Individuating Jung

So, my last blog post was called “Emulating Young” and was about the inspiration I draw from the work of Neil Young. Anyone who knows me will also know that I have been massively influenced by the work of psychologist Carl Jung. Jung was one of the three pioneers of early psychology (alongside Freud and Adler). I first came across his work in my late teens when a friend bought me his autobiography as a birthday present. “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” had a huge impact on me. I went on later in my life to use some of the basic building blocks of Jung’s work as the starting point for my own PhD thesis – alchemy, archetypes and individuation were the key themes.

Ever since then, when I describe what Jung meant when he talks about individuation, it always gets a really positive response. Jung’s idea was that we come into existence perfectly formed and unified, and then the process of growing up creates fragments of personality, attempts to please those around us. As we age, these differences create tensions within us, and can often lead to the dark night of the soul or midlife crisis where we search deep within ourselves to figure out who the hell we are. We must pass through the crisis – and many influential (to me, at least) writers like Thomas Moore (Care of the Soul) and James Hillman argue that this crisis is an essential rite of passage. After the crisis, we begin the job of stitching back together the various aspects of who we are, the personae. In building this sense of self, we become more comfortable in our own skin. That is the process of individuation, a journey to self-discovery.

I often describe this to people who I coach as they work their way through a difficult transition and it seems to resonate well with them. It makes a lot of sense – understanding why something is happening is the first step towards acceptance.

For modern books which cover this topic the book referred to above “Care of the Soul” by Thomas Moore is really helpful, and the book “The Soul’s Code” by James Hillman explains his acorn theory, the idea that who we are is there within us at birth, and just as the acorn is destined to become an oak tree, we have destiny within us. They are both books that are well worth reading.