Wednesday, April 23, 2008

To clarify

There was no dead body. Not that I know of. I wasn't going to touch the blanket, because, hey, there could have been a body in there, but no, most likely no dead body.

Lacy left me a message expressing some confusion on that point, so I thought I'd clear it up.

I need to work on my comic tone. In my last effort at blogging (with my ex), I posted about how he and I had started doing Equine Assisted Therapy in LA, because the agent I worked for got a flier advertising this service to rich Beverly Hills-ians. I quoted all the ridiculous (I thought), new age language, but a disturbing number of our friends thought it might be for real.

Probably it helps people. Probably it's swell. But getting it in the mail was so surreal -- this cheesy ad, clearly directed towards rich industry types with substance-abuse problems -- it made me laugh a lot. I just have to deal with the fact that half my friends think I am A) in need of Equine-Assisted Therapy, and B) enough of a hippie to be swayed by such a cheesy ad . . . she writes, wearing her "Eat More Kale" T-shirt.

So it's been a while since I've written, but things have been really busy here. Pilot season and agency life . . . can get stressful. But I'm happy to report, Roger and I have found a wonderful, organic way of dealing with the tension. It's a program unique to Beverly Hills, and it's called All Ways Recovery, or Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. That's right. Roger and I are answering life's hard questions while frolicking with our new horsey friends.

We're really taking the All Ways cardinal rule to heart--that is: "Never have an agenda when you do EAP." Easier than it sounds.

Here are just a few quotations from the All Ways advertisement that inspired us on our journey towards wholeness with horses:

"The communication is not so much between human and horse, as it is between an individual's heart and head. "

"As her dream was grazing near by, unattended, just waiting to be caught, she realized all she had to do was walk over and put a halter on it."

"When we reached the corral I immediately took the bridle off. When asked why I did that, I didn't know exactly. I still don't, but it felt right at the time. This was the tone of the day - it turned out to be all about feelings."

"The door wasn't locked. It was just closed. It took a horse to gently nudge it open."

If you're wondering just who it is we've been giving most of my salary to . . . here are just a few of their credentials:

"We're here to help individuals who've drifted a bit get back on the road. With training and experience in Europe and America, we're not only international in our outlook, but cross-cultural in our influences. We use a variety of proven recovery techniques, including acupuncture, homeopathy, guided meditations, group therapy, and one on one sessions, among others."

I just wish more of our friends could be here, sharing in the stunning, slightly buzzing, California sun.

Know that we're happy and well--never mind what you might hear to the contrary.

No comments: