The Road Not Taken
Reflection by Steve Michelson
I went for a walk earlier this week at dusk. The air was mild, the sky clear and the sunset pink. Normally, I turn to the left but a voice within begged me to turn right as it was a path less traveled. At an intersection at the top of the street, I chanced meeting my neighbor, Kevin, whom I had not seen for months. Our exchange was warm and welcoming as we shared stories about life during COVID, our immediate families, our grandchildren, and our profession as we both work with children and families.
Kevin then shared that the Newborn Behavioral Institute was inviting posts about poetry. Whereupon he asked me for my thoughts. Without hesitating I uttered Robert Frost's "A Road Not Taken" and asked me if I might write why, it impressed me. We parted ways but I remained focused on his request. I first heard it recited at JFK's inauguration. Its words and meaning have rung true even to today. To me, JFK was young, energetic and idealistic. I was adolescent, naïve and searching. It was on Longwood Ave walking home coming home from school at the steps of Harvard Medical School that I heard that his path ended in such a sudden and untimely manner. Everyone was so grieved and lost.
Upon further reflection, I realized that there have been many paths that I've encountered that were formative in my career as a psychologist. A few years later after that event, I led a project for the Museum of Science. It was on a path on the Southern Presidentials of the White Mountains. I was guiding a group of inner-city youth who visited such settings for the first time. We encountered a sudden and intense storm. Their aggressive, non compliant behavior changes suddenly to pensive and regulated. I, curiously, wanted to know why and subsequently chose the path of clinical psychology. Subsequently, I also completed summiting all 4000-foot peaks. In my first job at Bay Cove Mental Health, I led a cooking group with the same population. Through that experience and in conducting home visits, I learned much about humanity and empathy. During the ensuing years of clinical practice, there have been numerous children, adolescents and families that I have met who faced the challenge of searching for their path; some had a choice but were afraid, others were stuck on a road of comfort, familiarity or not knowing of another, and yet, others, because of life events, were blocked from choosing any path at all. My encounter with Kevin also reminded me of chance encounter of meeting Dr. Brazelton at his 99th birthday celebration which was hosted by a close friend. Berry's warm, melodic and patient voice were as memorable as was his loving, kind, empathic and knowledge-seeking eyes. He was so welcoming. He opened the paths for so many.
As I continued home, Venus and Jupiter were shining brightly in the southern sky with Saturn positioned between them as the half-moon rose to catch up. I stopped and paused at this peaceful moment hoping that our world, following the path of James Webb lens, might discover new parts of the universe. Yet, at the same time here on earth, we are facing new roads yet to be taken: to seek peace, unity, and health to our planet and to all. SM: 1/14/22
-Steven Michelson, Ph.D.
The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Thanks very much.
Steven Michelson is a clinical psychologist who has practiced in both Acton and Harvard Massachusetts for over forty years and works with children, adolescents and families. In 1983, he founded Life Management Associates and has been its director since. In 2017, he went into semi-retirement. During that summer, he attended Hebrew University in Jerusalem to study how countries and communities manage trauma, in addition to his clinical practice, he supervises clinical graduate students from both Lesley University and William James College. In 2020, he joined the Mental Health Committee of the Acton-Boxborough United Way to assess the impact of the COVID pandemic and is presently developing a program to build resilience within the communities. Dr. Michelson is a graduate of Clark University and earned his doctorate at Nova Southeastern University. He completed his clinical training in a postdoctoral internship at Shephard Pratt Hospital in Baltimore. Over the years he has been a consultant to the Pediatric Intervention Team of Emerson Hospital and developed an embedded practice within a large pediatric practice at Health Alliance Hospital.
He has been married to his wife Susan for fifty years, has two sons who live with their families in Chicago and NYC and has five grandchildren.