OUR FIRST POST

Greetings from Oklahoma in the "Heartland".

In our first post we would like to introduce ourselves with some brief biographical information.

We are Dr. Eric and Dr. Lesley Dlugokinski, both former psychologists, who are now choosing to accompany others on their life path in ways other than as licensed professional psychologists.

Dr. Eric, a native of Detroit, Michigan, a Professor Emeritus of the University of Oklahoma, worked in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center for over 30 years. During his tenure there he published many books and scientific papers focusing primarily on increasing emotional competency. Post retirement he has had a part-time private practice as a licensed psychologist for ten years until December, 2012.

In the Vietnam war years he served his "tour of duty" in the Public Health Service where he made life long friends with fellow officers, Ken and Mel.

During his time at the University of Oklahoma, in addition to teaching, he developed nationally recognized programs in prevention, a passionate interest for him. A small part of that passion developed into a newspaper column in the state newspaper, which furthered his long time love of writing for the general public.

Two published books contain poems that he describes as condensed tools for emotional awareness. It is this poetry, with reflections, which will be offered in his blog postings.

When he is not blogging, he enjoys playing tennis, fishing, gardening, traveling and walking our two beautiful smooth collies.

Dr. Lesley, a native of Britain, was a research scientist in Scotland until she emigrated in 1977 to the U.S.A. After retraining into the field of Clinical Psychology, she worked in a Mental Health Center as Clinical Director for several years before beginning a private practice. After sustaining a serious ankle injury in 2011, she reduced her practice to part-time and then, like Eric, discontinued her psychology license at the end of December, 2012. 

In her work with clients she has endeavored to integrate spirituality and dream interpretation into  the therapeutic process and, over the years, has developed strong interests in Jungian psychology, eastern philosophy and Native American spiritual beliefs. 

In the early 1990's, she began to organize and lead women's study tours to her homeland of Britain which focused on her love of combining external explorations with internal reflections through writings and rituals. 

When she is not blogging she enjoys hiking (even though that is how she broke her ankle), reading, and artistic pursuits such as Native American beadwork and oriental brushwork.

For Dr. Lesley, the focus of her blog posting will be about living from the heart so that our internal abode is more and more "The Land of the Heart".

On this blog we will be alternating postings and Dr. Eric will begin with his. He hopes you enjoy it.

 I JUST DON'T FEEL LIKE IT

I rarely feel like

Getting up in the morning

But I get up

I never feel like

Mowing the lawn or walking the dogs

But I mow the lawn and walk the dogs

I am always

Grateful for overcoming

Those momentary feelings

Because joy so often follows

REFLECTION

Sometimes when we are faced with a difficult task or even a mundane one, we don't feel like taking it on. We'd rather not. We simply don't feel like it.

It takes a vision of looking beyond the moment and into the Big Picture to see how we will feel when that task is accomplished . That vision helps us accomplish things even when we don't feel like it.