9/22/2008 - Lecture and Discussion: Conversations about Love by Marla Estes, MA

Lecture and Discussion: Conversations about Love
By Marla Estes, MA

$5.00 to $10.00 suggested donation, everyone welcome.

Presentation Description:

The Paradox of Relationship: "I alone must become myself; I cannot become myself alone." -Pittman Mcgeehee

In this on-going conversation, we explore Love in its different facets, the dark as well as the light, its highs and its lows, the psychological as well as the spiritual, the sociological as well as the personal.

**What happens when you depend on romantic relationship for your sense of aliveness?* *

Tonight's topic is Love and Loss. Do we defend ourselves against love to
avoid the pain of its loss? Why might it be "better to have loved and
lost, then to never have loved at all"? How do we live with the cruel
irony that once we go through the process of really coming to love
someone for who she or he really is - to move beyond fantasy,
projections, disillusionment, and even co-dependence - that they will
die? What connection might be made between love, death and faith? In
part, we will refer to C.S. Lewis' experiences of moving from grief to
growth.

"� [this is God's] grand enterprise. To make an organism which is also a
spirit; to make that terrible oxymoron, a 'spiritual animal.' To take a
poor primate, a beast with nerve endings all over it, a creature with a
stomach that wants to be filled, a breeding animal that wants its mate,
and say, 'Now get on with it. Become a god.'"

- C.S. Lewis

Please join us to discuss these mysteries, weaving in psychological,
Jungian, and sociological concepts. Our discussion will focus on
relationship as a process instead of as a goal. Through this
examination, we have the opportunity to bring more clarity,
understanding and awareness to both our conscious and unconscious ideas
of love with the possibility of making room for new ones to emerge.

Facilitator's Biography:

Marla Estes lives in Ashland and is a workshop leader, teacher, writer, and mentor. Having a Masters degree in Transpersonal Studies, she has taught at SOU Extension, the SAEJ program at Ashland High School, and has led women's study groups. Several of her articles have been published in the Sentient Times and Alternatives Magazine.

Website: http://www.MarlaEstes.com