The present is not a phase in time. It is the tension by which past and future are metaphorically united and overcome. ~ Martin Foss Ten years after I completed the Ph.D., I was speaking to the president of a graduate school about teaching courses for his doctoral students in Depth Psychology. I didn’t have [ Read more … ]
martin foss
Standing “divided no more.” Here is my pledge.
My work with metaphor chose me; it was not my expected path in life. Through a series of experiences—harrowing, mystical, and profound—I came to be an advocate for a non-ordinary realm of profound beauty that we access through metaphor. Metaphoric images are the heart of the creative process and… I grew up in a family [ Read more … ]
The doorway to your genius
In a meeting in late December 2006, the President of a small university asked me what course I wanted to teach in their Ph.D. Psychology program. Instead of responding with the curricula that I was already prepared to teach, to my surprise I found myself blurting out… “metaphor.” The topic was right there; there was [ Read more … ]
Working the Soil: Social Change and Metaphor
Don’t look for me in a human shape. I am inside your looking. No need for form with a love this strong. The lines above from Rumi can be interpreted in more than one way. As I teach courses on the psychology of metaphor, to my mind, Rumi’s lines refer to the power that metaphors [ Read more … ]
Making friends with your imagination
Imagination is indirect, nonlinear, and fuzzy. It’s more about taking you to a “new place” and providing a fresh perspective than providing a numerically clear solution or quick fix. Further, when we open up our imaginations, we challenge traditional norms. Our creative process comes up with ideas that are often at odds with standard procedures. [ Read more … ]
