In his book Meeting Force with Silence, author and Jungian psychotherapist Terry Chitwood writes: “Life is like a dream. People, events, and situations can speak to you, if you let them. Each moment has important signs willing to aid you in your life’s path.”
Often when I recall past experiences—people I’ve met, unexpected occurrences and how they transpired, even seemingly routine happenings–there is a dreamlike quality to those and other memories. But it’s clear Dr. Chitwood is speaking about people, events, and situations in the present. And how they can have an effect on us as we go forward in our lives.
One way we are affected by other people is when something someone says or does resonates with us, words or actions that are the impetus for us to work toward positive change in ourselves. Another way is when gifted authors write books, articles, and blogs that enhance the lives of those of us who read what they have written.
We are also affected by other people through psychological projection. Projection is the process where the contents of a person’s unconscious are perceived to be in others. It occurs at an unconscious level; it’s not something we cause or control. But we can endeavor to notice when projection might be occurring. Having an emotional reaction about a person, such as a strong dislike or a strong attraction, is one of the signs that projection might be happening. When I notice such a reaction in myself, I reflect on what it is that attracts me to that person if the reaction is positive, or what it is that I don’t like about that person if the reaction is negative. And then I try to be honest about how those characteristics might be aspects of who I am, aspects about which I wasn’t previously aware. By trying to do this, we are able to add to our self-knowledge and consciousness.
As to how situations are part of our path, I have written several posts about synchronicities, defined as meaningful acausal experiences. When I was younger, in my 30s, an elderly woman made a left-hand turn in front of me when I had the right-of-way and almost caused us to have a collision. It happened, in fact, when I was driving to a therapy session, and I told my therapist about it. He helped me to see the synchronicity of that experience, for it pointed to the “elderly” way I sometimes approached life—being set in my ways, not being open to new experiences and ideas. And that resonated with me, and even years later I try to keep in mind that tendency in myself. So finding synchronistic meaning in events and situations can also add to our self-knowledge and consciousness.
Another way events and situations can add to our lives is when we have an intuitive response to something that occurs. If we want to grow and change, it’s vital to take note of such intuitive responses and to not dismiss them as not having significance. We need to be open to what our intuition might be trying to bring to our attention.
As Dr. Chitwood writes, “Life is like a dream.” We can gain much by being open to those signs that enrich our lives.