Nine o five.
Just when I think I’ve succeeded in being independent and free, I rediscover the truths of psychoanalysis. I read somewhere in Joseph Campbell that higher education is like a nurturing mother on which some students try to depend forever. Taking a step further, my obsession with books suggests a very similar thing: dependence on the mother. Now I wonder why this is. Could it be that my real mother was an inadequate parent, leaving me still needy and unprepared for life in the world? This situation can conceivably produce both schizophrenia and alcoholism in a grownup child. But psychoanalysis doesn’t indicate a prognosis and course of treatment other than mass doses of psychotherapy. It seems to me that a person who has the illness, if she is insightful, must undertake her own healing process and not rely on healthcare professionals. I guess that’s what journaling is for… I once had a copy of Symbols of Transformation by Jung, his first really independent study, marking his break with Freud. Sometimes I feel that my life experience lacks depth and quality of feeling. I’m actually torn between two directions, to climb higher or to dive deeper. This is the condition of the Capricorn sea goat, if I put any faith in the zodiac. The danger of depth psychology is getting the bends and not knowing up from down.
Ten twenty. I’m just enough of a weirdo to buy a new copy of the Jung book. As if in reply, the same smoke detector just started pipping at me again in the hallway… I’m looking into Jung because I want to, not because I was forced. Probably I shunned him for so long due to forcible indoctrination, but that’s over with and now I’m coming back around.
robgradens 
It’s such dense material I’m curious to hear what you make of it. What are you think of starting with?
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Personally I’d rather read about Jung than from the man himself; it’s more easily digested. 😉
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I think I’ll start by looking at Symbols of Transformation, a case study of a schizophrenic client. It was Jung’s first work away from Freud, branching out and doing his own thing. He probably didn’t have much success treating the patient, however. Without medication, he couldn’t expect good results. But as psychology, the stuff is pretty interesting. Have a great day!
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I feel like when you dive within, you climb the without at the same time, with the same choices and movements. Depth and height are one in the same in this arena.
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