Archive for October 16th, 2009
Politics, Community and Collective Unconsciousness.
This was taken in the back yard. It looks as though winter came early. However, the snow is already melting and we will likely have another spell of above freezing temperatures for the next week or so. I don’t mind making winter wait a bit longer.
There has been a shift in my life these past few days. I have finished all of my projects in the house and now find myself with time on my hands. I am taking that opportunity to get back to writing but not as much as I had thought I would. I seem to be procrastinating a bit more than a bit in terms of writing. Rather, I seem to be focusing more on politics and sports, stuff outside of my “self.” Or, perhaps I am mistaken. Perhaps this focus is about more than being distracted, perhaps it is about knowing my “self” even better.
This “little stuff” is important. It fills in a lot of the empty spaces, true, but it also adds to the fullness of the response to the question “Who am I?”, a question that haunts all of us.
So, in my opinion, these too, become part of honouring the soul.
When you look closely at the image of soulfulness, you see that it is tied to life in all its particulars – good food, satisfying conversation, genuine friends, and experiences that stay in the memory and touch the heart. Soul is revealed in attachment, love, and community, as well as in retreat on behalf of inner communing and intimacy. (Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul, 1992, pp xi-xii)
Politics is about community, about values. Politics also reminds me of the collective unconscious and how it is playing out in community. I “need” to position myself in terms of values so that I honour my “self.” And, in doing so, I likely change the community.
