Through a Jungian Lens

I went out yesterday morning into my back yard with the camera and found a few photos that will make there way here.  There is so much that nature has to show us and to teach us if we would just listen.  This photo is of a young lilac bush that I transplanted last year alongside a new fence that my son and I put up to replace one that was rotting and falling down.  The leaves are trying hard to burst out into life.

I used the macro setting for this photo.  I hope to get more practice with this feature on my camera as it allows me to “see” the world in a different way.  It’s interesting how things appear that before seemed to be hidden from me.

During a discussion about events in China last night with one of my readers here, Deborah, who is a teacher in China, Deborah gave me a small poem by Anaïs Nin.  At that time she didn’t know that I had chosen this photo for today’s blog post.  The poem seems to be a perfect match.  Thanks, Deborah.

Risk

And then the day came,
when the risk
to remain tight
in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took
to Blossom

Anaïs Nin

Since it is spring, there are signs all over the place of new life making an appearance.  For me it is interesting that this new life shows up on both young and old plants. Some old trees seem to be slower at showing these new leaves, and some like the old apple tree in my yard hurry to be the first with new leaves and then with blossoms.

When I think on how I am changing and how opportunities arise where none seem to have existed before, I begin to realise that these opportunities are always there.  Sometimes one isn’t ready to notice them, or ready to risk taking advantage of these opportunities.  I know that I am often faced with dilemmas that beg for an answer, an answer that I don’t seem to have.  CG Jung tells me to hold on to the tension and not rush to choose between what appears to be two opposing options.  If I hold the tension long enough, a third option will appear.  This new option is just that, an option.  If one is uncomfortable with breaking into new territory the new option will quickly be rejected and one falls back on old habits, usually one that is based on what “others” expect from us.

Choosing to risk the new option, one places all at risk.  Everything changes.  This is the path of individuation, that journey of “self” discovery, the journey of consciousness growing out of darkness.