I started this blog with the best on intentions: I would finally pursue writing on a regular basis (something I have long dreamed of doing), I would inform, enrich, and entertain readers (hopefully), and I would learn a lot about myself in the process. This effort of writing would force a reflective process. I feel I have managed perhaps one out of three so far.

What I have noticed has been fascinating; despite my best efforts I have not been able to sit down and write in the manner I had planned. Given the busyness of running a practice, raising a family, maintaining relationships, studying my craft, eating, sleeping, and doing chores I have discovered that there is not much time for anything else. Then I discovered that worrying about not getting my blog written was creeping into my life and causing stress.

Not long ago I had watched a video on the internet of a speech Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the popular novel “Eat, Pray, Love” gave within the last year in which she explains that a writer,s job is to show up for the act of writing. The inspiration, the creativity, will show up and make itself know when it is good and ready and it is not the writer’s job to worry about that. The writer is to show up to write. Boy, that takes a lot of pressure off, which is exactly what Ms. Gilbert wants given that she has to follow on the outrageous success of “Eat, Pray, Love.” ( You can view the video here. )

Now, I get that creativity arises within the artist of it’s own accord, but how does that work when I cannot even find the time to write? Well, that leads me to an axiom I often respect and encourage clients to be mindfull of, especially in relationships; “Is it given?”

Stopping and thinking whether time for writing has been given in my life has allowed a pause, a reflection. At this point it does not seem to be given, at least not yet. But it is useful to look at what IS given: meaningful work, family, friends, relationships. And in stopping to notice and accept what is given comes a sense of peace, of contentment.

I have often felt that courageously turning to acknowledge what is given in our lives is the spark that can ignite the creative spirit within us. And in doing so we can come to live our lives more creatively; to make our lives the canvas and to paint on it liberally.

Thank you for sticking with me during my dry spells. It seems it is part of the process for me to come to a life lived creatively.

As always I appreciate your comments. Also please feel free to visit my website at www.koipondcounseling.com

My best during this holiday season,

Brian