In my book, “Notes From No One,” I used some terms popularized by Sigmund Freud to try and explain my mental conflicts. I might have been wrong.
Link to the book: https://a.co/d/0SoEHQS
Since then, I’ve been learning more about Carl Jung’s interruption of the human psyche, and his take is starting to make a lot of sense.
Now, I have no desire to delve into the feud between Freud and Jung. I’m just stating that I’m starting to see things from Jung’s view, and it’s clicking with me, so to speak.
While Freud had the simplified id, ego and super-ego (at least that’s what many call it now), Jung broke it into many more pieces: persona, ego, self, shadow and anima/animus.
I have long used the word “persona” to help explain the outer shell, even outside of Freud’s take, so Jung’s description starts making sense right away. When it delves further into shadow and anima/animus some shocking “how does he know what’s in my head” moments start happening.
In short, while the persona and ego form the conscious mind, the shadow and anima/animus make up the unconscious, and together they form the self. The shadow and anima/animus fuel the aspects that one may feel are immoral or unnatural and should be stifled. However, to remain sane, so to speak, the shadow and anima/animus must remain separate, and individually brought into the conscious reality safely. If suppressed, the shadow and anima/animus can jointly ruin a person’s life, and they’ll think it is someone else’s fault when it is their unhealthy unconscious that is to blame.
To better explain this, below is a link to a 20-minute video that delves into a bit of the shadow and mostly about the anima/animus. I listened to this one three times so far, rewinding bits multiple times to help me better understand. I hope others enjoy it as much as I have.
This is making so much more sense to me that I’m becoming increasingly tempted to search for a Jungian therapist to help me explore this further. Drawing out this shadow and anima to let it manifest into reality so that they feel recognized and free might just calm my tormented mind.
It sure is worth a shot … if I can find a Jungian trained therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist … and they able to see me. Damn corrupt insurance system dictating who gets what treatments and where. What a bunch of bullshit, but I digress.