This is part of WTOP’s continuing coverage of people making a difference in our community, reported by Stephanie Gaines-Bryant. Read more of that coverage.
How many times has someone asked you “How you are feeling?” and you said “Fine”, when in reality, you are not?
“Oftentimes, we’re angry because of the injustice we see. Or, we’re fearful because of the injustice we see,” said Linda James Myers, a clinical psychologist and professor emerita at The Ohio State University, who will be speaking at a workshop in Alexandria, Virginia, this Wednesday.
“When Good Enough is Not Good Enough” is sponsored by community leaders and health providers. Hosts include the Alexandria People’s Assembly, The Center for Optimal Thought, The Virginia State Chapter of the Association of Black Psychologists and Kindred Spirit Behavioral Health.
Myers said in these troubled times, people are asking the questions: “Where’s the peace? Where’s the love? Where’s the joy? Where’s the sense of sustainable well-being that can ground us?”
She said her optimal psychology approach uses a “Heart/Feather” strategy. “What we want to do is help people learn to make decisions and live so that their hearts are as light as a feather.”
She said people must begin by bringing awareness to their hearts and becoming aware of what we assume to be true now.
“We have to get to the core of what those feelings that are the drivers for what we’ve created. Then we must look at the relationship between those assumptions and what we’re experiencing now,” Myers said.
The next step, she said, is for people to be introduced to another set of assumptions that are more scientifically, historically and biogenetical correct — and seeing if those assumptions fit your life.
Myers said her approach can help build a high quality of life and lead to better health outcomes.
The workshop, “When Good Enough is Not Good Enough,” will takes place Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center at 4850 Mark Center Dr., Alexandria, Virginia, 22311.
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