Through a Jungian Lens

I searched for a while for today’s photo and decided that this photo taken in February in Angkor Wat deserved to brought forward for you, my readers.  I chose the photo before any thoughts as to what today’s post was to be about as I was unsure about the direction of this post.  As I come closer to returning to Canada for the summer, I find that I am disrupted from normal routines.  I haven’t taken my camera out for a walk in weeks and my sleep patterns are changing as the weather warms up.  I find it harder to focus, even to read.  It is as though some alien force has clamped an energy suppressant shield over me.

I think some of this is due to the frustration I feel in trying to access Internet and write up posts.  At times, the good times, I can simply turn on a browser and log into this page and write to my hearts content, taking time to search for the right photo and browse though a book or two to find words that resonate.  Recently that freedom has all but vanished.  I use a program called Freegate to try and get passed the Firewall used to limit the access both into and out of China’s web spaces.  If there is a small opening in the wall, I can sneak in to catch up on a bit of reading and posting using social media such as Twitter or Facebook, media which shortens the distance between family and friends left behind.  However, I can’t post blogs using Freegate as my host site in Canada doesn’t allow proxy access to do so.

Yet adding to the Internet issues is the perennial issue of end of course documentation so that the university can release grades and move on to a new term.  At least Internet isn’t an issue in doing this work.  However, it is a dull, dispiriting kind of work that drains the energy levels and leaves one lethargic.

I realise that this post is not much more than a rant, and that, thankfully is not typical for my way of being here.  Now, if I could only get this tree off my back and renew my presence in both face-to-face life and here in my sacred container, Through A Jungian Lens.

I’ve been trying for two days to get access to this out of mainland China web service in order to write a blog post.  Sometimes I get to write for a few minutes and then lose contact with the site as though a door has been shut.  I can’t use a VPN during these moments as well.  There appears to be a lot of tweaking and testing of the national firewall.  When the blocks go in place I still have access to Chinese mainland sites which tells me it is all about firewalls.  This photo is actually representative of the experience.

I see it as China on one side, and the Internet world outside of China on the other side of the bridge.  The government agencies appear to be working at plugging the entrance to the rest of the Internet world at its end of the bridge.

I guess this isn’t much different that what we do as individuals in order to block out reality when we retreat within ourselves.  It becomes a lot like “don’t turn on the lights, I don’t want to see.”  There is a different message also underlying what is happening.  In many places, warrantless Internet surveillance is becoming the norm as governments try to deal with terrorists threats.  With the reality that most governments are fronts for vested corporate interests and an increasingly right-wing ideology, what  freedoms are going to be allowed?  The tools exist for governments to fully control the message and the message carriers – the bridges that link one person to another over distance and time.

I admit to feeling the weight and the darkness of the collective unconscious which has been let loose.  It’s as though the collective unconscious has barricaded its end of the bridge which connects to consciousness so that its power goes unchecked.

I am having trouble with access to my blog site (again) in spite of relocating it to a non-Wordpress host service. The national firewall here is playing havoc with access allowing me sporadic connections with sites outside of China. I don’t know how this will effect the posting here. Please be patient if there appear to be longish “silences.” – Robert

Today’s post was the result of using a VPN service.  For whatever reason, my ability to use Internet directly for posting to WordPress has been compromised here in China.  Blogging is a serious issue for the powers that be.  Many blogging platforms have been banned outright which means the national firewall will not allow the various domaine names to have a direct connection.  VPN service (Virtual Private Network) is one way around this firewall.  This business of trying to “contain” access to information is an interesting phenomenon that has been tried so often throughout human societies that one would think that history would finally teach a lesson to governments.  But as always, the collective ego believes in being able to close the lid on the collective shadow.

This is another photo from the day spent at Expo 2010 in Shanghai.  It was near the end of the afternoon when I was tired of the noise and the crowds when I found the small “Chinese Garden” that borders the river.  I have to admit that I am drawn to water and am enchanted by reflections in the water.  ??“As above, so below; as below, so above.”