Let Me Tell You a Story: Tales along the road to happiness

‘Traveling, watching movies and reading books’ is my usual reply when I’m asked what my hobbies are. Most would agree that films and books have at least one thing in common: there’s a story to be told. But, do they have anything in common with traveling? I believe so. When I was younger, I used to enjoy watching movies to escape from my reality and its problems. Traveling and books had the same effect: they allowed me to escape my everyday life.

The inner journey

Nowadays, I think there’s much more to these three activities than a route to escape. As a screenwriting student, I learned the importance of the character arc in a story; this refers to the transformation of a character over the course of a story. At the beginning of a story, the character usually faces a problem. But in order to overcome this problem, they have to change. So, in most stories (either in film or literature) the character has to go through an inner journey. But it is not just the character; it is also the spectator or reader. We watch films and read books for a number of different reasons: not only to escape, but also to improve. Not only to feel, but also to learn. The first time I went abroad was at the age of eight. Traveling to Thailand as such a young age was such a powerful and eye-opening experience. Coming in contact with a different civilization, religion and culture shaped my whole approach to traveling. I travel not just to visit a new place, city or country, and take beautiful pictures, but because the experience of traveling, quite like reading a book or watching a movie, allows me to learn about the world and improve as a person. In that sense, traveling, reading and watching films have something in common not only with each other but also with psychotherapy. I have previously written about the different therapeutic approaches and their benefits. Psychotherapy can help us learn (about ourselves, as well as new skills) and use this knowledge and skills in order to improve.

Jorge Bucay

Jorge Bucay is an Argentinian gestalt psychotherapist, psychodramatist, and writer. Gestalt therapy is a form of psychotherapy with a focus on personal responsibility, the individual’s experience in the present moment, their relationship with the therapist, and the environmental and social contexts of their life. Bucay has written a number of books in Spanish, but unfortunately most of them are yet to be translated into English. Let Me Tell You a Story: Tales Along the Road to Happiness (original title: ‘Déjame que te cuente’) is one of the few available in English.

Let Me Tell You a Story: Tales Alongs the Road to Happiness

The book consists of a good 50 chapters, each one containing a story. The author writes from the perspective of Demián, a young man embarking on a psychotherapy journey. Demián tells us the stories that his therapist – Jorge – told him during the therapy sessions. Not all these stories are from Bucay’s imagination; some have been inspired by and adapted from tales (old and new), poems and books. Both the individual stories and the book as a whole are inspiring and full of wisdom and take home messages worth reflecting on. Another strength of this book (and Bucay’s writing in general) is the simplicity in which he writes; this makes for a pleasant (and easy) read despite the fact that what he writes about has really deep meaning. Moreover, even though he lives and practises in Argentina, his writings transcend frontiers and are of relevance to readers across the world, which explains his popularity in different countries. Let Me Tell You a Story: Tales Along the Road to Happiness is by no means a self-help book. And, of course, is no substitute for therapy. Despite its title, it is not a shortcut to happiness. Yet, it can have therapeutic value in that it creates a space to allow the readers to reflect on their own emotional world. In that sense, like Demián, they can embark on their own inner journey and move along the arc.

Further reading

Bucay has also written five books that constitute the series Hojas de Ruta (Roadmaps):

• El Camino de la Autodependencia (The Road of Self-Dependence)
• El Camino del Encuentro (The Road of Encounter)
• El Camino de Las Lágrimas (The Road of Tears)
• El Camino de la Felicidad (The Road of Happiness)
• El Camino de la Espiritualidad: Llegar a la Cima Y Seguir Subiendo (The Road of Spirituality)

I have read some of these books in Greek and I’ve also found them of great value. I hope they get translated into English soon, so more people can benefit from Bucay’s writing.

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank Daniela Petracco and Europa Editions for sending me a copy of Jorge Bucay’s book for read and review.

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Hasta mañana!

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)