In the perspective of the psychologist Carl Jung, what happens in the collective reflects ourselves as individuals.
This concept used to be very abstract to me. But, after more years of deepening my personal and professional work with psychology and spirituality, I see it more clearly and concretely.
It takes quite a few dark nights of the souls and a lot of deep shadow work to start to feel less threatened by our triggers. Over time, instead of denying it and projecting it into others, we can look into our dark side with more curiosity. After a while, we may realize that facing our dark side can be very freeing and result in more peace and integrity in the end.
In this world of duality, one of the great conquests of self is not to fall so easily into polarities of good & bad or right & wrong. Everything is in a spectrum, what is light and what is dark. So our personal work is to find a point of balance, knowing that the point of balance will keep changing because that is how life expands.
In my understanding of Jung’s perspective, the war out there reflects the war within us. And the judgments I make to the leaders, or any other person in my daily life, about their “darkness,” is a reflection and a point of light towards my own darkness.
So, in my sadness, I was reflecting on it and wondering:
- What are the wars I have within myself? What are the wars I observe in my family, friends, clients, and others?
- Where and when do I fit in the judgments I put into those leaders? When am I bad, wrong, abusive, greedy, reckless, heartless, cruel, deceiving, liar, so destructive? What is the darkness I am not seeing in myself?
Then I realize that I am at war with myself when I force myself to do something that is not aligned with integrity and with my wellbeing. I am at war with myself when I feel sick, and I make myself work too hard. When I want to express love, but I hold it back. When I feel angry and hurt and instead of taking the time and space to express it (in healthy ways), I cover it up with a happy face. When I “bomb” myself with medication or other substances to numb my emotional pain. I am at war with myself when I am not connected with myself.
And, when I am not connected with myself, I can/could act bad, wrong, abusive, greedy, reckless, heartless, cruel, deceiving, liar, destructive ways. And so do certain leaders.
Nobody who is in a true connection with oneself will hurt others or oneself on purpose. If we feel whole and at peace, we will not have the fear and sense of lack of motivation to hurt others.
This chronic disconnection from ourselves as individuals is our true war, mirrored by leaders who make horrible choices that hurt our brothers and sisters. Their disconnection is a mirror of our own disconnection. They have the power to do damage on a big scale, but we also have the power to damage ourselves, our health, relationships, our neighbors, our community. Like the leaders, we can hurt ourselves, others and our planet for greed and desire for more power, status and wealth. On different scales, we are all guilty of it.
Our society has been chronically ill for decades, with continuously increased depression, anxiety, and suicide rates reflecting our disconnection with ourselves and our inner war. Instead of redirecting our lives to a healthier and more balanced style of living, we numb ourselves and keep pursuing more goodies, hurting and trashing, even more, our home planet. Not even a global pandemic brought enough consciousness for enough change.
There are so many layers regarding the current world events, most of which we cannot see or understand. So our brain will create a narrative and try to make some sense of it to feel less powerless or hopeless. That is a good thing. My narrative, at this moment, utilizes Jung as a source of reference. In my world, it makes sense. And, in some way, it brings me hope because I trust that, at some point, a new point of balance, more towards the light, will emerge so that it can balance this darkness.
However, I am not getting too attached to the story I am telling myself, and I suggest you do the same. Let’s not make more enemies because our perspectives don’t agree. Let’s not increase these wars by feeding these polarities.
The world events are terribly sad right now. Please, take care of yourself, so you can have the strength to hold into hope and help those who are suffering.
You don’t need to be watching the news all the time. You don’t need to be talking about it all the time. You can define the limits and boundaries of how much you want to expose yourself to it. Be kind to yourself.
To have a sense of control and hope, you can choose to be supportive. For example, you can find an organization to make a donation or volunteer; you can find ways to hold leaders accountable, pray, participate in peaceful protests, and express your emotions more healthily.
The collective and the “other” are reflections of our within. What happens in our community (or on a global scale) is happening within us. Look into yourself, recognize your inner conflicts; seek ways to find an agreement and peaceful path. How can we expect that from our collective if we don’t practice this search of agreeableness and peace within?
Part of my work with clients is precisely that: exercise connecting with oneself to make choices from a place of alignment. In the journey, inner conflicts emerge, and we work through them. Often, clients are surprised by the wisdom that can arise from it.
The more light we can shed into our inner conflicts and dark sides, the more whole we can feel. The more whole we feel, the more peace we find, and the more peace we project into the world.
“The artist’s life cannot be otherwise than full of conflicts, for two forces are at war within him [or her]-on the one hand, the common human longing for happiness, satisfaction and security in life, and on the other a ruthless passion for creation which may go so far as to override every personal desire … There are hardly any exceptions to the rule that a person must pay dearly for the divine gift of creative fire.” (Carl Jung)
