Adrian Scott Counsellor Supervisor MBACP Accred

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique 

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique 

Ed White Elite Astronaut first American to walk in Space.
Ed’s father was an expert pilot himself, so White was born to fly.
He started flying at 12 yrs old under his  father’s guidance and discovered a natural ability. He learned to fly Sabre jet fighters in Germany, until 1957 when the world of flight changed.

The Space Age began. The opportunity for pilots to become astronauts began. On June 3rd 1965 he became the first American Astronaut to walk in space outside the capsule on the Gemini IV Programme.

On January 27th 1967 Ed White (pictured on the left ) died with two other astronauts on the launch pad in a craft beset with problems. Fire ripped through the pure oxygen capsule, with flawed safety equipment hampering their rescue. 

On the spacewalk he was wearing an Omega Ed White Speedster watch.
NASA contacted watchmakers and only four responded. Omega, Longines, Rolex, and Hamilton. The watches were trial tested including extreme high and low temperatures, pressure, humidity, shocks, and decompression.
Only the Omega Speedmaster survived the tests.
So a watch legend was born on the back of space flight and death. 
Ed White Speedy

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far Western Industrial nations particularly the US and UK have fared worse. In comparison to Asian Nations and Scandanavia who seem to have done better in controlling Covid19.
Each country has its own history and customs that enable or disable its reaction and capability to deal with Covid19.
Can’t be Told Pandemic

Like an individual person suffering from trauma. The trauma cannot be changed. The person’s life experience and genetic disposition prediacte the trauma reaction.

Same with countries. In Kerala there was a virus outbreak 2 years ago where the medical authorities gained the trust of the local population by dealing with the virus effectively. Testing and isolating containing the outbreak. So when Covid19 struck there was organisation, medical infrastructure and compliance. A trust between populace and authority saved the day. Compliance and trust in government at this stage seems key to coming out well in the face of Covid19.

In the UK, Europe and the US compliance and trust are less. The more individualistic and entrepreneurial the country: less compliance and trust. Seen to be a strength in everyday trade, it is a weakness against Covid19. The running down of infrastructure and a belief in the omnipotent self invites Covid19 to rampage. Open up the economy for a further invitation.
Strength and Weaknesses alter depending on the frame/situation. Personal and Political, Cultural, Economic.
Can’t be Told Pandemic

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sophie Freud was Freud’s fifth daughter.
She married a distant relative from Hamburg, with no wealth or distinction. Sophie died on the 25th January 1920 from complications brought on by the Spanish Flu. She left a husband and two sons. Freud was unable to visit her as there were no trains.
Sophie’s young son always a weak child died in 1922.

Freud called it an “irreparable narcissistic wound”. He consoled a colleague, whose child had also died “We know that the acute sorrow we feel after such a loss will run its course, but also that we will remain inconsolable, and will never find a substitute. No matter what may come to take its place, even should it fill that place completely, it remains something else. And that is how it should be. It is the only way of perpetuating a love that we do not want to abandon.”

This version of grief is anti-modern. In our era of resolving and moving on Freud poignantly reveals death as ever present and part of a life experience which will never die. The understatement and emotional reality of death and its pain keeping the dead loved one in the bereaved’s life.

Just like his ambition of common unhappiness, he revealed a measured, and limited view of human nature. Transference locks us into a life that was imprinted upon us at an early age. But through Freud’s work we understand this – not as a limitation but as beautiful and limitless.
Sophie Freud 1893-1920

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Frederick Trump Grandfather of the American President died of Influenza in 1918.
Otherwise known as the Spanish Flu Pandemic which infected 500 million people and killed between 20-50 million people.

It was called the Spanish flu because it was first identified in Spain because it was a neutral country with a less censored press. Like any pandemic it started with a new strain of flu which spread from person to person and nobody had immunity. It attacked and killed relatively young people including Freud’s own daughter Sophie in 1920 aged 27 years old.

Nobody is sure where the Spanish Flu came from. France, China, Britain, and the United States were all in the frame. The first recorded case was in Kansas March 1918. With a shortage of medical staff after the WW1 – people were ordered to wear masks, & public places like theatres, schools and churches were closed. People were ordered not to shake hands and stay indoors. Spitting was banned. Aspirin was over prescribed as a cure and caused death by poisoning.

The economy suffered and many businesses were shut down due to whole families dying. Basic services of sanitation and rubbish collection were reduced. Crops could not be picked, and health departments closed unable to monitor the spread of the Pandemic.

There were 4 waves of the Spanish Flu where countries were caught out and unable to protect their populations. The Pandemic ended in 1919 where those infected either died or built up an immune system.
In 2008 scientists discovered that the Spanish Flu weakened the lungs & bronchial tubes, which enabled the spread of pneumonia.

Now 100 years later it isn’t clear how, or where Spanish Flu started. Neither is it clear whether the 1918 Spanish Flu vaccine, or the 2020 flu vaccine was/will be successful.

