Getting Ready for the Great Project

I've been searching the web for Jung bibliographies to assist me in selecting the books I'm going to read. I finally settled on the Wikipedia listing. It may not be comprehensive but it appears to contain the major works. I found that out of the 47 books included, I have 7 - all unread. Unfortunately, this does not include the 18 volume Collected Works of C.G. Jung, which now appears to be out of print and selling for over $1,000. Yikes! This is going to be an expensive proposition. Later, I found I can locate most of these volumes used and in paperback so that will be my strategy whenever possible.

I decided to start with the Red Book which I do have and has been calling to me for about a month now after it arrived. I'm also going to order Vol. 1 of the Collective Works. You might ask why I don't get these at the public library. However, if you saw what I do to books I am studying - the multicolor, stickies, highlighting and border notes you would understand that at least for this project, library books at not an option.

This volume (as described at Barnes & Noble) opens with Jung's desertion for the medical degree: 'On the Psychology and Pathology of So-called Occult Phenomena, ' a study that foreshadows much of his later work and as such is indispensable to all serious students of his work."

Looks like as good of a place to start as any. And we are off...2 days and counting.

Living On the Edge

I have in my office a rather funky postcard with a quote from Lou Whitaker, "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space." While I love this quote, I've been ruminating on what it means. In our world of duality - light and dark, positive and negative, what is the duality of "living on the edge"? Could it be that we are either living on the edge of hysteria or living on the edge of greatness?

Let's start with the idea of hysteria. When did America become a culture of hysteria? I can't pinpoint the exact date but it seems to be sometime before the year 2000. In the year 1999, we had the Y2K scare (remember that?). Since then we have had the avian flu pandemic; red, orange and amber alerts; elections depicting candidates as the anti-Christ; the collapse of our economic and financial systems; and the Denver boy off in the hot air balloon. Some of our fears have been for naught, since the actual event never occurred. Other fears, although real enough, have been expanded beyond the current reality. Our news media has moved from a fact-finding, truth mode into a editorial, divisive, confrontational mode that seeks ratings over accuracy. We have allowed those fringe thinkers with money to have the center stage. What does this type of media blitz do to us? I contend that it leads us to "living on the edge" of hysteria.

Andrew Weil recommends a media news fast in his book "Eight Weeks to Optimum Health." He states that research shows that the emotional content of news can affect mood and aggravate sadness and depression. "I'm not asking people to become uninformed. I want them to discover they have a choice as to how much they let in so they don't fall into this unconscious, habitual pattern of letting it in all the time," Weil has said. When I raise this idea to my friends I usually get some resistance. Many express concern that they will not be a "good citizen" if they aren't informed. My question is how does watching or not watching news change your behavior? Do you join activist groups, march on the capital, contribute funds to lobbyist arguing your cause? For most of us, the answer is no. If that's the case, I challenge you to a 2 week news and media fast. See if your life is calmer, with less hysteria, and more emotionally centered without news. Should you wish to expand your civic duties, contact a local nonprofit group and volunteer your time and talents to feeding the hungry, reducing illiteracy or visiting the ill or dying. If we take even a portion of the time we spend in media "hysteria," and spend it instead on helping others; our lives, the lives of others, and our world will actually improve. Fear then will become productivity.

Let's end this entry with the idea of greatness. We can chose to "live on the edge" of our greatness, of our personal growth, and of our service to others. Living on this edge is euphoric rather than hysteric. It takes us to a place of expansion where in Star Trek terms "no one has gone before." If you're not living on THIS edge, you're truly taking up too much space. Move over.

Hypnosis for Stress Management? How Not to Burn Your Candle Out at Both Ends

How have you been feeling lately? Out of sorts? Anxious? Irritable? Fatigued? Do you have restless sleep? A recent CNN survey found that 80% of all Americans are experiencing stress over the economy and personal finances. Of those, 30% identified themselves as experiencing extreme stress. Living through the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression is enough to set most of us on edge. Add to that two wars and our individual concerns about our families, careers, or health and we are over the top. Stress appears to be a natural and unavoidable consequence of the life we live today.

