Posts on the importance of personal growth or becoming an individual.
A man in his early 70’s dreamed: I’m in a convenience store going to fill my coffee mug when I notice flakes of gold forming in a cup that collects water from coffee dregs. The flakes are circular and spiked like small snowflakes. I start to collect them, thinking I will weigh them, but then…
A 34 year-old woman dreamed: I dreamt I died, but really I was still alive, only I had a man’s body. When I looked in the mirror I saw my body, but everyone else saw a man’s body. I was no longer the person I was. I was extremely sad for I would no longer…
Lucky is the individual who has become a problem to himself. This is a paraphrase of a sentiment expressed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. It is an idea that is probably counter-intuitive to most people. After all, who wants to be a problem to themself?! Most of us would happily do without our problems. And,…
“Protect the plants, stay on the path” a Reno trail sign reads. Viewed literally, the sign asks that hikers not trample the sensitive plants growing beside the trail. Looked at symbolically, it offers quality advice for life. The “path” is your path in life. It is the intended journey that leads to your destiny. The…
A middle-aged man who was on a journey of self-growth through psychotherapy dreamed that a house was being built. It was a large house with workers all around, many on the roof hammering boards and shingles into place. Personal growth is a construction process – its excatly like civil construction. We are building a new…
“I feel things are coming together,” a client told me recently. “Something is speaking to me and I want to hear what it is saying.” This young man was working on his dreams in psychotherapy. He faithfully recorded them and through his therapy worked to understand and learn from them. Over time he observed patterns…
A retired teacher had the following dream: I found myself at a party for retired teachers at my former school. I felt that I was not really welcome there. The hostess seemed very insincere in welcoming me. I noticed a large basket on a counter which held gift mugs for the retired teachers. There was…
When you are dealing with symptoms, especially annoying and irritating ones, you may want to be cured. You want the symptoms, illness, or injury to go away. If you are cured of an infection, the infection is gone. If you are cured of insomnia, you no longer have trouble sleeping. We like cures because they…
In the movie Arrival, twelve space crafts are positioned by an alien race over different countries of the world. The reason for their presence is a mystery. However, every 18 hours they allow a human research/diplomacy team to enter each craft and interact with the alien beings. The aliens communicate using a language of smoke-ring…
Alchemy was the “science” of trying to turn base metals, such as lead, into gold. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung studied alchemy in great depth because he saw in it a symbolic representation of the psychological process of individuation. The writing and drawings of the alchemists reflected universal steps in the development of the personality. One…
