Good morning Steve and all who have taken time to read this conversation, initiated so beautifully by Steve.

I am honored to add my thoughts to the rich conversations I have read and to the fine commentaries from many, several of whom I know as colleagues and as former students. I am responding here on Sunday morning in the Texas Hill Country, which right now has a thin glaze of ice over everything, so dangerous to go out. Yesterday I spoke to a fine group at the Phoenix Friends of Jung group on personal mythology and then posed some questions to them to write on re. their personal myth. So today it is a joy to stay within the cone of myth a bit longer.

Like so many millions, I came to Campbell’s work through the Bill Moyers series on PBS. I was mesmerized by both his knowledge, his passion and the visuals that accompanied his talks. I ran to the bookstore and bought The Power of Myth that I still return to. What a threshold crossing intellectually and emotionally that journey was for me.

My excitement grew when I took a teaching position as Core faculty at Pacifica Graduate Institute; here, I thought, I could soak myself in the writings of Campbell and because of his love of and excellent reading of literary classics, for I had found a kindred soul mingling the poetic with the mythic imagination; let’s call it then a mytho-poetic imagination. I felt truly AT HOME in an academic setting.

As to your quote from Campbell, Steve, as to being only a scholar, well, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Not many scholars can rouse an audience with the Eros that Campbell had a reputation for doing; when I watched him on videos, it seems that he goes into a bit of a mystical state of mind and body and speaks from that deeply incarnated place. His passion is rare and anyone who has heard him speak–I did once in 1974 when he came to the University of Dallas to lecture on Hero–I was entranced by his level of knowledge and the ease of his presentation.

Thanks too for your two points of view on archetypes, Steve. I think we might speak about an archetype and an archetypal image. The former is universal and constant, but the image it is birthed in is organic and dynamic. I believe Jung writes that archetypes are shaped and formed into an image depending on the cultural pressures that work on it as it comes into being. So, paradoxically, the archetype is unchanging and changeable, shaped by the particular cultural impressions that work on it. I do think we can have it both ways on this point.

For instance, I can have very much alive in me the archetype of the Trickster, but when I behave according to this archetypes imaginal influence on me, I will customize its embodiment in a unique way.

As I leave this first foray into COHO, a privilege I feel so grateful for, I want to comment on Campbell’s writing style. I would choose various works of his when I taught the course on his thinking for many years at Pacifica. I think his prose is both lyric and epic in its expression. I think Campbell, if not a poet, although I was delighted to read his short stories when they were published, his sensibility is that of a poet.

For example, in speaking of a Living Myth In Gander, he writes: “And so, finally, neither a stale and overdue nor a contrived plastic mythology will serve; neither priest nor sociologist takes the place of the poet-seer–which, however, is what we all are in our dreams” (xiv). A profound insight, delivered in delightful poetic-prose. It is part of the reason I will be reading Campbell for the duration.

Thank you Steve for asking such provocative questions, and gratitude to all who read this exchange.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, knowledge and love of Joe Campbell, once again, in this forum. I love reading all that you write, and do wish to hear you speak in person, or sit in in one of your classes.

As you wrote, “Like so many millions, I came to Campbell’s work through the Bill Moyers series on PBS. I was mesmerized by both his knowledge, his passion and the visuals that accompanied his talks. I ran to the bookstore and bought The Power of Myth that I still return to.”   Ditto! I had Joe’s books, 1) The Mythic Image, 2) Hero with a thousand faces. It was very difficult to read and understand any of it. So, there they took their place on the top level of my book case, more as those artistic books, that can be judged  by their beautiful covers. That is actually that had lured me to the first book, about 15 years ago. Then came those famous Bill Moyers and Campbell series, and I was hooked – the timing was right, and I was drawn by Joe’s  words, like never before. More like a religious experience,

On the topic of a mystical state, you wrote, “Steve, as to being only a scholar, well, that is only the tip of the iceberg. Not many scholars can rouse an audience with the Eros that Campbell had a reputation for doing; when I watched him on videos, it seems that he goes into a bit of a mystical state of mind and body and speaks from that deeply incarnated place. His passion is rare and anyone who has heard him speak–I did once in 1974 when he came to the University of Dallas to lecture on Hero–I was entranced by his level of knowledge and the ease of his presentation..”

I once met a man who had attended Joe’s lecture at Loyola University in Montreal Canada, in 1972.. He had this to say about Joe’s lecture, “It was a cold cold  day, and not many had turned up for the Loyola Campus, guest speaker series, for which Joe was invited. I was one of the few who sat in the audience, and had never heard of him before then. But Campbell spoke with such passion, as if the hall was full and he was in another theatre, not this present one.” This man jumped into Joe’s works with as much enthusiasm as Joe himself had demonstrated in his presentation.

Here is a link referencing that lecture. “Joseph Campbell Man of Myth here Oct 16.

Click to access Happening-1972-10-10.pdf

I have a  question to ask you, It’s related to another thread in the COHO, initiated by Stephen, (What’s in  a Name). Did not Joe talk about importance or challenge of living by one’s name? Where can I find that discussion? I hope I am not mixing two different writers on the subject. The truth is that Joe’s words have stuck around in my memory bank, even though his books and the underlined passages are long lost. That’s why I am quite convinced that it’s Joe who said it. One day, once again, I plan to surround myself with his works.  And my immediate family, might say, ‘she passed away PEACEFULLY, with Joe Campbell’s  books by her side.”

Again, many thanks Dennis.