By definition, stress is the mismatch of the demands we face in life and the resources we have to meet those demands. Some stress is external– the economy, accidents, crime… Other stress is internal. It is our intolerance to our own mistakes, our overly high self-expectations, feelings of worry, guilt and fear. Obviously, stress is unique to each individual. We all know people who face adversity calmly and with equanimity. Stress is not inherent in our circumstances but rather in our perception of these events. Stress is the gap between how the world is and how we want it to be. For most of us, our perception of the “gap” may be quite large.

Researchers have identified two kinds of stress: acute and chronic. Acute stress is what we experience during times of danger. It is our prehistoric response to a life or death event and is known as the “fight or flight” response. Chronic stress is what we experience when there is no imminent danger, yet the stress continues even after the initial stressful event is over. We all know that some stress is good. It allows us to meet deadlines and keeps us alert, motivated and observant so we can avoid danger. But chronic stress can lead to serious health issues. A negative stress reaction may occur when our hormones fail to shut down after a stressful event - resulting in a feedback loop of distress. For some, chronic stress may become permanent.

Stress effects us both physically and psychologically. Physical symptoms include aches, pains, muscle tension, fatigue, exhaustion, shortness of breath, insomnia, constipation, ulcers, asthma or elevated blood pressure. Studies have also found that many chronic conditions, genetic conditions, and major diseases are either brought on or worsened by stress. The most sobering finding is that 80-90% of all disease is stress related! The psychological symptoms are equally disruptive and include anxiety, depression, mental confusion, irritability, anger, panic attacks, worry, fear, indecision, negativity, feeling overwhelmed and addictive behavior patterns. Obviously stress has a major impact on our lives, our productivity and our relationships with others.

What can you do to managed your stress? Start by taking a personal inventory. Seek to discover the stressors in your life. Look for ways to reduce your stress by learning healthy ways to relieve stress or reduce its harmful effects. Remember 90% of all stress is self-inflicted. There are many ways to manage stress from active pursuits such as exercise or yoga, creative activities or hobbies, watching funny movies, spending time with family, friends and pets; to more reflective activities such as massage, deep breathing, mediation, spirituality, journaling and relaxation. Adding one or more of the activities into your life may help you keep your stress at a manageable level.

Although any of these methods will provide some relief, there are times when our stress is so high that we find it exhausting to even think of adding a new activity. Any behavioral change requires "will power," and when you are depleted, "will power" may not exist. Hypnosis provides you with just the push you need to alleviate the stress surrounding you. Hypnosis is not based on will power. It instead works with the power of the subconscious mind. This is the part of your mind that speaks in symbols, stores all your knowledge, learning, and memories, and works with the power of suggestion.

Hypnosis is a safe and easy way to bring about a behavioral change (such as adding more exercise or meditation to your daily routine) or changing how you perceive stressful situations. A hypnotherapist can work with your subconscious mind to provide suggestions leading to a more relaxed state, when in a stressful situation. You experience the desired change naturally and easily. A hypnotherapist can also teach you self-hypnosis and other techniques such as progressive relaxation or working with affirmations. Hypnosis will teach you the hidden power you have within your subconscious mind. It is a highly successful means for dealing with anxiety and stress. Physician Andrew Weil has said, "In general, I believe that no condition is out of bounds for trying hypnotherapy on."

Acceptance

Most of my life I've struggled with acceptance. I could be happy at just about any time, if I'd only accept what was going on. But I can't because the person or situation does not fulfill my expectations, or do what I'd like. What a waste!

The most recent example of this occurred only a few weeks ago. I was "supposed" to be on vacation but the Friday afternoon before it started I got a call from my daughter. My toilet was overflowing (OK, stop with looking for universal symbolism here). Someone flushed a sock, or a washcloth and before I knew it I had 5" of water in about 1/3 of my house.

