Speaker Series
June 24, 2005
- “Relishing the Real Thing: What It Takes to Be Truly Intimate”
- With: John Amodeo, Ph.D.
Many people realize they've been seeking love in all the wrong places. But few people recognize that what they've been seeking is suspect. By fixating on what people can supply for us, we lose connection with ourselves. We need to bask in our own aliveness and stay close to our own inner life in order for authentic love and intimacy to unfold.
Rather than seeking or craving something outside of ourselves, we need to change our focus. We need to rest in our own inner depths and notice the subtle texture of our own inner life. By creating a warm holding environment for ourselves - embracing the ever-changing flow of our own experiencing, including our feelings and longings -- we can come to relish a resonance with the hearts of those who are also living less defensively and more openly and courageously.
John Amodeo, Ph.D., MFT is author of The Authentic Heart: An Eightfold Path to Midlife Love and Love & Betrayal, and is coauthor of Being Intimate. He has 25 years psychotherapy experience and has immersed himself in Buddhism and spiritual wisdom for over 30 years. He is a faculty member of the Institute of Imaginal Studies and is a Certified Focusing Trainer. He has appeared as a featured media guest on programs that include CNN, CNBC, Donahue, New Dimensions Radio, and NPR stations.