On the importance of inner work and attending to one’s shadow.
Most of us are generally aware that there are both conscious and unconscious aspects to our minds, but most of us know very little about what constitutes either one.
Consciousness as a phenomenon itself is difficult to explain as it is, but most of us understand what we mean when we talk about conscious awareness. It is the unconscious mind where the mysterious depths lie.
We have a vague notion that our unconscious mind plays a role in the unfolding of our lives, but it often remains too abstract to really do anything with. …
On patting your dragon, feeding the dark wolf, and finding harmony within.
Shadows can be ominous. They play tricks on our eyes. We think we are seeing something that we are not. They may trigger our fight or flight mechanism and increase our heart rate, so it’s no wonder that the notion of a shadow self can sound intimidating at first.
Yet what we find with these ominous shadows is that as soon as we turn a light on them, their true form is revealed. The tall elongated figure that stared down upon us with a persistent gaze was only the bedpost. The craggy arm that reached into our room threatening to touch us was only the old tree in the backyard. With this newfound awareness, we can then turn off the light and look upon the same shadows without the fear and anxiety they produced only moments prior. …
Finding equilibrium and buoyancy in a turbulent world.
It is hard to escape the compounding effects of worry and concern. I suppose this is always the case, but the cumulative impact of the past year, months, weeks — sometimes even hours —can have a profound impact on our psyche.
On top of all the circumstantial issues and current events, it seems there has been an exponential shift in the way that we relate to one another. We are continually pushed to judge and segment those around us into categories based on the tenor of their social media posts, who they follow, what they like, or what types of questions they ask. …
You are the one who hears it.
There are so many different ways to grapple with the complexities of your mind and sense of self. I’ve written previously about the unconscious mind, the shadow self, and the psychology of dreams primarily from a Jungian perspective. But there is no one way of articulating the mysteries of the mind.
Every system resonates differently depending on where you are in life. If I tried to explore Jungian psychology at any other time in my life, I don’t think I would connect with it as I do now. …
A four-step process for doing your own dream work.
Dreams are wild and mysterious. They can feel profound especially in the first few minutes of coming out of them. However, attempts to derive meaning from them are often met with puzzlement. The dreams that felt so vivid and profound end up too slippery and abstract to really gain anything from them. Many of those dreams just end up forever forgotten.
There are dream dictionaries and such resources that attempt to explain what certain themes and symbols mean but these are not reliable. While there may be some archetypal patterns that can be objectively interpreted, dreams are unequivocally subjective. The appearance of a raven, for instance, could mean a hundred different things to a hundred different people. …
A story about presence.
There was once a man who did not want to be where he was. Not knowing exactly where he wanted to be, he headed to the local train station intent on going somewhere.
“Ticket please,” said the man with a deliberate tone.
“Where to sir?” replied the clerk.
“Anywhere but here,” said the man with a nod.
“Well those tickets are very expensive!” replied the clerk. He quickly clarified, “Due to the fact that the trips can be so long.”
The man looked at the clerk perplexed, but he was dead set on being anywhere except where he was, so he conceded. …
On healing our collective self.
There’s something that bothers me about the climate change conversation. Actually, there’s something that bothers me about the way we talk about the environment in general.
We treat the environment as if it were a separate entity. We discuss the climate as if it were something outside of ourselves — a thing we have to fix. If climate change didn’t threaten our cities and economic development, we might just go on polluting our rivers, soils, and air just as we’ve always done.
There is so much outward energy focused on legislation, reducing carbon footprints, and converting energy sources. If we could get everyone to eat a certain way, drive a certain way, consume in a certain way, then the problem would finally be solved. …
How to help them adopt a growth mindset that loves to face obstacles instead.
When I was in elementary school I was lumped into a group of “above average” students. All it really meant was that we got to do some different modules and a few extracurricular activities. I didn’t think much about it at the time, I just thought it was great that I was apparently more intelligent than some of my other classmates. Before you think that sounds boastful, I can assure you it only set me up for future hardship.
That label followed me through high school and as the topics started to increase in difficulty, I just expected my “innate” smarts to get me by. It only got harder. In pre-calculus, I got my first C on my report card. I was too ashamed to ask for help. I was embarrassed that I didn’t automatically know how to solve certain equations. It was challenging for me and I was afraid to admit it. I even think some of my teachers rushed their explanations because we were an AP class. …
Why stoicism fails as a modern ideology.
Stoicism has been experiencing a resurgence in recent years and it is easy to see the appeal. We are inundated with images of a chaotic and fractured world while simultaneously being paralyzed by the freedom of choice and opportunity. It feels like everything is broken yet anything is possible.
So a philosophy that suggests our emotions can be harnessed and that we should primarily focus on differentiating between what we can and cannot change sounds enticing. It seems like an appealing strategy for navigating our times.
However, there is a fundamental problem underlying Stoicism that makes it a problematic philosophy for our post-modern age. By no means am I suggesting that everything about Stoicism should be tossed out. There is a lot of fantastic advice that falls under the Stoicism umbrella. But there is a central area of concern that lies at the center. It has to do with the big Other and how our concept of the big Other has shifted over the centuries. …
About