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

J.T Walsh is a fine example of the supporting actor. That Guy!
Actors who never upstage the main characters but add a subtle depth to the performance with
skill and panache. That Guy! drives you mad. You have the image of their face in your head but cannot remember their name.

Supporting actors, sometimes called character actors can fold and morph themselves into many types of role. They are not branded or used to sell a film. So they remain unrecognisable able to play a wider variety of roles. They can enable the main character to have a poor performance without affecting the film.

Sometimes they can even steal the film. Not by upstaging or a big part. But by being influential to the film’s premise. Tommy Lee Jones in the Fugitive, and Joe Pesci in Goodfellas are good examples.
In the Fugitive the world weary cop whose flagging energy creates more sympathy for him and Harrison Ford the supposed criminal. The over charged, comedic, trigger happy character in the Goodfellas. Lots of manic psychopathic behaviour who everyone has to clean up after. A charasmatic rogue who the guys love.
Blink and you’ll miss them!

That Guy!

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rules are made to be broken. Driving fast, Shoplifting, Non Essential Travel. Whatever the rule is we make a decision from our personal perspective. We convince ourselves with our own evidence that it’s ok to break the rules. No traffic around, the merchant is insured, I want to go outside and will not leave my car.

Even in the pandemic with the threat of life the reasoning is the same. It won’t do harm to anyone else! My neighbour is doing it. Not part of a vulnerable group – so not at risk? Etc etc. Is the threat too abstract?
Big numbers on news bulletins dull the senses.

Having to rely on each other is usual. But the extent is heightened in a pandemic. We might catch the virus from another? We are not sure? We don’t know who is contagious? Are we contagious? But then the rules are still broken. We are the centre of our own lives. What we do is for us not the other. Altruism? Deep down does altruism exist? Are we more self-orientated than we would like to admit for fear of being called selfish or self centred? Maybe we feel entitled to break the rules.

Relying on others is natural. We would not be here if it were not for others. But when they let us down it’s painful. Breaking the rules is to our own advantage: but if others see it as a threat to them it creates a sense of danger triggering the protection of anger. Stick to the Rule or Break the rule?

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Negative Capability is an idea first penned by the poet John Keats. He was talking about the greatest writers’ ability to hold onto artistic beauty even if it creates confusion and uncertainty. The tolerance of being able to have an idea and celebrate it even though it might not make sense.

Wilfred Bion a British Psychoanalyst expanded on the idea to mean an openess of mind. He described this as a life skill. To be able to tolerate the hurt and confusion of not knowing: rather than imposing a rigid template of certainty onto something unclear or out of control. In terms of Zen it was the talent to give up the self, to submit the self to obtain greater insight and understanding. A letting go of the ego to be open to other natural forces.

A skill to have in a lockdown? The ability to tolerate fear and uncertainty in the face of the unknown?

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Negative Capability is an idea first penned by the poet John Keats. He was talking about the greatest writers’ ability to hold onto an artistic beauty even if it creates confusion and uncertainty. The tolerance of being able to have an idea and celebrate it even though it might not make sense.

Wilfred Bion a British Psychoanalyst expanded on the idea to mean an openess of mind. He described this as a life skill. To be able to tolerate the hurt and confusion of not knowing: rather than imposing a rigid template of certainty onto something unclear or out of control. In terms of Zen it was the talent to give up the self, to submit the self to obtain greater insight and understanding. A letting go of the ego to be open to other natural forces.

A skill to have in a lockdown? The ability to tolerate fear and uncertainty in the face of the unknown?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These times of stress and threat of the unknown mixed in with a dose of death create understandable anxiety. Industrial nations are not good at dealing with anxiety. Avoidance of anxiety is key in the West.

Keep stressed to avoid anxiety which makes us more stressed!
We produce, create, at any cost do – to control the anxiety. Threat Anxiety

Control is a big capitalist seduction. To be brought up in a culture of control, subliminally creates in us the deceit that control is possible. Control of work, money, death, family, children, and what we put into our bodies.

As humans we might be happier believing that control is not possible all the time. Control is at times futile. But to give it up feels counter intuitive.

To cope with anxiety our primitive brain goes into fight, flight, or freeze mode. The West has frozen in reaction to Climate Change and the present pandemic. If it is far enough away: it doesn’t count and will not affect us. Suddenly its here and panic kicks in. Less anxiety (far away) too much anxiety (its here).
That is the way we like it here. Avoid avoid avoid – then oh sh*t.

Being with anxiety is more tricky. It sounds stupid – why would you want to be with your anxiety? It’s uncomfortable and makes us feel bad. The advantage of sitting with and meditating anxiety is that we get to know our own personal brand of it. Being with anxiety reduces the anxiety energy making it feel  more comfortable. This in turn allows us not to react with anxiety and make better decisions.

To be at the mercy of our anxiety/fears and prejudices is difficult.
But they are real. More real than pretending they are not there.

Copyright Adrian Scott North London Counsellor Blog 2020
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: This weblog is the view of the writer and for general information only
This article is designed to provoke argment and critique