SISYPHUS
In the most literal content-based sense
Sisyphus had a problem.
A boulder shaped disparity
Between expectation and reality
Within the absurd monotony
Of a repeated empty struggle
Without change, without purpose.
Let's roll with this for a moment
Clearly Sisyphus
Had a pattern that on first glance
Could be called maladaptive.
Punishment enacted over and over
For living life too preciously
—Too cleverly—
In the pursuit of all
The immersed pleasures of earthly existence.
How heavy is that?
This micro-focus on every pound
Of that existential weight.
The muscle shake of resisting
The dreadfulness of futility.
There is more. There is always more
The whole greater than sums of parts.
For there is an instant,
A wild exclamation at the pinnacle
When the stones of sorrow and toil
Release downwards
When Sisyphus stretches his arms
Light as two fallen feathers
And runs joyful, wind in hair
Descending rebellious free
To laugh meaning into the moment.
There is value in his process
Of pushing hopefulness ever upward
In the lightness of a mind organized
Around transcendent levity
Rising up again and again
To disrupt the silence of stone fate.
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October 24, 2020: I have found a pathway. The call to find a theoretical framework to anchor one's work has been daunting and pressing. Though I was sure I had found my home in narrative and expressive arts ideologies, the practical realities of practice have left a vacancy in an overarching paradigm with which to conceptualize the cases. Serendipitously I had purchased a book on constructive psychotherapy thinking it was required for one of my classes only later to find out it wasn't. In reading it, I have found the glue that can piece all these ideological pieces together for me. The focus on meaning, personal symbolism, webs of relationships, and the ongoing processes within the human experience is dynamic, socially relevant, and personally resonant. Of particular interest to me is the constructivist assertion that humans are fundamentally storied; the self created and experienced through narratives that are fluid and interrelational (Mahoney & Granvold, 2005). This aligns so well with the premise of narrative therapy and is an interesting complement to the symbolic and storied processes of healing that are foundational to expressive arts modalities. I am trying to re-envision my work through interlinked layers of problems, patterns, and process (Mahoney, 2003); to apply interventions that touch on all three levels.
Mahoney, M. J. (2003). Constructive psychotherapy. Guilford Press.
Mahoney, M. J. & Granvold, D. K. (2005). Constructivism and psychotherapy. World Psychiatry, 4(2), 74-77. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1414735/pdf/wpa040074.pdf