Through a Jungian Lens

On the way to China Dinosaur Park

I took a day off from blogging yesterday and spent the time doing tasks that can quickly fill one’s day. I began the day like I usually do with teaching all morning and then following lunch I went to the main university campus in order to meet with some of the Foreign Affairs staff there for a bit of administrivia. The main campus is a good forty minute walk from the north campus and I enjoyed stretching out on the walk to that campus. I took the camera along as usual but didn’t see anything I wanted a photo of, or more correctly, I did see photos but was too focused on the walking and getting to where I was going to stop to take the photos.  I was like this insect, intent on a task where there was no room for wondering, imagining or being my usual distracted self.

I now have a week off from teaching classes as it is the National Holiday in China. What will I do with these precious days off? Likely not much of anything according to how I feel at the moment. But as I have learned long ago, the mood passes and I will find myself wrapped up in photographs, writing, reading, walking, and even visiting with others. In a way, I am thankful for these moments of standing outside of my objective self and watching what emerges with no expectation or agenda. What follows makes these moments valued. The stillness is more like a mindfulness than it is about defeat or depression or the blues.

With that said, I will post this, have some breakfast, go for a long walk that will end with a stop for Japanese Ramen noodle soup before returning to the apartment and sorting out the rest of my day.