Month: August 2021

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Listening to Our Inner Voice

“The quest involves listening to your interior intelligence, taking it seriously, staying true to it, and approaching it with a religious attitude.  In Jungian psychology this quest is called individuation—discovering the uniqueness of you, finding your purpose and meaning.”

I often write about listening to our inner voice and, by trying to live in accordance with what we discern by that listening, becoming the unique person each of us was created to be.  The above quote from the book Living Your Unlived Life by Jungian psychotherapists and authors Robert A. Johnson and Jerry Ruhl states so well what listening to our inner voice involves and what it can lead to.

I write about these ideas because learning about Jungian concepts and dream work, combined with having been given the gift of faith, has resulted in my having a more purposeful and meaningful life.  And my hope is that others who haven’t already discovered these truths will be helped as I have been.

When we don’t have a sense of purpose and meaning, our lives feel empty.  People will try to fill that emptiness in unhealthy ways, such as by using drugs and/or alcohol, overeating, overspending, and making other harmful choices, only to find that what they’re doing doesn’t alleviate the emptiness.  Sometimes those activities provide some relief, but that relief is temporary and the emptiness returns and intensifies.

Trying to do those things that help us to individuate involves effort and a certain amount of sacrifice, in particular sacrificing ego desires that don’t align with inner direction.  Reading books by authors who have written about Jungian concepts makes this clear.  This was also made clear to me by a synchronicity I experienced many years ago.  I had arrived for a session with a Jungian psychotherapist I was seeing and there was a client who had finished his session and was about to leave.  We recognized each other from a therapy group we had attended and greeted each other.  Then the man showed me a pin that was an advertisement for the company where he worked and he asked me if I would like to have one, and I said yes.  On the pin were the words “This Ain’t No Hobby, Pal.”  I don’t recall the type of work this man did.  That didn’t matter.  What mattered was the synchronistic meaning of that occurrence.  What are the chances someone at the therapist’s office would have a pin with those words, would ask me if I would like to have it, and would happen to be there at the time I was arriving?  Extremely small.  The combination of those happenings is what makes this occurrence meaningful.

The words “This Ain’t No Hobby, Pal” signify to me that doing inner work is a serious endeavor and that it requires effort and commitment.  From time to time I think about that occurrence and it serves as a reminder of why doing inner work matters so very much.  As does looking at the pin which I have kept all these years.

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Appreciating Each Day 

I recently adopted an elderly cat whose name is Sasha.  I had had one or two cats for most of my adult life, but when the last one passed away a couple of years ago, I decided to wait a while before considering caring for another pet.  I’d look at the pet adoption websites from time to time but never felt ready to make the commitment.  When I thought about adopting, I was quite sure I would adopt an adult cat rather than a kitten, but not a senior.  My hesitation to adopt an older cat was that she would be closer to the end of her life and our time together would be limited. And, if I’m to be honest, I didn’t want to have to feel the sadness of her passing away so soon.

But circumstances led to my adopting an elderly cat.  Sadly, the person Sasha had lived with passed away.  Friends of mine who knew that person had taken Sasha to live with them, but they already have several pets and they said Sasha wasn’t used to being with other animals and didn’t seem happy there. They asked me if I would consider caring for her, and I said yes.  And I’m glad I did, for it has felt right from the moment I made that decision.

In addition to enjoying her company and feeling good about being able to give her a home, Sasha has become a reminder to me:  a reminder to appreciate each day.  I sometimes find myself wondering about the future, thinking about things that might happen in my personal life as well as about the larger picture of national and global happenings.  And, as much as I don’t like this about myself, I will sometimes worry about difficult or sad things that might potentially occur.  When I catch myself doing that, I tell myself to instead appreciate each day I am given and do my best to live each day well, to try to follow my inner path.

The way that Sasha has become a reminder to me to appreciate each day is that instead of wondering how much longer she’ll be with me, I think about how nice it is that I’m able to be with her each day that I am.  She’s a special little presence in my life.

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Becoming a More Conscious Person

“Your life has many outer, earthly purposes:  the demands of your job, supporting your family, achieving financial stability.  Outer purposes are important and necessary, but they are also impermanent, relative, and constantly shifting.   In the second half of life it is not so much what you do that matters; it is the level of consciousness that you bring to your doing.”

This quote is from the book Living Your Unlived Life by Jungian psychotherapists and authors Robert A. Johnson and Jerry M. Ruhl.

Much of that which we do are the basic tasks of adulthood:  getting our education or training for an occupation; doing that work, including traveling to and from; if we have children, spending time with them, helping them with school work, going to their activities; and for some of us, volunteering.  In addition, there are the routine but essential tasks of buying groceries, making meals, maintaining our home, yard, vehicle, and so on.  And hopefully there is some time to pursue personal interests too.  There’s a lot that fills our days.

As the authors point out, our day-to-day responsibilities and activities definitely matter.  But they are only part of what matters.  When we continue, especially as we reach middle age and beyond, to give attention to and place value on our external activities without in addition growing in consciousness, we are living in a very limited way.  I’m reminded of people who are well known for having been successful in certain endeavors, but who we learn from news stories or biographies struggle with depression or anxiety, have addiction problems, or in other ways show that the outer success doesn’t mean the person is emotionally healthy, fulfilled, and grounded.

There are also people who have had outer success and who have grown in consciousness as well.  Generally, these people recognize that their achievements resulted from many factors.  They realize that they were fortunate to have certain natural abilities and aptitudes, that there were people in their lives who had a positive influence on them, and that they were at the right place at the right time, so to speak.  Sincerely acknowledging that it is not just our own ideas and efforts that have brought about accomplishments is a sign of being a more conscious person.  We deserve credit for our ideas and hard work too, but that’s not the full picture.  And of course we don’t have to be well known to have a sense of success and fulfillment.

As we grow in consciousness we are better able to make the decisions we should make, decisions that are based on inner direction rather than societal pressures.  We are also better able to notice when projection might have occurred and to learn about ourselves from it.  And we are more able to discern changes we need to make in order to better follow our path.  Growing in consciousness also requires facing challenges with courage and perseverance, by trying to follow inner direction in how to deal with those challenges.

By recognizing the importance of becoming more conscious persons, we are able, as the authors say, to bring that level of consciousness to whatever we are doing, adding to a sense of fulfillment, meaning, and gratitude.