Category: JungianTheory

The other day something I read reminded me of the song “No Man Is an Island.” I remember singing it in elementary school. Here is the first verse: “No man is an island, no man stands alone. Each man’s joy is joy to me, each man’s grief is my own. We need one another, so I will defend each man as my brother, each man as my friend.” I believe that song coming to mind several days in a row was an inner prompting to write about it. I was hesitant to do so because of the masculine wording, but I hope people reading my blog will accept that the song was written at a time when using the word “man” referred to all people and “brother” referred to both men and women.

The lyrics certainly portray empathy, in particular where the song refers to feeling the joy as well as the grief that other people experience. I am concerned about the lack of empathy that many people display when talking about other people or groups of people, such as those of ethnicities and/or socioeconomic levels that are different from their own. The lyrics also portray support, being there for one another. In my work as a crisis line counselor, I hear from people who say no one understands what they’re going through. And many people who call say they feel very alone. I’m thankful they call the crisis line so they can talk to me, make a connection with another human being, and have a respite from their aloneness.

In Jungian thought there is emphasis on each person becoming more conscious and, through that, becoming the unique individual he or she is meant to be. And in addition there is emphasis on being of service to other people. Growing in consciousness and being of service are interconnected. I believe the song “No Man Is an Island” came to me to remind me of these truths and to share them with you

As I have said in other posts, working with a Jungian therapist and learning about Jungian psychology have added greatly to my life. One of the principle concepts of Jungian psychology is called individuation. Individuation is an inner process where a person grows in consciousness and becomes more whole. Unconscious content is brought to consciousness through dreams, intuition, and synchronicities (meaningful acausal events–see my posts titled “Synchronicities” and “Unlocking Gifts” where I write about synchronicities in more detail). Individuation is a lifelong process, never completed in this lifetime.

My life is more meaningful because I am more conscious than I used to be. And having grown in consciousness has helped me to better understand and empathize with other people. I don’t want to suggest by any means that I “have it all together.” As much as I value the ideas of growth and change, I, like most people, also have times when I resist it. I’m reminded of how C.S. Lewis in one of his many wonderful books, Mere Christianity, describes inner work. Lewis compares God’s making changes within people to a house being remodeled and enlarged: Walls are torn down and rooms are added, and we question why this is needed when we believe we would be perfectly content staying the little cottage we were before. Similarly, John A. Sanford, Jungian analyst, author, and presenter, in one of his presentations speaks about resistance to doing the work of individuation: “We like our job, our home, our car, we earn enough to keep up with inflation, mow our yard on Saturdays–we like our life as it is. We don’t want things to change.” There is a resistance to putting effort and energy toward doing something more than we are already doing.

And yet doing what is required to become more conscious adds meaning to a person’s life. Many people question their purpose. I hear this from callers quite often in my work as a crisis line counselor. Making the effort to try to follow one’s inner direction involves challenges, difficulty, and even suffering. But it also makes possible a sense of peace, even as one is going through a difficult period. And at times there is a feeling of joy that a person cannot “manufacture,” the kind of joy that is pure gift.