May 1 - May 2. Cologne Germany to Prague Czech Republic
This seems unrelated - and it probably is - but my brother in law Gerd sent me an email as he often does summarizing recent scientific literature (because he knows the long ago would be scientist in me still enjoys glimpse of that other world and other life I did not choose). An article struck me - here, rather than try to translate it I will just include it -
Abstract: The neurobiological mechanisms underlying the induction and remission of depressive episodes over time are not well understood. Through repeated longitudinal imaging of medial prefrontal microcircuits in the living brain, we found that prefrontal spinogenesis plays a critical role in sustaining specific antidepressant behavioral effects and maintaining long-term behavioral remission. Depression-related behavior was associated with targeted, branch-specific elimination of postsynaptic dendritic spines on prefrontal projection neurons. Antidepressant-dose ketamine reversed these effects by selectively rescuing eliminated spines and restoring coordinated activity in multicellular ensembles that predict motivated escape behavior. Prefrontal spinogenesis was required for the long-term maintenance of antidepressant effects on motivated escape behavior but not for their initial induction.
Now I’ve been away from molecular biology for more than 40 years and I do not speak the language. But I love the idea - if I read it accurately which is a big if - that depression involves eliminating spines from neurons and that relief from depression restores them. I am picturing branches growing off neurons as metaphors for branching out, proliferating alternatives mentally and behaviorally. But what I liked most was the phrase “escape motivated behavior.” I hadn’t heard that before. I googled it and found the complement: “exploratory behavior.” I am struck that my fault finding and worrycare escape motivated behavior and I am trying to learn (whether by focusing on my external senses and looking for sights and sounds and tactile sensations I like, or by focusing on the proprioceptive aspect of emotion and being curious how and where I experience my fear, anger or sadness) to shift from escape motivated thinking into exploratory thinking. (The really tricky part is that as soon as one focuses on trying to escape from escape motivated thinking one has trapped oneself in that thinking ... )
Meanwhile when my feet last touched the ground we were walking from Sabine and Agnes’s present home to their future home. Photo 2 is a collage of photos of the new flat. My favorite is the lower right where Sabine, Chris and I are sitting on imaginary chairs in the dining-room-to-be.
It is very interesting to explore the future as a space under construction. We joked a bit about their commitment to leave their old home, when buildings under construction are so notorious for not being ready in time. But they told us that part of their contract was thetcthe seller would pay for hotel stay and storage if it was not ready when promised, and the project manager had told them they had never missed their deadline and had to pay for hotel stats.
We talked a lot during our visit about the wonder and miracle of our friendship. Chris and Sabine met more than 35 years ago. When Chris lectured on Freud at the Jung Institute in Zurich, Sabine came and drive us to southern Switzerland so we could see the sun shining. She was on her way to Vienna, where she was courting her new love, Agnes. The four of us have been friends for decades since then. We have managed despite the distance to somehow get together every year or two and to share many beautiful moments and adventures. This time they had postponed their own vacation plans and come to pick us up in the Netherlands, hosted us in their usual generous attentive way and managed to prepare for their own trip so we could all take the train together to Dusseldorf airport to fly away, they to Majorca, we to Prague.
Yesterday though Sabine who so loves her beautiful city needed to take us to visit the beautiful cathedral. I wish I could have made a video as the escalator slowly emerged from the underground tram and the beautiful old cathedral (“it took 500 years to build it,” Sabine said) slowly appeared against the sky. I couldn’t help seeing the fragility of its beauty, thinking of Notre Dame, and that made it seem more precious. Sabine commented that it had been spared in the bombing of Cologne by the allies and she always imagined the young pilots, moved by its beauty from the air, taking care not to drop their bombs too near it.
Photo 4 shows the four of us - Agnes, Sabine, Chris and me - on the far side of the Rhine, with the cathedral and bridge behind us.
That bridge like other bridges in Europe was covered with thousands and thousands of locks inscribed with names of lovers and left as a symbol of their hope to stay together. It’s funny - bridges strike me as a beautiful symbol of connection but locks make me feel uncomfortable. The metaphor suggests to me the feeling of being trapped or locked into a relationship. Agnes said that on one of the bridges in France the locks had become so heavy that they became dangerous and had to be moved off the bridge. That makes visceral sense to me - that the weight of all that metal trying to guarantee security actually threatens the supple structure of the bridge that links together the two sides of the river.
Photo 5 shows the locks on the bridge - well, some of them.
This morning we all rode the train to Dusseldorf and we flew to Prague. My first impression of Prague (alas I took no photo of it) was of many many lilac bushes in bloom alongside the road and the scent of them filling the car. Our lilacs had not yet bloomed on Orcas when we left, and I have never smelled lilacs so strong they could fill a car driving past, and so for me Prague is now the city of lilacs.
