Dear Souls and Hearts Members,

In the spring of 1521 at the battle of Pamplona, a prideful 30-year-old Ignatius of Loyola convinced his commanding officer to defend the city walls against a vastly superior force of more than 10,000 French soldiers.  The battle ended when a cannonball broke Ignatius’ leg, sending him to an extended, painful convalescence from multiple surgeries where his stimulus-seeking adventuresome nature was sorely tried.  According to published accounts,...

Dear Souls and Hearts Members,

In episode 120 of the Interior Integration for Catholics podcast, titled Understanding narcissism more deeply with IFS, I introduced you to four characters, two of whom were married – Thomas, who presents with overt narcissism and Juanita, who manifests patterns of covert narcissism.  In last week’s reflection, Gently approaching what underlies problematic daydreams, we looked at how Thomas’ daydreams and fantasies were related to his...

Dear Souls and Hearts members,

Over the past several weeks, we have journeyed together through a seriously Catholic exploration of daydreams from many different angles. Thank you for traveling with me. Let’s briefly review our course thus far:

• July 19, 2023 Daydreams: The Secular Experts Speak
• August 9, 2023 Catholics Discussing the Downsides of Daydreams
• August 16, 2023 Catholics Discussing the Upsides of Daydreaming
• August 23, 2023 The Metaphysics of the Human Act by Monty De La...

Dear Souls and Hearts Members,

As we continue our series on daydreams together, this week’s reflection begins with a response I received from one of our Souls and Hearts members. Let me share (with her permission) part of what she wrote:

One minute I’m in our dining room, listening to my husband deliver another drawn-out lecture, and the next minute – I’m at his funeral…Wearing black, sitting in the front pew, the fragrant bouquets are abundant…Listening...

Dear Souls and Hearts Members,

Our Souls and Hearts philosopher-in residence continues his exploration of the moral aspects of daydreaming, focusing on voluntariness of internal acts. This weekly reflection provides initial guidance on how to evaluate the moral qualities of your daydreams, grounded in Catholic understanding of the human person.

The Metaphysics of Voluntariness

Monty De La Torre, Ph.D.

In last week’s reflection, we gave a general metaphysical...

Dear Souls and Hearts Members,

I am very pleased to offer you a weekly reflection from Souls and Hearts’ philosopher-in-residence, Dr. Monty De La Torre, who is continuing our series on daydreaming by helping us distinguish among different types of acts, laying out the process of human acts, and introducing us to the ethics of acts in this weekly reflection.

The Metaphysics of the Human Act

By Monty De La Torre

The last few articles have been discussing the topic of...

Dear Souls and Hearts members,

I want to invite you to pursue an ordered, balanced, wholesome, and holy understanding of the use of imagination and daydreaming to bring you to both psychological wholeness and a deeper intimate union with God and Mary. With that goal in mind, this reflection will shine a light using many reputable Catholic sources demonstrating that daydreaming and imagination can be good, holy, and even necessary elements in the fullness of our Catholic life.

We’ll...

Dear Souls and Hearts Members,

As a clinical psychologist, I am particularly interested in the inner lives of people – not just what one sees from outside, the external acts, but what is going on deep within a person, at the level of the heart.

In our last weekly reflection, we explored what the secular experts had to offer us about daydreams.

As is the case for many youngsters, my son James at five years old wanted to know if people and actions were “good” or...

Dear Souls and Hearts Members,

Have you ever wondered, “How does Dr. Peter research the content for the Interior Integration for Catholics podcast and these weekly reflections? What are his ‘go-to’ primary resources for grounding the best of secular psychology and human formation in an authentically Catholic understanding of the human person?” Well hang on, curious readers, I’m about to take you on a guided tour of my bookshelf with a desire to inspire your...

Dear Souls and Hearts Members,

I am excited to share with you a new series of weekly reflections on daydreams and the ways that your daydreams can help you understand yourself, your parts, and your needs in new, deeper, and better ways.

Often, daydreams are not what they seem. So much happens beneath the surface of a daydream. In this series, I offer you an invitation to delve into what your daydreams can teach you about you.

Our outreach, Souls and Hearts, is all about bringing you the best...