Author: Susan Schulte

“Books and doors are the same thing.  You open them, and you go through into another world.”

This quote is by Jeanette Winterson, an English author and professor.

Reading is one of my favorite things to do during my free time.  When Ms. Winterson says by opening a book we go into another world, I’m reminded of the “other worlds” I’ve entered by reading.  I’ve entered other eras, other countries, and other places in the country where I live.  I’ve entered into people’s life circumstances that are different from mine, other people’s thoughts, emotions, relationships, challenges, adventures, sorrows, and joys.  Quality fiction and nonfiction expand our experience, add to our knowledge about our world, and enrich our lives.

As is the case for many people, I live a busy life, and I’d like to have more time to read than I do.  One way I’ve added to what I’ve read is by listening to audiobooks when I’m doing tasks at home or while driving.  Many books of various genres are available in audio form, including at libraries for no cost.

I’m impressed that there are so many creative and talented authors, and I’m appreciative of the discipline and hard work that’s involved in writing.  My two-year-old grandson has many picture books.  As I look at them with him, I’m also impressed by the creativity and talent of illustrators.

With the many options we have to choose from for how we spend leisure time, including electronic games, the internet, and streaming, reading is often not a priority.  Although it’s fine to spend some time doing those activities, it’s important to give ourselves the gift of reading and all that we gain from it.  And for parents, teachers, caregivers, and others to give the gift of reading to the children in their lives, which will in turn help children to become life-long readers.

I wish you joy each time you open another door into another world through reading.

“The ego must be able to listen attentively and to give itself, without any further design or purpose, to that inner urge toward growth.”

This quote is by Marie-Louise von Franz, who was a Jungian analyst and the author of several books about analytical psychology, and who also collaborated with Carl Jung for many years.

The ego is the conscious awareness of one’s personal identity.  It takes in information from the environment and chooses the direction to take based on that information.  Dr. von Franz’s quote further describes the true purpose of the ego: to choose the direction to take based on listening attentively to the guidance of the Self (to use the Jungian term) or of the inner voice (to use the spiritual term).  For the Self and the inner voice have the same source.

This true purpose of the ego is the opposite of egocentricity.  People who are egocentric think only of themselves without regard for the feelings and desires of others.  Approaching life in that way is never directed by inner guidance, but instead shows a total lack of awareness that such guidance exists.  The true purpose of the ego is also the opposite of “societal shoulds,” where we make decisions based on what is considered to be popular, such as what is portrayed by much of the media and many websites.  Similarly, when we make choices based on the expectations of people we know who we fear will no longer accept us if we make changes that they don’t agree with, our egos are not giving of themselves to the inner urge toward guidance.

I believe von Franz’s words “without any further design or purpose” emphasize the importance of not letting our egocentric tendencies be in control.  Her words also remind us that it requires commitment, effort, and self-giving to do the right thing by setting aside our self-interest.

Ways that the ego can listen attentively and give itself, to use von Franz’s words, include trying to discern possible meanings of synchronicities, paying attention to intuitive promptings, writing down the dreams we remember and contemplating their images and actions and what the dreams might be attempting to bring to consciousness, noticing when projection might be happening and what we can learn about ourselves from it, and trying to discern possible meanings of unexpected happenings.  For all of these phenomena are manifestations of the inner urge toward growth.

We all have the gift of an inner urge toward growth.  By making the effort to listen attentively and to recognize when our egocentricity is blocking our ability to hear its guidance, we will receive the direction which enables us to continue on the spiritual path we were created to follow.

“Do the best you can until you know better.  Then when you know better, do better.”

This quote is by poet, singer, and civil rights activist Maya Angelou.  When I first read it, I thought of two things:  the importance of trying to do the best we can in everything we do and the fact that we are continually adding to what we know, both when we purposely add to our knowledge such as by reading and also that we learn as we go about each day taking in information through what we see, hear, come into contact with, and so on.

We all have qualities, abilities, and talents.  What those are and the extent to which they are developed varies from person to person.  But whatever they are, they can help us to try to do our best.  Qualities such as patience, empathy, and generosity, including being generous with our time, help us to assist and to have positive interactions with others.  Making an effort to do well at our jobs and when doing other essential activities, rather than being lazy and doing the minimum necessary, is another way we endeavor to do our best.  Putting time and effort into growing in consciousness is an especially valuable way to try to do our best.

