A successful British writer, Jasper White, decides at the age of forty not to write novels again. What will you do with your need to keep writing “something”? You still have the need to name, of using words to shape things that need to be expressed. So you decide to become “copyist”. He will make portraits of living people. And it won't make any description. How will you capture the essence of a person in words?

Thus begins the magnificent novel Mr White from the renowned Italian writer Alessandro Baricco (1958). Apart from its undeniable literary quality, to whom we are interested in him Focusing this novel gives us a novel vision of the symbolization of experience, nuclear for Focusing processes. Mr White, the main writer, is found on the front pages by chance at a portrait exhibition, and when reading the gallery's catalog, he is surprised to know how the painter of the paintings works. Mr Gwyn discovers something special:

Jasper Gwyn thought it must have taken a lot of time, a certain exile, as well as the dissolution of many resistances. He did not think of any technical tricks, nor did the painter's eventual mastery seem important., it only occurred to him that a patient action had set himself a goal, and in the end what he had managed to obtain was take back home to that man with a mustache. It seemed a very beautiful gesture. (Page 36)

And from there he embarks on an adventure in which he prepares a space taking care of all sensory aspects and creates an atmosphere where he can take portraits.. Capture the essence of a person in such a way that, como says Baricco, take the person home. It is inevitable to think about the Focusing process, and how through a welcoming and friendly presence it helps to symbolize the experience, so that the process is carried forward (a little closer to home, as Baricco would say). And regarding the process of symbolizing, offers a surprising opening (that I will not reveal here, because that belongs to the development of the novel itself).

For all this, essential for people interested in the Focusing process.

I am sure that at least it will help you to ask many new questions. And if you know other novels (or movies) that inspire us regarding Focusing, Nonviolent Communication or psychotherapy, Tell me about them and I will make your entries.

I wish you a pleasant reading,

Xavier

Bibliographic data: Baricco, Alessandro (2011): Mr White. Milan: Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore. Translation into Spanish by Xavier González Rovira (2012): Mr White. Barcelona: Anagram. Go to Anagrama publishing house, where you can read the first pages of the novel.

For its relevance to the development of an empathic attitude toward the capabilities we have everyone, regardless of our age and skills we have developed, copy content here entry I posted on Espirales Consulting Children, because it reflects a very hopeful vision of the human being.

Ever since I read about the theory of multiple intelligences, proposed and developed by psychologist Howard Gardner, He attracted me deeply. This American psychologist proposed in 1983 that intelligence was not unique (measuring the traditional tests are the logical-mathematical language and intelligences), it was multiple (the number has been increasing over the years and research), and also that each of the intelligences may develop. Since then he has combined research with the development of specific teaching materials for a more comprehensive education, and his work has been recognized by many institutions, including the Prince of Asturias Award for Social Sciences in 2011.

Begoña Ibarrola, a psychologist specializing in emotional development during childhood, us about a fun way to different intelligences in his book Cuentos para descubrir inteligencias, published by the grupo SM with endearing illustrations by Anne Decis. The story of a journey of a group of children terrestrial Pegasus, where they meet other children aliens, an excuse to explore the linguistic intelligences (ability with words and language), Mathematical logician (on numbers and logical operations), visuospatial (the ability to manage spatial and visual data, as in the graphic arts and engineering), musical (it has to do with music), bodily-kinesthetic (everything related to the body and movement), intrapersonal (on internal self-awareness capabilities), interpersonal (it has to do with social and group relations), naturalist (sensitivity to nature) and existential (the ability to reflect on the existence and other philosophical topics). Each component of the terrestrial group is paired with another Pegasus and together explore the intelligence that represent different stories of the book.

Oriented children Primary (although it can be used from four years), each story is introduced by a number of guidelines and suggestions for working families and professionals. I think a very valuable resource to explore with children their different capacities and to bring awareness to develop them, at the same time your self-knowledge and self-esteem is encouraged. On the other hand, It is a book that helps assess the evidence diversity everything that brings each of the intelligences (and they can prepare what they bring their friends from the capabilities of each).

Hope you enjoy it as much as the IM.

As I said in the “Welcome to the blog”, The idea is that this blog is intended to serve as a repository of resources, so are all kinds of materials and suggestions for creating a More Authentic Connection with others and with our inner world. As will be plenty of variety, I want to explain here the different labels that I use to categorize the entries.

• CNV: all entries that relate to the Nonviolent Communication, either explicitly that I seem to have that “NVC consciousness”.
• Texts CNV: entries relating to books, specific articles and documents Nonviolent Communication.
• Focusing: all entries that are pertinent to the Focusing or something very similar.
• Focusing en Madrid: they will gather in Madrid formations on Focusing Area (for example, Miraflores de la Sierra, an hour from Madrid).
• Textos Focusing: entries relating to books, specific articles and documents Focusing.
• CI Spirals: no tickets that are closely related to my work in Spiral Consulting Children in matters of affection, protection and interpersonal communication, and I also mention in this blog.
• Other Texts: no books, articles and documents, without being explicitly in any of the proposed disciplines, general have an affinity and a value that leads me to mention them in this blog.
• Webs: web pages, blog and online resources.
• Videos: general videos, combined with other tags that require their content.
• Movies: documentaries and films, both based on fact and fiction, seem relevant to me I want to develop sensitivity to this blog.
• Narrative: novels (and stories and children's literature) that allow us to cultivate a taste of empathy with the Nonviolent Communication and the Focusing.
• Experiences: Sometimes life brings surprises, experiences that make us rethink our priorities and confirm our intuitions, and these events will gather under this heading.
• For boys and girls: resources that can be used directly or indirectly with children.
• For Teens: resources that can be used directly or indirectly with teens.
• Agenda actual and Agenda filed: impart training to most closed groups and organized, but on the rare occasions when I open formations specific to the general public or hang them with these tags, “Agenda actual” until it is completed and “Agenda filed” when it has passed the date of the event, but for the record and can see the parameters of the training provided.

As you can see, many categories are intertwined. The interesting thing is that everyone can find something to investigate and find it useful and interesting. And some other things will be added.

To build on!