Ep. 21 - The Music Box Ft. Paul Gonsoulin, M.A. PLPC - Find the Good News with Oran Parker

Before Paul arrived to visit me on Find the Good News I could not have imagined the quality of the conversation we would have, nor the variety of things we would have to talk about. I met Paul years ago while volunteering time with the Southwest Louisiana Arts Council, and while we had a friendly rapport, I wouldn’t have said we were good friends. We were more like friendly acquaintances. It’s amazing how serious listening and good conversation can change things. It had been years since I’d spoken to Paul, and my only real exposure to him during that time had been from afar while filming local music events and festivals. When I inadvertently contacted Paul, I had actually been trying to reach out to the new 1950s cover band “Cry Baby” to see if a band member would like to come on the show and talk about the joyful sounds they’ve been bringing to the good people of the lake area. As it turns out, it was an auspicious thing that Paul happened to be that band member, and as it ends up, we had a lot more to talk about than music. If you listen to this show you probably know by now that a recurring theme is transformation, change, and the hard work, experimentation, and even pain, that it takes to turn the dial on your life in a positive direction. That’s exactly what Paul has been doing in these years since I last spoke to him. He’s been changing his life, his mind, his habits, and his thinking He’s been doing the work, experimenting, and transforming past pains and anxieties into something good. In fact, I don’t think I’d be going too far to say that he’s learned to let much of that pain go. The man that was sitting across from me is passing on the good works shared with him through counseling. He’s used those shared works to step on the path to awakening, becoming a counselor himself, passing on what he’s learned, adding new insights along the way. It seems to me that Paul is taking a whole-life view, incorporating everything into his journey, from his lifelong love of music—with special favor given to the Beatles—to Vipassana meditation. I may have accidentally contacted Paul Gonsoulin when looking for a little musical good news to share, but what I got was even better than good news. He challenged me, and it was good to push through and gain some new clarity on things in my life. In visiting with Paul I feel that I’ve had a conversation with another human being that—as Paul might put it—will have a durable benefit in my life.

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THIS EPISODE IS SPONSORED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com

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