“The work is not easy, as Jung himself admitted, but it can have great rewards as it helps us to become more peaceful humans, better able to relate effectively to our fellow beings.”
I recently discovered the book Jung: The Key Ideas by Ruth Snowden. Ms. Snowden is an author and artist who for many years had a private therapy practice. In this book, she presents Carl Jung’s work and findings related to the individual unconscious, the collective unconscious, dreams, personality types, projection, and his approach to working with clients. She includes some biographical information about Jung: the influence of his parents and other people, including Freud; some of Jung’s dreams that he shared and wrote about in his books; and other life experiences, all of which contributed to his psychological theory.
The quotation I chose is from Snowden’s book. When I read it, it immediately resonated with me. Jung and many authors of books about Jungian concepts acknowledge that doing psychological work is difficult. It requires devoting time to recording dreams and writing down thoughts that come to us, noting synchronicities and their possible messages, and trying to find the meaning behind unexpected occurrences. Doing Jungian psychological work also requires a certain amount of courage as we learn about ourselves through that work. Some of what we discover are things that can be hard to acknowledge, the darker aspects of our natures. And yet it is through learning about ourselves that we become more authentic and genuine human beings. By being shown more about ourselves through dreams, synchronicities, our projections on others, and life experiences, we are better able to make changes and try to become more the persons we were created to be. And that leads to a more meaningful and purposeful life.
Becoming familiar with Jungian concepts has definitely helped me to relate more effectively to others, as Snowden says. For example, being aware of extraversion and introversion has helped me to be more accepting of people who are different from me. I know people who are naturally outgoing, for whom interacting with others is what makes life most enjoyable for them, and who find it difficult to be alone. I also know people who need a certain amount of quiet and alone time and who find it necessary to limit how much time they spend with groups of people. As with all human qualities, it’s not totally one way or the other; each of us has a certain degree of extraversion and introversion. But knowing about these different approaches and how natural they are to each person’s emotional makeup helps us to better understand our differences, to be less judgmental, and to be less likely to try to change someone to be like us.
Snowden’s comment about becoming more peaceful human beings as a result of doing Jungian psychological work fits my experience as well. It’s a sense of peace that comes from endeavoring to do those things that are part of living a more genuine life. It’s a peacefulness that is present even during the challenging times which are an essential part of personal growth as well as during the less challenging times.
Working toward becoming a more conscious, grounded, and whole persons requires effort. And the rewards are definitely worth the efforts we make.