The situation quickly went from bad to worse, my daughter slipped and fell on the wet tile and ended up in the ER. My insurance told me I had a high deductible and the adjustor couldn't come for a week to look at the damage. Meanwhile, mildew and mold were growing in the summer air.

Fortunately, my daughter had no injury (hurting but nothing broken). That should have been enough to keep me grateful for quite some time; but instead I found myself pulling up carpet, fixing the flooring and feeling sorry for myself for not getting a real vacation. That lasted until about Wednesday when I finally got that if I could only accept "what was," I could be at peace (and maybe even happier, if not actually happy).

I don't know why acceptance is so hard for me. I don't know why my mind so rigidly clings to what I believe and want. But I do know that when I can let go, even a little bit, I feel better. It's like a cool breeze on a hot summer day. It brings relief even when you are busy pulling up carpet.

Change of Mind

I've been thinking recently about changing my mind. Ever since I've become a hypnotherapist I've started to watch my words and my thinking. I notice my emotions more and that incessant inner chatter. I notice how I give "reality" to my thoughts. If I believe something to be the truth, then it's the truth. If I think something is going to happen then "By God, it's going to happen." Or at least that 's how it used to be. Right now, I'm starting to see a crack appearing in my thoughts. An opening and a knowing that I need to leave a lot of space for things to unfold and spirit to work. I've started to notice how most of us jump to negative conclusions. Maybe jump is too mild a word - leap is probably better. We do that when we judge others, but we especially do it when we judge ourselves.

Most of my clients are incredible people: accomplished, educated, thoughtful, spiritual... They come to hypnosis for stress relief or weight loss - the standard things. Looking at these people externally you would never image how little self esteem they have. All that mental chatter, all the negative self-talk, that inner critic that eats away at our internal image year after year. Why do we do that to ourselves? It's our thoughts that hold us prisoner, not our "reality." Hamlet was right when he said, "Why, then, 'tis none to you; for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

So such is my personal and professional struggle to try to find a chink in our mental armour and a way around the prison of our thoughts. In our society we support the embracing of negativity. It's as if we are in one big support group, whether around the water cooler or the soccer field. Who has the worst story? Who can find the most fault with themselves or others? We are comfortable in this negativity. It surrounds us like a baby blanket and we wallow in its darkness. We love our "shadow side." It never threatens others and it keeps us one with our clan. Yet I can't help thinking if this lack of self-esteem and refusal to face our "beauty," is the result of fear.

As Marianne Williamson once said, "“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

And isn't that enough to make you want to change your mind too?

The Continuing Power of Myth

This week I was listening to an NPR story about the Persian Poet, Abolqasem Ferdowsi, who wrote an epic poem called the Shahnameh (translated as "The Book of Kings"). The poem is a combination of myth and history as it describes the wars and rulers of the great Persian empire. I was impressed by the continuing knowledge of this poem in the lives of those in Iran - how the mythic stories had significance symbolically to them. I was especially impressed by how dominant this work is within their culture.

The poem begins beautifully, "In the name of God of soul and wisdom, than whom thought cannot reach higher. God of name and God of space, God [who is] sustenance-granting and our guide. The God of "universe" and of the revolving sky, the kindler of Moon, Venus, and Sun."

Other cultures have similar mythic poem and sacred texts. The Hindus have the Ramayana, the Western world has the Greek and Roman myths, the Jews and Christians have the stories and parables in the Old and New Testament. But although these stories still exist in the Western world, I wonder how many of us actually use them as a source of wisdom in our daily lives.

In the NPR story, a Tehran journalist was interviewed. He opened his copy of the Shahnameh to one of its most poignant stories. It is the tale of Rostam a warrior who kills his son thinking him to be an enemy. It is the great story of mistaken identity, miscommunication and pride. The journalist used Rostam's life as an metaphor for the lack of communication between his country and the U.S.