Angelou’s words “until you know better” cause me to think about how it is that we come to “know better.”  Much of what we knew during our childhood years was that which we were taught by our parents and other adults, things like what was right and what was wrong, what we should or should not do, and so on.  At least as influential, and perhaps more so, was what we learned by observing the behavior modeled by our parents and other adults and also by children who were older than we were.

In early adulthood, the basis of much of what we know is what we learned as children.  But ideally when we are adults that which we know broadens through the influence of other people, through reading, from our jobs, and from our many life experiences, including unexpected happenings.  Sometimes we “know better” only after we realize we made a mistake.  We learn from it and move on.  Throughout our lives the way we approached various situations and tasks was based on what made sense to us at that time—the time before we “knew better.”  After having had more experiences, some of those earlier approaches no longer applied.  And this continues throughout the rest of our lives.

Finally, as Angelou says, we are able to “do better” than we did before because of the knowledge we have gained during our life journey.  We grow toward our potential and live more purposeful lives by expanding upon what we know, being open to new ideas and approaches, and making changes in positive ways.  And as we become more conscious, we are more able to discern the guidance of our inner voice and to act on that guidance—thus, to “do better.”  Through growing in consciousness we become more genuine and individuated persons who help to make our world a better place.

“Environment is no one’s property to destroy; it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect.”

This quote is by Mohith Agadi who is an author and entrepreneur who lives in India.

It can be disheartening when we find ourselves questioning whether the efforts of one person can make a difference when dealing with the large, global problem of climate change.  And yet those efforts do matter.  What would help the most is if many more people would make the effort for, as Agadi says, protecting the environment is everyone’s responsibility.

One of my motivations for recycling, reusing, donating items to programs that make them available to others, driving only when necessary, and in other ways decreasing my carbon footprint is that I care deeply about the quality of life of the children of our world, both in the present and when they are adults, and for all who will be born after them.  I also care about the people who live in poor countries who are experiencing climate disasters caused by global warming even though the people in those countries contribute far less to what causes global warming than we in the United States and other wealthy countries do.  In fact, I recently read that the average carbon footprint of people who live in the United States is four times that of people in the majority of other countries.  We share this earth with almost eight billion people.  The earth is also no one’s property to destroy.

I’m thankful that there are many programs whose purpose is to decrease the factors that contribute to climate change.  We are able to recycle glass and plastic containers, paper, and metal so that new products can be made from those materials.  Composted food and yard waste is turned into organic material that enriches the soil.  There are drop-off facilities that take batteries, electronics, paint, and many other products that are then disposed of responsibly and kept out of landfills.  There are numerous websites with information about the many ways each of us can do our part to help to protect the environment.

The majority of religious and spiritual traditions emphasize helping other people rather than thinking only of our own needs and wants.  Doing our part takes some time and effort.  But that is true of everything that matters.  I think of caring about the environment and doing my part as not only caring about improving air and water quality for myself and my loved ones, but also as yet another way to help other people, both those of us presently sharing this earth and also those of future generations.

“Where do we begin?  Begin with the heart.”

This quote is by Julian of Norwich, who was an English anchoress who lived in the 1300s.  An anchoress is a woman who led a prayerful, ascetic life and who withdrew from secular society to do so.  The word anchorite refers to a man who chose that way of life.  Julian is best known for her writings Revelations of Divine Love.

When I contemplate Julian’s words “begin with the heart,” I think of feelings that emanate instinctively from within.  I think of agape love, which is a love that desires the welfare of others and has no expectation of return.  And I think of the more personal love we have for people we know and are emotionally close to.  Her words also bring to mind spontaneous reactions as compared to planned responses. When we begin with the heart, we come from a place of genuine caring as a basis for decisions we make and for the way we respond to various life situations.

Most of our day-to-day activities involve using our thinking functions—figuring things out, planning, analyzing, using logic.  These abilities are essential for doing many things, from something as simple as preparing a grocery list to working on complex undertakings such as those that are required by certain professions.  Because thinking functions are necessary for many daily tasks and for many occupations, and because they are emphasized by western cultures, there is often a tendency to minimize the importance of our feelings and intuition.  And yet our feelings and intuitive promptings are also ways to experience aspects of life and are essential in helping us discern choices we make and responses to life happenings.

When we listen to our heart, we are more in touch with the guidance of our inner voice, and therefore more on our spiritual path.  That is what matters most.