Author: Dr. Hare

“Dear Dr. Hare,

Marian just called to update my address and all. I’m intrigued that going to your office from my new place at Central Park West will now literally be a walk through the park – and a nice part of the park at that, with barely any tourists. I’ve confirmed our next appointment for Thursday [this] week.

This is a time of change for me. If it weren’t totally out of question, I’d love to invite you to see the new apartment. Doesn’t the place one lives in say so much about one’s personality? But I know, this is not appropriate (though I hate that word). I have to report that my arm may not fully heal, but it’s alright, it’s good enough already, and still getting better.

I’m back to work. Right now, I’m putting the final touches on my book, my most autobiographic yet, which I am quite excited about. And here’s a confession: I am putting in anonymous quotes from our correspondence. Appropriate? No? Oh dear! I assume that many people are not going to understand it. But I see that as a plus. It means that you cannot really object. Or can you? I think it makes the book better, it helps the images speak.

Here’s another question that I want to talk about with you. My blog, which you kind of initiated, has gained an astonishing number of readers. I’ll admit that this makes me very happy. Especially since I’ve enthusiastically done everything wrong right from the start, thinking that, what the heck, what counts most is that *I* like it. So the idea is to share this platform with a few more like-minded people, creative minds, liberated from the confines of their daily grind in creative, academic, or corporate positions, and whatnot.

I’m much looking forward to our meeting next week, and to hearing what you think.

Take care, Jens”

“Jens,

it’s good to hear that we shall finally speak in person. I am much disturbed by your laissez-faire-attitude regarding your arm. This is you – your body, your person! You ought to care. Please promise that you will do everything to get better.

You are right, I cannot come to your apartment. As concerns your book, it may be best if we both pretended that you never mentioned this plan. You shall have to do what you shall have to do as an artist, and I will try not to be self-conscious in our correspondence (or, for that matter, resentful: am I a source of creative material for you, or a person whose ideas you value? – but I shall put this aside; if I were to go into the question of whether you can use confidential therapeutic correspondence in your art, I don’t know where this would lead us.)

On to more constructive matters. It sure is a very good plan to invite like-minded creatives to contribute to your blog. All these years, you kept telling me that photography simply is a harsh life, without a home, and without a stable circle of people to relate to. And I know that, as hard as this is, this feeds into your work in good ways. But still, perhaps your guest-writers can help you change this a little?

But more than anything, do not cancel again. It is important to come to your sessions and speak in person.

Sincerely,
Dr. Hare”

[More from my correspondence with Dr. Hare, by far the best reason to head over to the Upper East Side now and then, below…]

“Dear Dr. Hare,

I’m very much looking forward to next week’s appointment. I’m in the middle of reprogramming my website. In theory, I love doing this. Yet, there’s always a maddening difficulty involved: making it run smoothly on Windows Explorer, especially on the older versions of it (not compliant with Web Standards, if that means anything to you…). You end up coding all kinds of hacks into your site to circumvent the glitches, which is genuinely painful for a purist like me. Ah! There goes the beauty of simplicity. All this really bothers me. Why should a piece of poorly done software have such power over me? And most of all, why do so many people still stick to this software, when there are much better choices?

So, before I come to your office, do you have any consolation for me, or an explanation of the ways of the world?

Thanks so much,
Jens”

“Dear Jens,

what can I say, I know nothing about computers. In fact, I went to my assistant to ask her about this, because I’m so badly informed. It turns out that she too uses the Explorer, so part of my office here is running on it. When I asked her what version we have, she said she didn’t know. So, we are part of the world that makes your life difficult. (Of course, I have my little notebook here on my desk with Firefox, which you downloaded for me, as you of course know. But would I have this if you hadn’t helped me?)

I see your point: why not choose better over worse? Isn’t that an easy choice? Perhaps, but first of all, one needs to care about it. Yes, I’m glad that I switched to my lovely new notebook, and I’m glad that things are really easy. But did I mind my old computer? Well, you would say that I did, because it was all a mess. But in my own memory, I didn’t.

Now, please don’t think that I don’t understand your frustration. It is in fact a deep psychological question why people do not tend to make the choices that are, by their own lights, best. Perhaps that’s why I’ve gone into this profession, because I want to know why. So, your question is not unheard, and not unappreciated. But it really is the question of whether human beings are, on the whole, rational or irrational, and I am not sure that I have found the answer yet.

And yes, please come in next week, we should talk – not about computers, preferably.

Yours,
Dr. Hare”