Program exploring intimacy features Moore

Thomas Moore participates in The Intimate Life program sponsored by OneTaste, an organization in San Francisco and New York. Starting 14 April 2009, this program explores aspects of personal intimacy at the San Francisco location and online. OneTaste is offering a special introductory cost of $20 for its new Long Distance Members to access The Intimate Life course and the Media Section of its site. Registration is to be available soon.

"OneTaste presents a unique once a month journey of inquiry into what it means to live an intimate life. Through provocative lectures, experiential exercises and extensive support networks, gain the insight and tools to experience the deep connection, aliveness and intimacy you’ve always desired."

"Each month, OneTaste founder Nicole Daedone will be joined by leading teachers in the field of intimacy to discuss evocative questions: What is true intimacy? How does one cultivate intimacy in the face of trauma and suffering? What does it take to be a powerful, yet intimate leader? These sessions will be recorded and posted to the web for access by on-line students the following week and will be augmented with bi-monthly newsletters, curriculum workbooks and online buddy systems for ongoing investigation, integration and support."

Barque readers may remember Moore blogging about a rewarding visit to OneTaste during his 2008 book tour promoting A Life at Work.

The love sickness, Jealousy, teaches maturity

One day before Friday the 13th and two days before St. Valentine’s Day, February 14th, Thomas Moore writes about the purpose of jealousy, "Schooled in Jealousy" for WebMD. Based on his own experiences, Moore suggests "Jealousy forces you to consider one of the great conundrums that every person faces: how to want another person madly and at the same time grant her her freedom as a person with her own life and fate. You can't learn this from a book or a counseling session. Jealousy can teach you, but only if you are able to go through it to the end."

Moore’s advice is under the heading, "Modern Love: Sex, Relationships & Your Health — Psychology Today experts talk, share and give advice on mating, dating, and relating." Readers are invited to post comments about Moore’s observations.

Moore speaks at Elon University on April 23

Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life sponsors Thomas Moore’s appearance in Whitley Auditorium at Elon University in Elon, North Carolina on Thursday 23 April 2009 at 7:30 p.m. Moore talks about "The Soul of the University" and according to him,

"At all levels of education currently we tend to provide for the mind and, to some extent, for the body, but little for the soul. An education in soul would include preparation for marriage, illness, a life work, making a home, raising children, contributing to society, dealing with emotional and relational issues, and developing a spiritual sensibility. Rather than creating an entirely new curriculum, it would involve studying any subject for its contributions to meaning, values, and vision. It would also be sensitive to the poetic, symbolic, metaphoric, and ritual aspects of life through a deep understanding of the arts and spiritual traditions. It would culture a person, give him depth, and prepare her for citizenship, leadership, and a rich life."

This lecture is free. Call the Truitt Center at 336 278-7729.
Elon is in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, east of Greensboro and northwest of Raleigh/Durham.

Diminish sexual anxiety in the healing arts

Today, Thomas Moore posts "Sexual Anxiety" on his Psychology Today blog, Care of the Soul. He talks about responses to his lecture last week for "pastoral counselors, hospital chaplains, and theology professors, and their students" and focuses on the reaction of two students who apparently were offended when he mentioned in passing, "the Gospel of Philip, where it is said that Jesus kissed Mary Magdalen (according to the Leloup translation)." Moore writes,

"During my thirty years of practicing psychotherapy, I heard person after person telling the story of how their sexuality was repressed, depressed, and suppressed by their religion. I saw the harm this repression did to their marriages and their outlook on life. Cumulatively, I see its negative impact on American life.

The repression of one's sexuality leads to a certain kind of depression and that in turn leads to meanness of spirit. You see it at PTA meetings, local government meetings, and in comments of the public after news items online. You see it in a widespread absence of civility in our society, in a compulsive interest in sex online and in the media, and in sexist and abusive treatment of women."

Moore shares an exercise he presents when speaking with church groups, "I ask them what it would take from their spirituality to be comfortable with their sexuality, and what it would take from their sexuality to be fully engaged spiritually. If either our sexuality or our spirituality are anxious and troubled, then both are going to be weakened. We need to work out a way to be anxiety-free both in sexuality and spirituality."

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