Firstly, to my surprise, before today I knew little about Carl Jung. Most of what I knew was related to his work with personality archetypes, which were later used in developing the MBTI. Yesterday Jung's Liber Novus (The New Book) was published as The Red Book, as he so often referred to it. I'm quite interested in reading it, as it reveals a side of Jung that I was not aware of--he believed that spirituality was essential to life.
Jung's work on himself and his patients convinced him that life has a spiritual purpose beyond material goals. Our main task, he believed, is to discover and fulfill our deep innate potential, much as the acorn contains the potential to become the oak, or the caterpillar to become the butterfly. Based on his study of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Gnosticism, Taoism, and other traditions, Jung perceived that this journey of transformation, which he called individuation, is at the mystical heart of all religions. It is a journey to meet the self and at the same time to meet the Divine. Unlike Sigmund Freud, Jung thought spiritual experience was essential to our well-being. Crowley, Vivianne (2000)
I agree with this vision wholeheartedly. It's interesting that Jung came to this conclusion in much the same way I did. For the past few years I've studied various religions first with the curiosity of obtaining knowledge and understanding others, but now with the intent of self-growth on my own spiritual path. The wisdom gleaned by others on their own paths may be helpful to me in developing my own. I research and plan to the best of my abilities in every day matters, so why should I not employ the same methods in my spirituality?
Secondly, but also related to Jung, I've started pondering meditation again (inspired by a random encounter to Erin Pavlina's website last week). And I see that Jung developed a method he called active imagination. It involves allowing emotions and unconscious feelings to play out as a narrative or their own entities, while you simply observe and respond rather than try to influence the unconscious. He believed this method to be a bridge between the conscious and unconscious. I intend to research more about it.
Thirdly, this morning one of my Care2 newsletter articles was called Breaking with Tradition. It discussed the pros and cons of traditional behaviors, but challenged their necessity in self-growth due to the stagnant nature of tradition. Tradition is secure and comfortable, but self-growth is all about pushing your limits and evolving, not following what someone else has already done.
Lastly, I've been helping a dear friend this past week, and it has led me to play a role I've never had to play. I have a unique perspective, and I sincerely wish her to heal and grow from the situation she's enduring. It's not every day a loved one goes through a crisis, and it's in those times that we rise to fulfill many of our potentials.
What do all these signs point to? It sounds silly, but I now realize that it's ok to make my own path, even though I've been walking down it for a while already. I've been doubtful the past few years in whether I should try to find clues from others or decide how I will walk to the end. I guess you could say I've been walking my path, but looking over at others as they walk their own, wondering if mine should look anything like theirs. I now realize that it's an unnecessary comparison. Years ago I decided I'd go my own way, but lately I've been looking for a reaffirmation of sorts. This was it.
The skeptic in you could argue that chances for growth are around constantly, so why am I choosing now to see signs of it? Well, that's why I am on my path and you are on yours. :)
