Individuation

My very first blog entry! I chose this picture because it perfectly suggests the concept of the individuation process.

The process of becoming whole, the achievement of self actualization by integrating the conscious and the unconscious.

We walk upon the earth in a constant search for something, always trying to fill the void within. This can be seen especially in addiction, which I believe is the greatest manifestation of this separation. Some search for a higer power, some try material posessions, drugs, food, activities. We all ache with this deep sense that we are alone, like the Buddhist concept of the hungry ghost.

In Jungian Philosphy, it is broken into these parts:

In the first half of life, we make our way through the world, doing our best to develop healthy egos.

The first portion of life is mainly external as we seek to meet our basic needs.

The second part of life can represent a turning inward toward a deeper part of ourselves.

This inward turn starts the individuation process.

In Jungian psychology the goal is to integrate the two, and we can't do that until we have faced and accepted our shadow selves, with loving kindness and compassion.

This is the psychic process by which one becomes himself, indivisibly, as an expression of uniqueness and self-sufficiency at microcosmic level. It is, in Jung’s terms, "The realization of Self"

Jung discovered this process during his confrontation with his unconscious, when he was painting the first mandalas.

Throughout this blog I will be writing more in depth about this, and how to integrate these parts of ourselves. I will also talk about the detriment that is our mental health system, the lack of education and information that has created such stigma and fear around mental health exploration and healing. I will address many things that have been wrong for a very long time, that have kept us all sick and broken. A perpetual cycle of a sick society, and how to start healing.

I am excited to explore this healing journey! We will see how it unfolds!