LEARNING TO NAVIGATE IN UNCHARTERED WATERS

This book seeks to assist us in unraveling and understanding depression and our relationship with it in the form of our reactions to it and what it brings to us. In medieval times, people believed the earth was flat and that they would fall off the edge if venturing beyond the established boundaries of “civilization.” To even imagine such an endeavor caused a deep, irrational fear of the unknown to the European medieval person. A similar fear surrounds that state of mind and soul we call “depression.” The great unknown expanses of the seas in medieval times in fact did hold many dangers for anyone who sailed too far away from the mainland. It was uncharted territory and those who took the risk had to be prepared, attentive, and able to learn and adapt quickly.

The unknown ocean within ourselves gives rise to what we call depression, and does hold many dangers of which we are rightfully cautious and fearful. Yet, it is a sea that can be navigated and traversed. It is a great ocean containing many wonders and treasures; particularly the treasure of our own deeper selves, our own hearts, and our own souls. To be willing to fathom our own depression is to encounter the depths of Hell and the heights of Heaven. If we are to sail upon the great unknown sea, learning the skills of the mariner, and understanding and respecting the sea in all its power and in its friendship, is invaluable. To come to know and understand ourselves and become more familiar with

the many parts of ourselves in the deepening journey allows us to trust and accept ourselves more and to move forward not in fear and not only in faith, but also in self-knowledge.

This book is offered as a guide for those who wish to undertake this perilous but vital journey. It is meant for those courageous and open-minded enough to believe and have faith that their depression, as painful and unbearable as it may be, is, in fact, a gift given them that they might use its lessons and teachings to come to recognize and accept themselves, and appreciate the fullness of the being they are and the life they have. It is for those willing and able to finally recognize depression as a spiritual and psychological unfolding path of understanding that can inherently direct us and lead us forward through the “afflictions” brought on by our sensitivity, awareness, and attention both present within and required by the state of depression itself. People with this kind of sensitivity, courage, and intelligence have the capacity to become aware of the purposefulness of depression and of the service they may offer through their understanding if they can come to comprehend and know through their own experience that this “curse” of depression is also a blessing.