Everything Under the Sun

Carl Jung pioneered the field of analytical psychology, which split with Freud's psychoanalysis and became Jungian psychology. Three of his most powerful conceptual understandings were the Shadow, Synchronicity, and Individuation. In this essay, I want to discuss individuation. Individuation is the process in which an individual self develops out of an undifferentiated (or chaotic) unconscious. This unconscious is in a sense the collective unconscious. Individuation is a process during which the elements of personality, components of the immature psyche and experiences from one's life compile into a integrated whole. It has been described as the process by which an individual leaves group attachment (collective unconscious) and self-absorption (narcissism).   I want to make a few points on this topic. One, related to the point I was trying to make in my essay, The Devolution of Authenticity, that the modern environment is preventing individuation, or at least providing a plet...

Once, I fell in love.  It wasn't that hard.  But, it was a dream,  That took me only so far. When I finally woke up,  It was like I'd fallen in mud. I was stuck in my ways, But the whole thing was done.  Now I've come back to Earth, My head no longer in the clouds.  And I feel ready to start,  But what do I do now? 

Do you know what it's like, To live in constant strife? Anticipating the time, Because something inside, Holds a sheathed scythe, That'll send you to the afterlife. This is my life. The truth bears the light. And escape you may try, To no avail, you cry. Tribulations and trials, Have defined my miles. Waiting for the axe to fall, Not just for you, but for all.

Never in history has a time been more important than now. Many great persons in many past times have said this. And in all instances they have been correct. Civilization grows, it progresses, it develops, and in each minute of each day, the significance of that moment is of greater importance than any one before it. Because in each new moment, more sacrifices have been made and more examples of right and wrong are at our disposal. So it is true; never has there been more at stake. Along the winding roads, through the crests and troughs, the journey of humanity has led us to this moment, one in which the bastion of liberty, finds itself at the inflection point of a millennium. 2000 years of war, tyranny, and struggle produced a generation of thinkers, who against all odds, made the ultimate sacrifice. They ventured across the seas, they fought back global powers, and they meticulously and nobly grew and cared for this sapling, in the Land of the Free. It is in this moment that we, as th...

Today, life is good.  Things are behaving as they should.  I'm living as I would, if I could. Tomorrow, life may be bad. Each addition to the day will add, To the growing load, profoundly sad. But life over death will always reign true.  Better to be alive and be blue,  Than to not exist, many would miss you.  So cherish the day, let it soak in. Let this serve as a reminder, a win. Days like today refresh and begin.   

I had a dream last night,  It was the year 2015.  You danced around in the candle light, Like you were 19.  My brain recreated a sight,  That I wish I'd never seen. Why am I thrown back into this fight?  I thought I'd deleted that scene. Now, the Sun sets and the sky turns dark.  I sit by the lamp and read my book.  But my mind is occupied by the lack of a spark, In my own life, yet everywhere I look, I see what I desire, the contrast is stark.  On this night, it's the lonely road I took. I was on a call today, Given some hard news. And I wish, by my side would lay, Someone that I knew.  And together we'd know the way,  We'd piece together the clues. And every night I'd hear them say, I love you too. 

Do you understand that I want nothing more, Than to crawl back under the sheets of your bed? Away from the cold and into your hold, Like a sailor lost at sea who's finally found shore.  Honey, believe me for sure, this is a chore.  Oh, the images I create, I still say no to that face.  Oh, the restraint it takes, not to get in the car and race, Down the highway, through the gate, to your place, And then I'd push the pace, until we wanted to faint, Wait! Stop and take a break. I'm no saint, but surely this ain't, The moment I want to create, Oh, for Heaven's sake, just a taste... No, my conscience makes a stronger case, Don't be a disgrace, exercise restraint.

Book of Matthew, chapter 10, verse 34: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the Earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." The first time I read this verse I was taken aback. I read it after a long weekend of philosophical discussions with friends and family, around the value embedded in religious sentiment and recorded text in establishing a framework for difficult decisions. On that Saturday night I'd spoken with three good friends, on a dimly lit porch, into the wee hours of the night, about the merits of living with a significant other prior to engagement and marriage. Is that a good decision or a bad one? Or more precisely, is it wise or not? This conversation came just 12 hours after I'd had a similar philosophical discussion with my parents that morning about the ideas Sam Harris puts forth in his analysis of religion (as a whole), claiming it to be a mobilizing force in creating conflict and division, instead of progress and wisdom.  The...

I'm drifting. The winds shift, and I'm shifting. I move nearer to truth, moving away from my youth, The burden is heavy, but I'm lifting.  I'm sifting. I think, and I'm thinking.  Through a reservoir of words, to move me towards,  The Logos, I'm riffing.  I'm listening.  The sound of the Currents, "Yes I'm changing." Like a flood, to every end there is a new beginning, "I was drowning but now I'm swimming." I was dreaming. Now my eyes fixate, I'm fixing. And as the tides swell, I come out of my shell, In the ocean of life, I'm living.