It is late. Time I headed for bed. Tomorrow (Friday) I think we will explore Prague a little bit. The tour doesn’t start until Saturday.
Thank you for walking with me. I wish you the smell of lilacs, light and supple bridges, no heavy locks, a sweet balance of exploratory and escape motivated behavior, that all your eggs may hatch and all your dreams under construction be ready on time for you to move into when you need them - and of course that you will want to join me on this trail again.
ps. It occurs to me you might like a copy of our itinerary, so here it is:
EXPLORING FREUD'S WORLD with Chris Downing
May 4-18, 2019
Prague – Pribor – Vienna – Salzburg – Bad Gastein – Vienna – London
ITINERARY
Throughout this trip we will have an opportunity to see the connections between the geographical and historical contexts of Freud’s life and the central themes of his theoretical vision. Beginning in the Czech Republic— where Freud was born and spent his early childhood—will lead naturally into consideration of his understanding of the lifelong impact of very early experience. Lectures are scheduled at approximately 6:00 PM.
Saturday, May 4
We will begin in Prague with a Welcome Orientation and Dinner; overnight at Hotel Golden Crown—modern design in a hundred-year old palace. Please meet in the hotel lobby between 4:30-4:45 PM and we will walk together to the location of our gathering and dinner.
Sunday, May 5
A tour of Terezin, the concentration camp where at least one of Freud's sisters died—which will help us recognize how radically the world in which Freud lived was ended by the Holocaust; a box lunch will be provided. Bus arrives at 8 and departs at 8:30 am; return to hotel at approximately 2:30 pm; evening lecture by Chris; overnight at Hotel Golden Crown
Monday, May 6
Free Day in Prague; explore the culture in Wenceslas Square, visit the Old Jewish Cemetery, sit in a cafe and enjoy the sights; overnight at Hotel Golden Crown
Tuesday, May 7
Bus to Pribor to visit Freud’s Birthplace (3.5 hour drive); overnight at Hotel Troyer surrounded by the Beskydy Mountains; group dinner
Wednesday, May 8
Bus from Pribor to Vienna (3 hour drive), where Freud lived for almost 80 years; three nights at Hotel Regina, offering elegant traditional Viennese hospitality; evening lecture by Chris; group dinner
Thursday, May 9
A Walking Tour of Vienna, sponsored by the Freud Museum Vienna; Go back in time in search of "Freud's Vienna" and visit places that played a key role in his life and daily routine such as the university he attended, the hospitals where he worked, and the cafes he regularly visited; we will also visit the temporary exhibit at the Freud Museum Vienna; evening lecture by Chris; overnight at Hotel Regina; Meet in hotel lobby, depart at 8:45 AM
Friday, May 10
Free Day in Vienna, remembering that Freud's Vienna was also the Vienna of Wittgenstein, Schnitzler, Mahler, Klimt, and Schiele; evening lecture by Chris; overnight at Hotel Regina
Saturday, May 11
Bus to Salzburg (3 hour drive); overnight at Hotel Bristol, site of the First International Psychoanalytic Congress on April 27, 1908; group dinner
Sunday, May 12
Free Day in Salzburg; Stroll along the Salzach River, immerse yourself in historic Salzburg; evening lecture by Chris; overnight at Hotel Bristol
Monday, May 13
Bus to Bad Gastein (1.5 hour drive), one of Freud’s favorite vacation sites where he and his family spent most of their summers and where Freud did much of his most important writing; overnight at Villa Excelsior, a 19th Century mansion with views of the Gastein Valley, where Freud stayed; evening lecture by Chris; group dinner
Tuesday, May 14
Bus back to Vienna (3.5 hour drive); overnight at Hotel Regina
Wednesday, May 15
Fly to London, where Freud died 80 years ago, just after the outbreak of WWII; three nights at The Morton Hotel in the heart of Bloomsbury, overlooking the beautiful Russell Square; evening lecture by Chris; group dinner; depart hotel at 9:15 AM, drive to Vienna Airport for 11:55 AM British Airways flight to London
Thursday, May 16
Visit the Freud Museum London, formerly Freud's home, with his antiquities, library, desk, and ‘The Couch’; overnight at The Morton Hotel
Friday, May 17
Free Day in London; Celebratory Gathering at the Freud Museum with Closing Discussion, Reception, and Dinner at The Freud Museum London; overnight at The Morton Hotel
Saturday, May 18
End of Tour; Fly home!
Itinerary subject to change.
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