THE PSYCHOLOGIST

1. In his office

The psychologist was sitting at his desk, speaking on the telephone to his wife. While he talked, he doodled on his note pad a little drawing of a heart pierced by an arrow, with his and his wife's initials placed in the center. After the conversation he looked at what he had drawn. With surprise in his eyes, he wondered: "How strange something so small can mean so much!"

2. He talks with his wife

Psychologist: "I've been thinking about little things that mean much, and I have discovered no less than twenty five different objects in my office to which I have some emotional attachment. I'm sure if I looked more thoroughly, I would discover still more."

His wife: "I'm sure you would, dear. Just by looking around I can see dozens of things that mean much to me."

Psychologist: "We could say we are surrounded by expressions of love."

His wife: "Yes I suppose we could."

3. He talks to a psychiatrist friend

Psychiatrist: "But being attached to objects is not the remedy for a defective personality or mind."

Psychologist: "I never said it was, but don't you think that if we looked more closely at what surrounds us, we would discover at least some objects that should remind us of love, and therefore reassure us that we are loved by someone, sometimes."

Psychiatrist: "For some, that's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

Psychologist: "But isn't that your job? Or at least it should be, trying to find love in a paper heart."

QUESTIONS TO ILLUSTRATION

1. Look around you.

Look at yourself.

What can you find that means much to you?

a) Give a few examples of what you find: things of sentimental value, the pen you use, your watch, etc...

b) Write a line or two about one of these things, what it means to you, why you attach importance to it, how you feel about it.

2. The psychologist tells us that by looking deeply at one's surroundings, one can find love, or at least be reminded of it.

What can finding love in things bring to you?

1. A craving to buy more things?

2. A desire to receive many gifts?

3. A need to be surrounded by diamonds and jewels?

4. An understanding that little things can mean a lot?

5. A realization that objects have other values?

6. A knowledge that love can deepen the meaning of things?
   
   Choose the deepest answer and justify your choice.
   
   
   

3. When the psychologist says to the psychiatrist: 'But isn't that your job? Or at least it should be, trying to find love in a paper heart', he implies that:

1. mentally disturbed people need to discover their hearts.

2. the psychologist has discovered many things by looking at the drawing of a little heart.

3. finding love in things can lead to finding love in their hearts.

4. things are expressions of love

5. everything can be seen as an expression of love in one way or another.

6. the psychiatrist has not looked deeply enough at the things that surround him, or at the world he lives in.

Write down a few lines or speak about one of the above points, showing what it means to you.

4. A gift is an expression of love. Why do expressions of love mean so much more than most other objects or possessions?

5. Write a few examples of the specks of dust you can discover in the psychologist.
   Choose two or three of the examples that you found, explain why these specks of dust are universes.