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I don't share many of my fellow therapists' enthusiasm for wholeness. I like fragments and pieces, innuendoes and suggestions. I expect never to feel like a whole person, because I'm so aware of the fragmented nature of many of my emotions, the plans I have for my life, the elements of character that are never fully present or rounded off. In the same way, I like to see sculptures of a goddess with no head or arms, or just a piece of torso. Temple ruins and the remains of a civilization make much more sense in pieces than if we were to come across a ghost town intact except for the human citizenry.
Decay, corruption, falling apart, memory, traces of the past -- these are all aspects of life that are with us every day. They may hint at failure, ignorance, or some other imperfection, but they are a significant dimension of all kinds of life, including our own interior experience. When I entertain memories, I see plenty of ruins -- failed marriages, dead relatives, houses no longer in existence, careers ended in their prime. A melancholic mistiness may surround these memories, but that, too, is an important part of life.
-- Thomas Moore, The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life
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