World
View
“It
all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.”
Carl
G. Jung
I am in
a weekly fairytale group on Zoom right now. Last night we discussed the Grimm’s
fairytale, “The Three Snake-Leaves.” It is a short tale, so there
was much time for discussion about characters and symbols and meanings. If you
have ever taken the time to read and study fairytales you know that they allude
to things but rarely state them clearly. You must discern the meaning for
yourself. There were twelve people in the group, so there were twelve different
interpretations—all of which were based, not so much on the story itself, but
on the history of the person interpreting. We could have pulled out a book
written by a scholarly Jungian Analyst to read their interpretation of the
meanings and gotten a thirteenth opinion, but it’s likely that each of us would
still secretly harbor our own. That’s how human beings operate—we have our own
ideas and our own worldview, and it sometimes takes a grand explosion to change
them.
One of
the reasons there continues to be deep divide in the world is this: we each
have our own interpretation of meaning and importance. For example, it’s very hard for me to see
photographs of people packing beaches or pools or bars right now, because I
take seriously the CDC warnings for social distancing. Others don’t. They say, “let
the chips fall where they may,” and go out and party hardy. To flaunt that attitude
in the face of a pandemic seems fool-hearty and, well, just plain arrogant to
me. Pride is a great blinder of our species. Jung said, “Through pride we
are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average
conscience, a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune here.”
Yes, something is quite out of tune here.
On the
bright side, perhaps we are on the road to consciousness. According to Carl
Jung, “There is no consciousness without pain.” With 100,000 of our
loved-ones dead in the US, and almost 2 million more infected with the virus,
we are in pain, but we also seem to be in denial. To me, it is one thing to go
to work if you must, and so many of us must, but to pack beaches, pools and
bars—well, that’s the very definition of denial. But, here’s the deal—everybody
sees it differently. The question for us is, is that okay? Can we deal with
everybody being in different camps on this and still survive?
We live
in a fast-food, let-me-get-mine, get-out-of-my-way culture. It makes me sad to
see us so self-absorbed. For the most part, I accept life as it comes, and am
content to live in peace with myself. Life has shown me that pride is a pitiful
game, and that we invariably reap the consequences of our choices. In the words
of Carl Jung, “We deem those happy who from the experience of life have
learnt to bear its ills without being overcome by them.” Divided or not, we
all just want to be safe and happy.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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