By How to Change the World | Episode #72
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Dr. Royce Fitts is a licensed marriage and family therapist, theologian, and minister whose work blends psychotherapy with exploring life’s deeper meaning. As a holistic spiritual counselor and dream worker, he helps people navigate mental health struggles and create beauty and meaning amidst life’s challenges.
His new book, “The Geography of the Soul” chronicles his transformative journey along England’s ancient Ridgeway Trail after major upheavals like divorce. Through vivid storytelling, Dr. Fitts invites readers to ponder their own “geography” – the metaphorical landscapes, storms, and awakenings that shape our personal growth.
The book is a profound meditation on authenticity, vulnerability, and the healing power of embracing life’s tectonic shifts. Dr. Fitts weaves together dreamscapes, raw personal revelations, and the rich history surrounding the ancient trail. His poetic writing immerses readers in the sights, sounds and soul of the English countryside as both the outer journey and inner odyssey unfold.
“Dreams seem to be a way to help us evolve, to be better humans and better life forms…an instinct of creativity that moves us into imagining something new, some way to grow or change.”
– Dr. Royce Fitts
In this episode, Dr. Fitts shares how major life upheavals catalyzed his ‘stravage’ — a Scottish word meaning “to wander aimlessly,” — a term he uses to describe his deeply personal journey along the ancient Ridgeway Trail in England.
This transformative experience formed the basis of his book, “The Geography of the Soul.” In it, he discusses the metaphor of our inner lives mirroring the outer geography – with personal “tectonic shifts,” storms, and periods of profound disorientation akin to the physical landscapes around us.
Dr. Fitts also delves into his passion for dream analysis and interpretation, explaining how he views dreams as an instinctive creative force that helps propel our evolution as humans. He believes engaging with our dream worlds can expand our healing, imagination and ability to envision positive change. The role of authenticity and vulnerability is also explored – Dr. Fitts aims to provoke readers to ponder their own “woundings” and take responsibility for creating meaning amidst life’s challenges.
Ultimately, the book is an evocative meditation on how embracing our authentic selves, including the upheavals that shape our “inner geographies,” can be a catalyst for personal growth and potentially global healing.
Dr. Fitts invites audiences on a soulful introspective journey mirroring the profound one he undertook.
