1968, Duality to Unity

Dr. John E. Monaco was 13 years old in 1968, when this country and his family faced identity crises. Torn between the anti-war, civil rights movement to which he responded fundamentally, and his family’s conservative political views, he chose to survive by hiding his true feelings, denying and burying his emotions. Later in his practice of pediatric critical care and his failing marriage, his ability to hide his true emotions was at first helpful, but the intrinsic dishonesty of this practice began slowly but steadily to eat away at his soul. At his moment of existential crisis, as a result of his own study, therapy, and writing, he realized the it is not a requirement of successful life to choose only one element of the apparent duality of emotions, but rather to accept the cornucopia of emotions we all experience and to accept them as UNITY, accept them all and deny none. In order to choose which emotions serve us best, one must have a solid sense of self.

Dr. Monaco offers the reader tools with which one can effectively access the most honest emotional reaction to any given life situation, and one which best serves one’s own sense of self. This book is at once a review of the amazing history of 1968, a portrait of how many baby boomers reacted to the tumult of that time, and a psychological/emotional toolbox for those facing emotional crises.