I started writing Observations of an Octogenarian about the beauty and the absurdity of the world I observed from the bleachers now that I’m no longer in the game at 82. Now, my observations are turning inward. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the natural evolution of old age. I wrote those two words before I even thought about them. Don’t you just hate the term “old age?”
I’m observing the beauty and absurdity of my inner life now, finding more absurdity than beauty. That’s why the inner journey is a greater adventure than the outer journey and requires more courage. I read once, “My mind is a wild and unruly place. It’s a place I don’t want to go by myself in the middle of the night.”
Yes, it can be a scary place. Especially when we go deeper into that dark cave and encounter the dragon. In my meditation training with Justin Michael Williams, I learned that we can take a lesson from the movies and make friends with the dragon instead of trying to defeat it. The dragon is our shadow.
Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, introduced the concept of the "shadow" as a fundamental aspect of the human psyche. He described the shadow as the unconscious aspect of the personality, consisting of repressed desires, impulses, and traits that a person does not consciously accept or acknowledge as part of themselves. Jung believed that the shadow contains both positive and negative elements, including aspects that society deems unacceptable or undesirable.
According to Jung, integrating the shadow into consciousness is essential for personal growth and psychological development. By acknowledging and accepting the shadow aspects of oneself, individuals can achieve a greater sense of wholeness and authenticity. However, failing to recognize and confront the shadow can lead to its projection onto others, resulting in conflicts and interpersonal problems.
Overall, Jung emphasized the importance of exploring and integrating the shadow as part of the individuation process, which involves becoming more fully oneself and achieving a balanced psyche.
The shadow has been responsible for most of the absurdity in my life. For example, I never realized how much envy was controlling my life until I took an inner journey with the help of the Enneagram. I discovered that my type is a Four, and the suffering of a Four is envy. It’s built into my system. Trying to fight that dragon is hopeless. But, I can make friends with it and understand it. When it rears its ugly head and breathes fire, I can shine a light on it and recognize it. I can see the absurdity of it. Dragons are like vampires. They don’t like the light.
Are you interested in taking an inner journey? If you are, here are some things that will help you make that trip. They’re like the Sherpas who assist the Mount Everest climbers:
Study the Enneagram. Two great sources of information are The Enneagram, a Christian Perspective by Richard Rohr and The Wisdom of the Enneagram by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson.
Read The Hero’s Journey. Joseph Campbell summarizes it like this: “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”
Read The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from Role to Soul by Connie Zwieg. Reveals how to use inner work to uncover and explore the unconscious denial and resistance that erupts around key thresholds of later life
Don’t try to climb Mount Everest alone, and don’t go into that wild and unruly place in your mind without the help of at least these three Sherpas. There are many more, but these will help you emerge from that journey, as Joseph Campbell says, “With the power to bestow boons on your fellow man.”
❤️