How often do we hear others use the characters, stories and events in our myths and sacred texts within our daily conversations? How often do we think of the sacred stories and parables within our traditions as guidance for our lives? What have we lost in our education and culture - within the world of constant entertainment? How do we communicate the wisdom of our lives to others? Do we say, "I'm struggling to discover my truth just like Daniel in the lion's den?"

Joseph Campbell in his epic PBS television series with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth, once said, "Myths are clues to the spiritual possibilities of the human life." Without these clues what have we lost? How can be best reclaim them?

All the Good/ Jana Stanfield & Doug Ellis

What's Up With the World?

Life is hard. We know that. The Buddhists say "life is suffering." But I prefer what Christ said better, "I come to bring you life and life ABUNDANT." Nevertheless, we are living in trying times, let's put that, scary times. I'm coping by living in denial. I put my 401K statements in a folder unopened. I refuse to get caught up in the consciousness of lack. I know my life and my material surroundings are not dependent on the world. I know they are mine by the grace of God. Still the news and the chatter leads us to fear and from fear we quickly leap to insanity.

I like to remember that we are blessed living in the good ol' U.S.A. True suffering is unknown for most of us here and whether we lose our IRA or our 401K we are still better off than most of the world. This week I saw a reference to an article in the New York Times by Ben Stein entitled, "They Told Me That Madoff Never Lost Money." The part that grabbed me was the conclusion.

"We are more than our investments. We are more than the year-to-year or day-by-day changes in our net worth. We are what we do for charity. We are how we treat our family and friends. We are how we treat our dogs and cats. We are what we do for our community and our nation. If you had $100 million or $100,000 a year ago and now you have a lot less, you are still the same person. You are not a balance sheet, at least not one denominated in money, as was explained to me recently.

Losing and making money are not moral issues so long as you are being honest. You may have a lot less money as this year ends than you did two years ago. But you are just as good or bad a person as you were then. It is a myth that money determines who you are, and if you have gotten over that myth by now, then 2008 will have been a very good year."

This is how I chose to view life. There is a lot we can do "out there" for good. A lot of folks need help and we can still help them. Whether it is recycling, donating unneeded items, volunteering to take meals to shut-ends, feed the hungry, teach reading... We don't need a lot to help a lot. So I'm warning everyone, don't come whining to me. When you feel sorry for yourself, just start helping someone with less. As one of my favorite musicians, Jana Stanfield wrote, "I can not do all the good that the world needs, but the world needs all the good I can do." Amen, Sister!

Book Study

My friend Amy and I recently started a book study group. While I'd love spending time with Amy anyway, discussing books is just the icing on the cupcake for me. We are currently reading two books - alternating between them. Could be a bit disjointed, I guess, but because they are nonfiction it works well. One of the books is the Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd. The other is Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Tool by Lauren Artress.

I have had this book on my shelf for a couple years (I actually have a labyrinth in my back yard). I just never got around to reading it. What a nice surprise! I am enjoying reading Artress' analogy of the labyrinth as an archetype (shouldn't that be a metaphor?). And she discusses the value of the symbolic and the need for rituals in our spiritual life. She writes, "To walk a sacred path is to discover our inner sacred space: that core of feeling that is waiting to have life breathed back into it through symbols, archetypal forms like the labyrinth, rituals, stories and myths. Understanding the invisible world, the world of patterns and process, opens us up to the movement of the Spirit." I continue to find myself surrounded by symbols and discussions of the same. What a trip that is, synchronicity at it's best. Jung would be proud.

And So It Begins

Finally. I've spent the past two weeks doing and redoing my website for Symbols of Soul. Very frustrating. Some error in FrontPage that I was not able to decipher. This week I just caved and created a whole new template. Tonight it is finished! All but the proofing that is. And so I can begin my blog happily without the specter of the website hanging over my head.

So why a blog? I'm a "journaler" by nature and I enjoy reading artist and "thinker" blogs and I thought it might be interesting (if for no one but myself) if I chronicled this new endeavour as I journey more into the language of soul.