This book arises from a talk I first gave at Psychology Salon, Changeways Clinic’s lecture series for the public. Many thanks to the staff and organizers at Vancouver Public Library for hosting us. I would also like to thank the many participants at these talks who completed our surveys about the techniques they would use if, for some perverse reason, it was their goal to become unhappy.
My chief thanks in this book must go to my clients over the years, who have struggled mightily with a variety of concerns, chief among them clinical depression. They have shown the nature of true courage and have educated me much more than I have educated them. Their tolerance for somewhat unorthodox ideas, including the $10 Million Question, has been remarkable.
This strange project obviously runs the risk of trivializing depression and the very real pain that people experience. I hope that I have managed to make it absolutely clear that this is not my intent. We all find ourselves accidentally sabotaging our own happiness. Inevitably, my primary model for this tendency has been myself.
This book took shape against a backdrop of multiple conversations with friends and colleagues, including the psychologists at Changeways Clinic—Martha Capréol, Adrienne Wang, Anne Howson, Lindsey Thomas, Nancy Prober, Ekin Blackwell, Suja Srikameswaran, and Quincy-Robyn Young. Our clinic staff, chiefly Emily Wilson and Heather Cowie, held the fort, took over administration, juggled referrals, and organized talks and programs. Colleagues Dan Bilsker and Susan Mackey-Jamieson provided thoughts and feedback over dinner.
The great people at New Harbinger Publications have been extremely helpful in the preparation of the book. Thanks go to Melissa Kirk, Nicola Skidmore, Vicraj Gill, and Jennifer Eastman for their invaluable suggestions and tireless work on the manuscript. Thanks also to Michael Clark for his translation of lines from Dante’s Inferno.
The book was written for the most part at a rural retreat in British Columbia. Many thanks to friends, relatives, and other guests who were tolerant enough to allow me to vanish for hours at a time. Yes, I heard the lawnmower and it was music to my ears. My chief support (and Buddhist encyclopedia), as with all of these writing projects, has been Geoff B, without whom the light might never shine.
Life has unexpected heartbreak and unpredictable joy. Some family members are with us from the beginning. Others appear on the journey. B, it was and is an honor.