Buffalo seasons Awareness in life
The Self That Holds Us: On Identity, Ego, and Becoming.
We spend so much of our lives trying to figure out who this “I” is—this constellation of stories, habits, wounds, longings, and flashes of wisdom that moves through the world in our name. Some days the “I” feels solid, knowable. Other days it dissolves, slipping through our fingers like water. And perhaps this is the point: the self is not a possession we hold, but a living process we learn to relate to with increasing honesty, courage, and grace. Carl Jung wrote that becoming ourselves is both the simplest and the most difficult task of a lifetime. Individuation, he said, is the work of gathering up the scattered pieces of who we are—the conscious stories, the shadowed memories, the unlived potentials—and integrating them into a coherent enough center from which we can move through the world. “Coming to selfhood,” he called it (CW 7, para. 266).
Communication, Curiosity, and the Power of "Yes, And"
Communication is more than an exchange of words—it is a way of relating, understanding, and co-creating meaning with others. The way we respond in conversation can either open new possibilities or shut them down. A subtle but powerful shift in language, from saying “yes, but” to “yes, and could you tell me more?”, fosters curiosity, reduces defensiveness, and enhances meaningful dialogue. Both Jungian psychology and Dialogue Therapy, developed by Polly Young-Eisendrath, PhD and Ed Epstein, PhD support an approach to communication that prioritizes openness, relational attunement, and the integration of multiple perspectives.
Embracing The Triple Goddess in (Peri)Menopause(Post)
By engaging with the energies of the Maiden’s curiosity, the Mother’s creativity, and the Crone’s profound insight, women can reclaim parts of themselves that may have been overshadowed by societal expectations or life’s demands.
Embracing the Crone in You.
There comes a moment in every woman's life when the vibrant energy of the Maiden and the nurturing strength of the Mother evolve into something even deeper and richer: the wisdom of the Crone. This archetype, rich with insight and cloaked in mystery, emerges during (peri)menopause(post) as a culmination of the gifts and lessons from the earlier phases of life. From a Jungian perspective, this transition into the Crone phase is not merely a biological or chronological inevitability but a deeply symbolic and transformative process.
Finding the power in Myth: Hecate, Goddess of Illumination
By embodying Hecate’s attributes and drawing lessons from her mythology, women can find strength, wisdom, and empowerment to navigate their own journeys with confidence and agency. Like all of us in different periods of our life, Hecate stands at the crossroads. Connecting to our inner Self through meditation and active imagination, we can gain inspiration from ancient archetypes and mythological figures such as Hecate as we bravely navigate our own paths, accept the weight of our choices and the responsibility of creating our own essence.
On Earth Day, The Minds of Gray Whales & Our Shadows
Nature is our teacher, every day. We only need listen, smell, taste, touch, and observe. On this 53rd Earth Day, reading our profundity can lead us into a verdant chartreuse and emerald-painted forest, where we can chase our Shadow amidst spring’s dew drops and cadmium yellow rays of sunshine.
Coming to understand the self in connection to our natural world and to others is an enlightening journey into waters and forest floors that we inhabited eons ago. Well before the study epigenetics, Carl Jung posited that a hidden and repressed part of the self, aka The Shadow, “reach[es] back into the realm of our animal ancestors.” [2]