You want I should bop you with this here link?*

Teletherapy sessions with my teens have, by inspiration, been freewheeling, wholesome, or fulsome, and serendipitous. A therapist can be an entertainer and can kick enlightenment in their faces. I’ve found myself sending the adolescents links which appear in the chat box on their screens and which I direct them to open and absorb right then. Always relevant to their issues, at least by the stretch of my imagination, are these founts of wisdom: 

Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem – Ayn Rand’s novel, Anthem – https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1250/1250-h/1250-h.htm. Get shook.

H.G. Wells’ novel, The Time Machine – http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35/35-h/35-h.htm. Get profound. 

Lloyd deMause’s 1997 speech, “The History of Child Abuse,” section The Child as Poison Container – https://psychohistory.com/articles/the-history-of-child-abuse/. Get too wise.

Yuja Wang, pianist, Schubert’s Der Erlkönig – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_BmRekeJ8A. The hook of memory, drama and genius.

Evgeny Kissin, pianist, Scriabin, Etude op. 8 no. 12 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmdGbUzv4SM. Rage and passion.

Khatia Buniatishvili, pianist, Schumann Piano Concerto – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfn-C9umBSo. Mammoth mammaries. Now why does she do that? 

Ludovic-Amadéus Selmi, pianist, Louis-Moreau Gottschalk’s Berceuse – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS8SmcrBcbs. Inner baby trigger nostalgia. 

Arthur Rubinstein, pianist, Chopin’s Funeral March (Piano Sonata #2, third movement) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ido55uT5U0k. Mordant humor.

Meditation music, nature sounds, youtube. Can’t sleep.

The Pessimistic Shrink blog articles. This is you.

Monty Python, Military March – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2ecasPqhgk. Trip their mind.

Thomas Gordon’s “The Power of the Language of Acceptance” excerpt from Parent Effectiveness Training – https://www.naturalchild.org/articles/guest/thomas_gordon3.html. Give this to your parents.

Robin Norwood’s “Characteristics of Men and Women Who Love Too Much” pdf from her book, Women Who Love Too Much – https://ta-tutor.com/sites/ta-tutor.com/files/handouts/ram167.pdf. For the precocious teen relationshipper. 

Nathaniel Branden’s mini-lecture on his postulate of “social metaphysics” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmQAnVh6K-4. Big splat for teens standing on the feet of other teens.

Charles Bukowski, “Go All the Way,” poem – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL2T0XRzWUI. Inspiration?

Dylan Thomas reading his poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mRec3VbH3w. For the literary.

Paul Quinnett, online book: Suicide: The Forever Decision, Chapter 6, “The Bug In the Cup – http://www.developmentaldiscoverycenter.com/FOREVER%20DECISION%20SUICIDAL%20QPR%20BOOK.pdf. Help against hopelessness.

Yes, there is suicide info, the harshness of Bukowski, boobs where you shouldn’t expect them, immature parents, I-love-to-hate Ayn Rand, Branden’s chilling voice and lesson, politically incorrect Monty Python. My kids can take it. Can yours?

The youngsters, stuck at home, have been describing themselves as “going stir-crazy,” going dormant, or as overworked when teachers barrage them with online busywork and ponderous assignments. One boy, indolent like molasses on morphine, informed me that he is “good at deteriorating” and “pretty used to doing nothing.” Several kids are suffering among family that is enmeshed or mutually estranged, all in the same house with nothing warm or stimulating going on. Though they may just bounce off, I’ve wanted to shake their spiritual stagnation with wayward ideas and stimuli – classical music, short novels, inspirational views. Expand yourself. Find some diagonal paths in your mind, up and out of your house.

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* Herbie Popnecker – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbie_Popnecker. (“You want I should bop you with this here lollipop?”)