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Jerry considers some of the common complaints about sex-within-long-term-relationships, with a focus on the messaging that we've internalized along the way. The distinction between seeking mutual sexual pleasures and some people's understandings of the responsibility to merely fulfill obligations are considered. An upcoming day-long Zoom workshop, Rekindling Sexual Connection, on August 15th, is offered to help people beginning talking about what they most need and haven't been able to talk about without shame.

Some thing(s) have been percolating, in the arena of being annoyed/confused or just disappointed, by many of Mr. Dylan's ways ever since I first heard listened to him as a 12 year-old in the basement of my suburban home. I finally get around -- 59 years later? -- to unpacking them and having a reckoning, of sorts, with Robert Zimmerman/Bob Dylan.

Spanning back the last fifty years brought up some vivid memories of my early reactions to Bruce. The evolution of my response might of interest to you or completely insignificant. You have your own reactions and trust your own ears, eyes, heart and brain. But my taking to The Boss wasn't immediate. I guess I don't like being bossed around. But....well, listen for yourself.

Just back from a weekend group experience at a small college in western Massachusetts got me thinking about what it is about groups; why they can be so extremely powerful in either a positive or negative direction. People are not wrong to approach them with caution; what, exactly, are we getting ourselves into when we interact with strangers and allow ourselves to feel, and say, what's been on our minds in our previously-quiet isolation? With thanks to all the people who've ever uttered a sentence of true feeling in my presence over the past 39 years of my therapy work, here are some reflections.

I had the privilege of interviewing my friend Ron Plue and discussing the ins and outs of life, itself, from his vantage point of nearly 91 years. Spiritual development, points of view re: optimism and pessimism and the inevitable losses that come with aging are considered in light of the power of living in the moment.

I interview author, and friend, Stephanie Clare Smith about her stunning memoir, "Everywhere the Undrowned." The book is writing at its best as it revisits (through lyrical memory/reflection) the images associated with the summer of her abduction/kidnapping as a 14 year-old left alone in New Orleans. Decades later she cares for the cognitively-declining mother who had left her that summer in the first place. This book is not only for "survivors"; it's for anyone who wants to thrive in life with empathy and understanding of how we hurt each other and need each other in the most powerful of ways.  Stephanie can be reached through her website, https://www.stephanieclaresmith.com/

Some reflections on The Beatles' song/purported-advice 58 years after.  Does it hold up? Was it ever true? Nope. Well, what then? What is needed, and how do you get it? I prefer the words of Procol Harum: "For the answer lies in learning, and in teaching we are taught. There's nothing hidden anywhere, it's all there to be sought."

13 days later, some reflections begin to come into focus. Regardless of your vote, there are real reasons to be concerned. It is time for all of us to turn into adults once again.

In this episode, Jerry revisits and reflects on the concept of forgiveness, exploring its complexities and the importance of personal growth. He discusses the limitations of unilateral forgiveness and emphasizes that true forgiveness is a process that requires understanding and personal investment. Jerry also highlights the significance of letting go of past hurts and the need for meaningful change in relationships.

Jerry explores the impact of our familiar and cultural tribes on our ability to connect with others. What this all means for the crazy-time that a national election brings for the next 5-7 months is profound, as people face the choice of either hating people we see as essentially different from us or reaching for connections and enjoying the good things that follow.  (What are your thoughts? You can communicate directly with Jerry here: https://www.podpage.com/showing-up/contact/)

After a long hiatus, Jerry Sander returns to the show, with reflections about 2023, where he's been and some hopeful energies for 2024.

An extraordinary interview with an extraordinary person -- Hans E. Hageman. His lifestory continues to unfold in the direction of working to heal the world. Through his work with people often written off as "too difficult" or too dangerous to embrace Hans continues to inspire the rest of us to go out of our comfort zone.

Our special guest today -- someone who has never appeared as a guest before -- is author Jerry Sander, previously (and currently) the host of the podcast-in-hiatus (?) Showing Up. In this bracing interview Jerry explains the nearly one year disappearance of Showing Up from his loyal community of listeners and explains what 2021-2022 held for him. His book, The Guyland, an episodic memoir about growing up on Long Island in the late '60's, early '70's, is discussed and, obviously, promoted.

What if you found out, a lot later in life, that there were some very important things your about your family-of-origin that didn't quite add up?  That there were some important things about the very essence of who you were, and where you came from, that they'd not told you? Author Christine Jacobson went through this experience and wrote about it. It brought her into contact with a side of herself she'd had a dim awareness of, and it didn't come without complications.  Her book, Dancing Around The Truth, can be ordered here: https://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Around-Truth-Christine-Jacobsen-ebook/dp/B08LSNTTLQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZMRYBCY4TQYE&dchild=1&keywords=dancing+around+the+truth&qid=1633993195&sr=8-1

This is the second part of my interview with Don Lattin, author of a nonfiction "psychedelic trilogy" of books about San Francisco, Tim Leary, LSD, MDMA, Richard Alpert/Ram Dass, Aldous Huxley and the resurgent prospect of using psychedlic substances (legally) to assist psychotherapy. Will "psychedelic psychotherapy" come into being as a mainstream, insurance-reimbursable reality within the next few years? Isn't changing consciousness at the heart of what is being attempted with anti-depressants? Or...maybe not. Don writes about the intersection of the spirit, mind, body and consciousness....through the lens of his experience, and reporting about, the psychedelic substances that were heavily demonized in the "War on Drugs." As these come into serious study in the therapy field, now, a reconsideration of what was being attempted, on both the East Coast and the West Coast, in the 1960's is in order. Don can be reached at http://www.donlattin.com/