I just finished listening to Spare on Audible read by Prince Harry. I highly recommend listening to it because hearing his voice together with his words and inflections gave more meaning to the content. I enjoy watching the show The Crown and I enjoyed watching Harry and Meghan on Netflix but I wasn’t expecting much from Harry’s new book. When you see a headline about them every day on the news, it feels like you already know all that you need to know about a couple you don’t really care that much about. I was blown away how wrong I was and how inspired I felt from knowing more about Harry and his journey. This guy has made some amazingly hard choices to go down the “narrow path”- the road less taken. I have so much newfound admiration for him. He gives us a window into a journey of learning how to be his more authentic self. This is a glorious path for me as a counselor to read about because this is what I try to help people do every day. When you see someone on this path I just want to cheer- “yes!” – “keep going”- “you are on the right path.” I feel a kinship to fellow sojourners on this path. In an interview Harry had with Steven Colbert about his book he made the comment, “once I began therapy it was like I was speaking a different language with my family. They just didn’t understand me.” I tell my clients- “If you choose to do this (all that counseling requires)….it will be hard and lonely and you might lose relationships with people, but it is totally worth the freedom you will find on the other side. Freedom comes from healing from trauma, reclaiming lost parts of yourself, knowing when and how to set boundaries with people and becoming more of your authentic self.” Well, Harry literally lost everything. He lost his title, he lost his home, he lost his family, he lost his reputation, he lost his money, he lost his protection for his family. But, here he is on the other side of all that standing. He is standing firm as a loving husband, as a father and as an amazing representative of his county. He is still choosing to love his “enemies”- his father, his brother, Camilla. He is still fighting to have some kind of real relationship with them and build it based on honesty and truth. But they have been unwilling. But I love his longing and his openness in the face of so much rejection. He talks about William hitting him and pushing him to the ground at one point. He got back up and William said, “come on hit me-I know you want to. He walked away. He had the strength to walk away. That is freedom. I can’t imagine facing the amount of persecution he has endured from the media and instead of sticking his head in the sand, he chooses to rise. He rises by being vulnerable, authentic, and truthful. The truth always rises from the ashes. It is rare that I am inspired by someone I don’t know that much about or that I don’t personally know. After reading Spare, I feel inspired by Harry. He is choosing to protect his wife and family. He is choosing to live in truth. He is choosing to forge his own path as scary as that must have been. He has shown true courage in the midst of being slandered and misunderstood. I for one am rooting him on in his journey and saying well done.
Theater Therapy 