About Coming Back – The Illusion of Time
Recently I’ve wondered a lot about our perception of time, and how we have this illusion that it’s strictly linear and causal.
By the time you read my first paragraph, my words are already in the past, and as you read this sentence, you’re watching the “future” unfold.
There really isn’t a “now”. This illusion is created and organized by our Ego Complex.
Not only that, our life is cyclical, and we constantly revisit certain situations and feelings.
(Btw, if you like this subject you can read the book “Time” by Von Franz).
These past 18 months were absolutely insane, and I had to push myself to the utmost limit. I even experienced burnout twice, and I can honestly say it’s not fun, lol.
I was able to get my first International clients, I finished my second post-graduation in Jungian Psychology, I finished recording my courses, I moved, I got engaged, and I’m preparing everything to move abroad again.
And everything began because I had the courage to share what was in my heart.
However, it’s been almost 6 months since my last post, and honestly, I’ve been trying to write a new one for the past 2 weeks.
I wanted a big and dramatic comeback… and obviously, this made everything worse, haha.
So, in these past few days, I’ve been feeling like I had lost something and wasn’t capable of writing anymore.
Where is my creativity?
So I started reading my old texts to put on my new blog… and I experienced all of these nostalgic and crazy feelings erupting.
I was so surprised to realize what I had written, and not only that… it was exactly what I needed to read.
Chills… that’s what I’m feeling now.
It’s just crazy to be inspired by your own story, but I realized we have to constantly remind ourselves of who we truly are, and what we’re capable of doing.
So, the crazy talk about time, in the beginning, was because I understood I was in the exact same place I was 1 year ago.
Our psychological development isn’t linear, but cyclical.
And each time we revisit the same place is because we ought to reach a new level of understanding about ourselves.
Letting other people see me, and truly putting myself out there was always extremely difficult for me. And as I write this, a part of me is afraid of judgment, but I know I must persist.
And when we experience this push and pull, is when we have to take a step back and outsmart our psychological tendencies.
Because in reality, things won’t get easier:
“In practice, it corresponds to an experience that people do not like to accept, but to which Jung has, again and again, referred: namely, that with increasing progress in the process of individuation, the deeper and closer people get to the Self within themselves, the more confused and complicated the situation becomes. It does not become easier”. (Von Franz – Alchemical Active Imagination, P.102)
Jung also says:
[…] The unconscious function satisfactorily only when the conscious mind fulfills its tasks to the very limit. V8 – §567
So the way to allow the Self to conduct our life and continue developing our personality is to actually engage our conscious mind to the fullest.
And this means deeply knowing one’s psychological tendencies, and being able to recognize certain subtleties.
You have to build your awareness In order to recognize your patterns, and when a complex is taking the lead.
You have to build your knowledge of symbolism in order to learn the language of your dreams.
You have to engage your conscious mind as if your life depended on it because ultimately, it does.
Otherwise, life will just continue to beat the crap out of you, and you’ll continuously fall into old habits.
And this can be extremely dangerous because as Von Franz says, we become enamored with our neurotic tendencies.
So the way to beat our own system is to become a Jedi master in our own psychology.
And the more you do this, the more the Self can emerge, and with it comes this deep sense of realization and the knowing that you’re on the right path.
Read this one next – How To Do Shadow Work
Rafael Krüger
Engage with this post on Reddit