The Corona Borealis.

  "See that's what I see as a potential sticking point.  In the sense that normally in this space, nothing is off the table really"    [LINK] He - "Light on or off"? Me - "It is fine" He - "Leave it on - there is plenty of sunlight - just not in here. The sun is over there" Me - Pointing in the opposite direction. - "Over there..." He - "Is it?- OK? Me - "For sure" He - "It's not bending around the corner - So where are we going today?" Me - "I thought I'd bring the table" I retrieve a miniature table from my bag. He - "The table"? Me - "There it is, there is the table" He - "I'm confused - is that a table for elves, it is very small. Me  - "It is a symbolic table." I put it on the floor between us. I say: "There, the table has been placed - for things to be put upon" He - "I'm still none the wiser" Me - "OK, no it i

Is there a difference in his hello? We speak in unison.  Coffee? The sound of cupboard doors, cups, the clink of the spoon. He - "So where to today?" Me -"We could do time travel." He - "How do we do that"? Me - "By using music" He - "I'm still not with you" Me - "Music is evocative - well evocative for me - we could do that"? He - "I'm still not with you - oh, you have got some music with you"? This is a strange session, I am talking about my identity. Talking about identity is what I do now (in 2023) with clients who feel that they are broken. I'm beginning to see it as vital, it is a key to restoring a sense of 'I am', because 'I can do x,y,z'. It is more than confounding the sense of ' I can't do anything ' into ' actually I can do plenty ....' the question, 'tell me about you, what do you love ' often brings the answer 'I used to' - but in r

Zoom. And so it began - very well! He told me how much he had enjoyed our conversation in the previous week, and how pleased he was to continue in this way, so pleased that I'd decided to change our contract, that I'm no longer a client - now a mentee. He said -  "you know for a while I thought what are these sessions for really, a piece of paper to pass a course! Could be so much more than that..." Well, my ideas had been steamrollered in the previous dialogue, for sure. But the emotional price I was paying was worth it; he had enjoyed talking to me (so my skill in conversing with a person as if from within their world-view) is validated and I had learnt a lot about standard, counselling theory which would be used in writing my assignments. The cost to me, well it felt more like a challenge than actual cost. I felt as I have felt in many lectures or computer games, that I am not good enough, can't do it, I'm not clever, fast, intelligent or knowledgeable en