The Person-Centered Journal, Volume 4, Fall, 1997
Printed in the U.S.A. All rights reserved.
Jeanne P. Stubbs
State University of West Georgia
This edition of the Person-Centered Journal is an offering to the readers of a wide spectrum of topics ranging from theoretical to personal. The diverse mixture of the articles, poetry, and the interview demonstrate an increased movement toward the question raised in the previous edition, "By what means might harmony be found without losing one's own individual rhythm?" The comparative discussions of gestalt therapy and Buddhist psychology in addition to a novel analysis of the Buber-Rogers' dialogue may be considered as initial steps of the road toward harmony. The articles on the cultural conditions of therapy and the client's perspective of therapy additionally reinforce the issue of diversity in therapy and in life itself. Woods reiterates in his poem "Afterword," "Were we free of grand illusions .... we might see that we are Life trying to know itself." Therefore, my hope is that this edition sheds some light along the pathway of diversity in our world.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the readership and the membership of the Association for the Development of the Person-Centered Approach for their continued support of my work with the journal. I appreciate your time and numerous messages during and after the conference in Nevada. I will continue to follow your leadership in the evolving nature of the journal.
Additionally, and with a feeling of great loss, I would like to bid farewell to Tim Tribiano, my editorial assistant. His help and support have been immeasurable during this past year. Tim has contributed much to this journal during his short time as editorial assistant through his correspondence to authors, reviewers, etc. and more personally through his work with me. He will be sorely missed. His plans for the future are to further his academic career by pursuing a doctorate. I wish him health and harmony in his endeavors just as he has contributed to my health and sense of harmony during his work with me this year.
While this first year as an editor has been accented with definite steps toward progress and with stumbling steps toward harmony, I have found the words of Nelson Mandela to be inspiration for me and therefore would like to share these with the readership as a challenge toward a continued discovery of life itself. During his inaugural speech, Nelson Mandela stated:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.... Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory ... that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates other.
It is this "liberating presence" that I hope will permeate your reading of this edition.
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