Soul Studies is a new series of podcasts where I read excerpts from books that are currently inspiring me. In this episode I read from the first chapter of Rollo May’s 1975 book “The Courage to Create”. It struck me as a book that feels incredibly relevant to our cultural moment, particularly on the topics of despair, cultural divides and ideological fanaticism.

“People who claim to be absolutely convinced that their stand is the only right one are dangerous. Such conviction is the essence not only of dogmatism, but of its more destructive cousin, fanaticism. It blocks off the user from learning new truth, and it is a dead giveaway of unconscious doubt. The person then has to double his or her protests in order to quiet not only the opposition but his or her own unconscious doubts as well.”

Rollo May (1909-1994) taught at Harvard, Princeton, and Yale, and was Regents' Professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz. An influential psychologist, he was the best-selling author of Love and Will, as well as the author of The Courage to Create, Man's Search for Himself, The Meaning of Anxiety, and Psychology and the Human Dilemma.

If you enjoyed this episode and want me to continue sharing work I find in the course of my Soul Studies, please let me know!

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On this episode I speak with writer, ecophilosopher and activist Derrick Jensen.

True to our Sagittarian natures, we have a wide-ranging conversation that covers a lot of ground, including personal stories of childhood trauma, healing, activism and the journey toward realizing your gifts and offering them to the world.

Before we began recording I told Derrick that I was feeling a little blue that morning, and thought it had something to do with the total solar eclipse that had just occurred. By the end of our conversation I felt the heavy mood lift a little, which speaks to the therapeutic effect of sharing your troubles out loud with someone else who is also troubled.

So, although our conversation delves into some heavy and painful topics, I hope that by the end of it you feel a little less alone with your own troubles. That’s one of the key intentions behind this podcast, and one of the main reasons I continue to do it: so that us lone wolves howling in the wilderness of modernity can find the others who are similarly afflicted, and perhaps find some comfort and community.

Derrick's website: https://derrickjensen.org

Topics: ecology, psychology, trauma, recovery, healing, purpose

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This was an excerpt of a 2-hour conversation. If you’d like to listen to the full episode and support the podcast, consider becoming part of the pack over at patreon.com/howlinthewilderness. Support this independent podcast by making a one-time donation to http://paypal.me/brianjamessoul

On this episode I speak with psychologist, writer and activist Bruce Levine.

Dr. Levine writes and speaks widely on how society, culture, politics and psychology intersect. His most recent book is A Profession Without Reason: The Crisis of Contemporary Psychiatry―Untangled and Solved by Spinoza, Freethinking, and Radical Enlightenment (2022).

A practicing clinical psychologist often at odds with the mainstream of his profession, he is a regular contributor to CounterPunch, Salon and Mad in America. His articles and interviews have been published in the New York Times, Skeptic, Adbusters, The Ecologist, High Times, and numerous other magazines.

Dr. Levine is on the editorial advisory board of the journal Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, and he is on the medical and scientific advisory board of the National Center for Youth Law. He is also an editorial advisor for the Icarus Project/Freedom Center Harm Reduction Guide to Coming off Psychiatric Drugs. A longtime activist in the mental health treatment reform movement, he is a member of the International Society for Ethical Psychology & Psychiatry and MindFreedom. Dr. Levine has presented talks and workshops to diverse organizations throughout North America.

Bruce's website: https://brucelevine.net/

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