creative joy
People are driven by many motives. Creativity is near the top of my list, perhaps just below love and connectedness. Intellectual and artistic creativity drive me. I enjoy the challenge of taking a psychotherapy session and turning it into an inspiring encounter for a client, via insight, emotion, humor, sharing, and authenticity. Unusual photographs also beckon me, whether they include strange angles, macro blowups of details we often ignore, juxtapositions of opposites, or an Aha! experience, where perplexity suddenly yields to surprise. Stained glass is more tedious, but allows the bizarre to be planned and executed via a medium that, like photography, celebrates light. Self-help chapters from Psychomechanics aid my clients, and Beyond Atheism has provided me an avenue to develop my own spirituality while sharing a religious alternative with others. The Finite Order is a zany spiritual novel that has danced through my mind for a three decades, but is finally completed. Creativity is an interplay of conscious and unconscious processes. I often awaken in the middle of the night, compelled to write down an idea, a gift from my unconscious mind that materializes from the associational depths of sleep. My children tell me I am weird. I say “Thank you.” But the real prize comes from sharing. I hope the following pages enrich you, as our paths intersect.
Psychology
Spirituality
Anthropocentrism
About Ed
Ed chandler -
psychologist,author,
photographer,
stained glass artist
Winter Ecstasy - Saint Moritz, Switzerland - 2014
Ed Chandler - The Psychologist
Turning Point Center for Psychological and Family Growth
Here in the Fort Walton Beach, Florida community, I pursue my career as a psychologist alongside my wife, D’Lane Miller, Ph.D., at Turning Point Center for Psychological and Family Growth. I enjoy working with teenagers, and have specialized in recovery from trauma-driven and dissociative disorders. I also assist couples, and help clients manage frustration and anger, as well as anxiety and depression. As my new books attest, I have been playing hooky from work on Fridays for the past few years, pursuing my wordcraft. I am now turning my attention to a novel that romps its way through supernatural venues in the pursuit of spiritual discovery.
I find ample time to dance and travel with D’Lane, and to play and ski with our three adult daughters, Lauren, Mikaela, and Karyn. When our grandson, Teddy, was 3 years old, I introduced him to the joys of skiing, but on a darker note, that same year, I was finally beaten down the slopes by our then 30-year-old, Karyn. In the spring of 2018, we welcomed our third grandson, Lucas, to the planet, after celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. In May of 2019, we joined our daugther, Lauren, for the birth of yet another grandson, Marsden (you can call him Mars).
Aside from work, family, and writing, I play with my camera and stained glass. I construct stained glass portraits and have created three books of photography. ?AHA! A Photographic Journey, highlights photos that zoom inside identifiable boundaries, perplexing the viewer until the “Aha!” moment. Iceland Exposed chronicles a two-week marital adventure around the Ring Road of Iceland. 19: A Photojournal of 2019, follows my travels with D’Lane on and across 2 continents. Like Mike the Tiger, I can also be found prowling LSU’s Tiger Stadium on Saturday night each autumn. Amidst all this doing, there is a need for just being, especially as death anxiety knocks on the door, and non-being approaches. Hopefully my photographs and words will aid your own celebration of being, as well as growth for those of you who are seeking psychological insight and coping skills, or are struggling with spiritual direction.
My journey began in Grand Island, New York, a few miles upstream from Niagara Falls. I was schooled in Catholicism, but found myself fond of question marks as a teenager. At Marquette University, my atheism and views on subjective morality blossomed, and I initiated my research on anthropocentrism (man-centered thinking and behavior). I eventually discovered that I had discarded the spiritual baby with the religious bathwater. Since then, I have explored secular spirituality, as a celebration of both consciousness and connectedness. Beyond Atheism is a synthesis of my atheist perspective, my movement toward secular spirituality, as well as my earlier anthropocentrism research and an accumulating arsenal of psychological practices.
In the fourth quarter of life, questions still beg for answers, but practices trump beliefs, and acceptance becomes paramount. We’re all on the road to find out. Hopefully, the offerings herein help on your own road to existential joy and satisfaction.
Out & About with Ed
Your Humble Narrator - Venice, Italy - 2014
Love of Skiing - Jackson Hole - 2011
Love Down Under - New Zealand - 2012
Otto Graham - Buffalo- 1950’s
First Time Dad in DC - 1982
Full Time Dad - Santa Barbara - 2010
I look forward to connecting with you.
