I've been surprised in two directions. I ultimately found therapy extremely enfeebling, though I didn't realize its consequences at the time. The structure being a supplicant to an assumed all-knowing authority figure (for that's how they presented themselves) habituated my helplessness and sense of victimhood.

But then I've been surprised at who I am and what I've been able to accomplish professionally, in my artistic pursuits and making a difference in family and community. I found the real power, and discovering myself, comes in the living, and there is no shortcut for that.