Michael Wurth

Background

About Michael Wurth

I hold an MA in Comparative Literature from Indiana University, where I studied narrative and translation theory as well as literary postmodernism. Most of this work was about how people communicate across cultures - the rules we absently follow when we're judging the narratives that enable us to make sense of the world. In the middle of that academic bubble, it was easy to pretend to be above the real world. I also hold an MA in Counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio, where I specialized in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and its immediate derivatives, including mindfulness-informed therapeutics. Here, narratives are just as potent - but as a healer, results come first, even ones that don't always play well with academic models. Out in the real world, it's easy to pretend to be above academics. In previous iterations, I worked as a translator, screenwriter, script doctor, and commercial director for more than a decade in Los Angeles and Honolulu. I have been published widely, but never before in a blog, unless you count that bathroom stall in Bloomington. I also wrote a novel called "The Child at Forty," which needed to be written more than it needs to be read unless you identify with the title. I did not find that such a life appealed to a family. I now spend far more time with my wife and three children, and I help others to recover from painful narratives they have (generally by accident) inflicted upon themselves. Inspired by teachers of Theravada Buddhism and Ch'an Buddhism, I continue my meditative practice as part of my consulting work. In meditation, it's easy to pretend to be above it all. Which is why the hardest work is to get over yourself. And to return to the breath. That's what I aim to do.