Insist on yourself

 (Quote actually by Ralph Waldo Emerson, but on point.)

I feel like it's late in a pandemic to start tracking a process, but who knows how long all this goes, when we get back to normal. I'm luckier than many: my job lets me work remote very easily. I'm not juggling family obligations and kids. My main hassle is boredom and the existential fear and despair that I think is universal at the moment.

It forces you to face your habits, your coping mechanisms, and your fears. Which brings us to Carl Jung. Initially a disciple of Freud, Jung established his own analytic psychology that involves the concept of individuation. Who are you, really, what do you want, what are you dragging from your experiences and other people's influences, unconscious and otherwise? He believed in the interpretive power of dreams.

I've been in this sphere longer than I realized. It's fueled the books that speak to me and the way I like to create. And sometimes things happen in such a way that hit you over the head.

For me, it started way before the pandemic with, among other things, hair. What do you know about yourself if you don't even know what kind of hair you have? And it turns out, the way we treat ourselves and view things like "difficult hair" reflect deeper attitudes and longstanding habits.

There's a lot to learn in Jungian theory, which is fascinating in itself. For me, the intersections with art, creativity, and literature offer a way into inspiration and understanding. The well is never dry when you learn where to tap for more water. 

It's also been a way to understand why I do what I do, why others do what they do, and have compassion for all of us during this time when we are captive to larger forces.

So I have no idea where I might go with this, but we'll see how it feels, which is maybe Jungian in itself.