Comments on: how to use a book meme to choose a therapist http://www.moritherapy.org/article/how-to-use-a-book-meme-to-choose-a-therapist/ making lives better, making better lives Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:49:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: jael http://www.moritherapy.org/article/how-to-use-a-book-meme-to-choose-a-therapist/comment-page-1/#comment-16746 jael Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:20:48 +0000 http://www.moritherapy.org/article/how-to-use-a-book-meme-to-choose-a-therapist/#comment-16746 Hi isabella, I tried to do this on the nearest book...the nearest book is a Microsoft Excel 2000 training manual with NO PAGE NUMBERS, and so I rejected that, because it is too much trouble to count out 161 pages. The nearest book I could find was "The Realm of Possibility" by David Levithan. On page 161 was a poem composed of sentence fragments separated by periods. If I took the word immediately before the fifth period, it would be: LOSER. If I took the fifth sentence-like group of words, it would be STOP CRYING. If I went further down the page, we would have gotten to observe the character respond to her own thoughts with other possibilities inside her. With such a limited bibliomancy, I would want to read further for more context. What I took from this little exercise is how difficult it is to make simple rules that apply to EVERY situation. Maybe life is like that too. Maybe there is no way to fit in all the time, even if that is your goal. Maybe bending the rules makes sense if the goal is to have a life full of learning and possibilities. Thanks for the bibliomancy. I'm not propagating the meme on my blog today, although I might do so next week. You can just have it as part of your comments. cheers, jael Hi isabella,

I tried to do this on the nearest book…the nearest book is a Microsoft Excel 2000 training manual with NO PAGE NUMBERS, and so I rejected that, because it is too much trouble to count out 161 pages. The nearest book I could find was “The Realm of Possibility” by David Levithan. On page 161 was a poem composed of sentence fragments separated by periods. If I took the word immediately before the fifth period, it would be: LOSER.

If I took the fifth sentence-like group of words, it would be STOP CRYING.

If I went further down the page, we would have gotten to observe the character respond to her own thoughts with other possibilities inside her. With such a limited bibliomancy, I would want to read further for more context.

What I took from this little exercise is how difficult it is to make simple rules that apply to EVERY situation. Maybe life is like that too. Maybe there is no way to fit in all the time, even if that is your goal. Maybe bending the rules makes sense if the goal is to have a life full of learning and possibilities.

Thanks for the bibliomancy. I’m not propagating the meme on my blog today, although I might do so next week. You can just have it as part of your comments.

cheers,

jael

]]> By: Amanda http://www.moritherapy.org/article/how-to-use-a-book-meme-to-choose-a-therapist/comment-page-1/#comment-16404 Amanda Mon, 05 Mar 2007 22:02:02 +0000 http://www.moritherapy.org/article/how-to-use-a-book-meme-to-choose-a-therapist/#comment-16404 How cool! I just came across this blog in my random wanderings and I have to say I love the introduction to your blog I got in this entry! Gonna try it myself I think! How cool! I just came across this blog in my random wanderings and I have to say I love the introduction to your blog I got in this entry! Gonna try it myself I think!

]]> By: ddrucker http://www.moritherapy.org/article/how-to-use-a-book-meme-to-choose-a-therapist/comment-page-1/#comment-16072 ddrucker Sun, 04 Mar 2007 21:05:45 +0000 http://www.moritherapy.org/article/how-to-use-a-book-meme-to-choose-a-therapist/#comment-16072 Hi Isabella - I haven't thought about that meme in a long time. Being more hard-boiled, my logic says to me that there is more reliable information to be gained simply by knowing what book is closest at hand to someone. After all, leaving aside that Jungian synchronicity of what page is picked, chance is one thing, but the overall choice of the person who 'stacked the deck' is another. Hence, the only thing I feel I could safely and reliably about the kind of person you are (and hence, the type of therapist you should choose) is someone who keeps a Webster's Dictionary on their coffee table (rather than, say, the latest coffee table book). This is not that usual a choice. It says, perhaps, that you are not someone who has a problem with clutter (as someone who kept no book on their coffee table might be). It also says that you are somewhat satisfied, at least on the face of it, with the printed word being the arbitrator of an argument. I might even go so far as to make assumptions about your level of education and the kinds of people you invite into your house (those to whom words are also important). Wow, that makes me feel Sleuthy indeed! -D Hi Isabella -

I haven’t thought about that meme in a long time. Being more hard-boiled, my logic says to me that there is more reliable information to be gained simply by knowing what book is closest at hand to someone. After all, leaving aside that Jungian synchronicity of what page is picked, chance is one thing, but the overall choice of the person who ’stacked the deck’ is another. Hence, the only thing I feel I could safely and reliably about the kind of person you are (and hence, the type of therapist you should choose) is someone who keeps a Webster’s Dictionary on their coffee table (rather than, say, the latest coffee table book). This is not that usual a choice. It says, perhaps, that you are not someone who has a problem with clutter (as someone who kept no book on their coffee table might be). It also says that you are somewhat satisfied, at least on the face of it, with the printed word being the arbitrator of an argument. I might even go so far as to make assumptions about your level of education and the kinds of people you invite into your house (those to whom words are also important).

Wow, that makes me feel Sleuthy indeed!

-D

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