FEST Writing Group

This is an experience report from this week’s 2-day Differentiated Universal Self Transcendental Meditation Retreat. This is a kind of research report.

February 1, 2026

The first meditation on Friday morning was deeper than those prior to the retreat.  What does that mean?  There was a larger.

Note: This winter Lorna Hecht-Zablow published a well written piece in Family Systems Forum on erosion of theory. I talked to Lorna, then published a response this spring. There is some connection between that piece and this one.

These thoughts were stimulated after Patrick Stinson’s visit to.

Differentiation is a psycho-physiological mind state associated with a way of functioning in the multigenerational family. Transcendental Meditation cultivates differentiation of self. The techniques of Bowen theory are different from TM, but their target is the same. Those inspired to grow differentiation of self have a rich menu of tools and techniques to.

By Erik Thompson

This essay explores the proposal that sages from the past can inform us about the nature of higher stages of differentiation of self.  

In these three pages from the final chapter of War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, the main character, Pierre, reflects on.

The theoretical physicist and public intellectual Carl Sagan, in his science fiction novel “Contact”, tells of an advanced society from another galaxy that decides it is time to share their wormhole technology with earthlings. The technology allows humans to travel to meet them. The heroine of the story, played by Jodi Foster in.

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Prying Ourselves from Cages of Loyalty with Slippery fingers? "The Banshees of Inisherin" A film by Martin McDonagh Streaming on HBO MAX Review by Erik Thompson In Irish mythology, a Banshee is a harbinger of death, OK? So think twice about watching the English playwright Martin McDonagh's new film. But "Banshee" has a ring to it, right? Is it as.

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“In one sacred moment, my questions were hushed”   -from the popular song The Spirit of Fatima, by Don Maclean* (see lyrics and link below) “UNUSUAL LIFE EXPERIENCES” CAN GROW DOS

• In his December webcast, Mike Kerr stated: “Bowen said there were two ways to grow DOS. Work on the family of origin and unusual life experiences”.
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When self is embedded in others, our problem seems to be without.  But is within. • a son’s new wife doesn’t want to visit • a mother refuses to accept her dementia • a spouse won’t move with us to Hawaii The problem is not our Self but its embeddedness. • a child gets cancer • a president we revile • social.