“Noise protects us from painful reflection, it scatters our anxious dreams, it assures us that we are all in the same boat and creating such a racket that nobody will dare to attack us. Noise is so insistent, so overwhelmingly real, that everything else becomes a pale phantom. It relieves us of the effort to […]
“We do not see things as they are,” goes a saying attributed to Anaïs Nin, “we see them as we are.” The origin of this saying is in doubt — some, including Nin herself, attribute it to the Talmud — but it expresses an important truth. Psychological Fantasy and the Creation of the World The world does […]
In the first part of this series on the Wisdom of the Dream conference put on by the C.G. Jung Institute of Boston, I presented Jungian Analyst William Ventimiglia’s talk, “Dreams: The Unconscious Has A Voice.” In part two, I looked at Robert Stickgold’s talk titled, “Sleep, Memory, and Dreams: What Does It All Mean?” […]
In the first part of this series reviewing the Wisdom of the Dream conference put on by the C.G. Jung Institute of Boston, I presented the main details of the talk given by Jungian Analyst William Ventimiglia on Jungian dream interpretation. In this second part, I will be looking at the presentation given by Robert […]
The Unlived Life of the Parents One of the most potent forces upon the psyche of the individual, according to C.G. Jung, is the unlived life of one’s parents. By this he means the potentials of the parents that have remained unrealized and the personal qualities that have never been developed or expressed. Jung, however, […]
Many of the people I work with describe the primary experience that brings them into therapy as one of feeling lost. It is probably not surprising that for several decades now it has been common for people who are on a path of self-exploration and self-development to express their quest in terms of “finding themselves.” […]
Asking Questions “The mere formulation of a problem,” said Einstein, “is far more often essential than its solution.” In other words, when a scientist thinks about an issue, it is the kinds of questions that she asks that are most important. This idea is no less true in everyday life than it is in the […]
“The way we imagine our lives is the way we will go on living our lives.” ~ James Hillman With imagination, the sky’s the limit In my experience as a Jungian career counselor, the clients who engage their creative imaginations more effectively during the time I work with them are more successful in the career counseling […]
I came across a lovely post at the On Being blog which is a reminder of the importance of Doing What You Love and Loving What You Do. The writer, Gary James, a bartender, discusses his movement away from writing poetry — an activity he has always experienced as a gift — and his recognition of his […]
“For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Cor. 1:25) Two years ago, at just about this time of year, I was preparing to take the Propaedeuticum — or Stage 1 exams — at the Jung Institute of Boston. This set of exams […]