Shaahayda (reimagined after discussions with Marianne Bencivengo)

Dear Dr. Dennis Slattery,

So honored to be writing to you in this interactive session, and for jcf.org to make this interaction possible from the ease and comfort of our homes — Is this not our our new myth, aka as our new technology?  This is our new landscape, the sun or the moon above, our cyber cloud which is now also the very essence of our beings. Our lives run around it, and in this pandemic, so do our livelihoods. I’ll touch upon it a bit later as well.

You wrote, “Here is my image: the invisible lining of a jacket or coat is what I would call history’s inner myth; it gives shape and contour to the outer sleeve, which is history itself. Yes, the sleeve can be turned inside-out to reveal the hidden myth, and that is part of Campbell’s mode of excavation: he turns the sleeve inside-out in order to explore the mystery shaping history.”   I love your example — the ‘fabri-cation’  as you well describe. There is a time-lapse between the inside and the outside of the sleeve, and would I be correct in saying , when it’s turned outside it becomes a myth. Two thoughts came to my mind, with your example:

1)      Alan Watts’ on myth: ” that myth is that whose time has yet not come.” or as in  Joe Campbell quoting Alan Watts: “Alan Watts used to tell the story of the Apollo astronaut who came back from space; some smart-aleck reporter asked, since he’d been to heaven, had he seen God? ‘Yes,’ answered the astronaut, ‘and she’s black.” Myth is divined and not stated, said Watts.

2)      Ray Grasse in his essay (Grasse, Ray, “The Mythologist: Brief Encounters with Joseph Campbell” Quest 106:3, pg 26-29 ) comes upon the same idea as he tries to decode Joe’s offhand remark, for example, “ Trying to digest it all sometimes felt like trying to drink from a fire-hose. Even his passing asides were provocative—intellectual depth charges that released their power only later on. Like his offhand remark that ‘Hitler set out to create the Third Reich but gave birth to the state of Israel instead.’”  A sleeve inside out, or the myth of creating manifestation.

Again, I love what you wrote, “Nor can myths be divorced from the inventions and discoveries of the time in which they surface. Indeed, I sense in Campbell that myths survive by accommodating such discoveries, especially those of science. This discipline has knocked down the walls “from around all mythologies—every single one of them—by the findings and works of modern scientific discovery.” (81)  Yes indeed, Campbell said it on his famous PBS series with Moyers, “Computers are old testament gods, lots of rules and no mercy”   from jcf.org quotes.

Allow me to elaborate a few lines from my thesis. Around 1999, I worked on my  Master’s thesis where my core argument was that internet technology is not just a mere modern scientific discovery, but fits right in with the sociological function of mythology as described by Joe Campbell.  The sociological function, according to Campbell, is the way we write laws and the way we do business, or better put, “sociological function is to pass down “the law,” the moral and ethical codes for people of that culture to follow, and which help define that culture and its prevailing social structure. “ So, my argument was that the new technology (our new mythic landscape)  will soon drive the way we do business and the way we write laws. I was able to project this much before the era of youtube (circa 2005)  videos (as evidence in law suits). Intellectual Property Law has been rewritten and is being rewritten. Facebook  (2004) –Our business advertising model has been turned upside down with Facebook.  Amazon (1994) — ‘we dance to it, even when we can’t name the tune’ (Joe Campbell- Power of Myth). Although Campbell did say, “ You can’t predict what a myth is going to be any more than you can predict what you’re going to dream tonight ” (jcf.org) Yet, I can argue, one can view the sleeve turned inside out, and  imagine the impact of the new landscape on our  lives, on the myths we live by.

Ray Grasse:  “For a man in his late seventies, his vitality and enthusiasm were remarkable, as was his ability to rattle off volumes of information on a wide range of topics without ever relying on notes. Trying to digest it all sometimes felt like trying to drink from a firehose. Even his passing asides were provocative—intellectual depth charges that released their power only later on.”   Drinking from a fire hose is not easy, but we can take a few drops here and there and rejoice in what we think we  saw.

Returning to the intro part of your essay, “I feel like I am in a personal conversation with a priest or a confessor, one who understands the need for the transcendent in our lives and is prepared to point me in the right direction. I think this feeling emerges because Campbell’s storytelling gene is a part of all of his utterances, but especially when he works a concept by morphing it into a narrative. ” Campbell has pointed so many of us in some direction and which years later they can view as sleeves turned inside out. Ever so grateful to this thinker, scholar, poet-seer.

Shaahayda

Hello Dr. Slattery; so wonderful to have you here. After you’ve had a chance to respond to Shaheda’s excellent thought provoking requests I was wondering if you might share some of your insights concerning finding one’s “personal myth”. You’ve written extensively on this topic and some of us have been discussing various aspects of this subject lately; (many of which you have covered in your excellent book on journaling: “Riting Myth, Mythic Writing – Plotting Your Personal Story”.

I hope you don’t mind but I have taken the liberty of copying a short blog post from your great website which frames part of the topic I was curious about since it is such a broad subject to address; and indeed there are folks here who journal, keep dream diaries, or have various forms of their art which are utilized to explore what Joseph would call one’s: “Sacred Space”; or place of: “creative incubation”; which Joseph referred to as the place where one could find and realize who and what they might become. A place of nurturing one’s idea of their own personal myth; not the social image or the religious demand of: “thou shalt”; but to find the thing inside them that calls and speaks to them of their own individual destiny. Joseph would call this the left hand path of the hero as opposed to the right hand path of the village compound.

I particularly like the image you use of the Spiral; which reminds me of the: “Ariadne thread and the Labyrinth” as symbolic of one’s inner journey of transformation; and I very much look forward to your thoughts on this. Again a warm welcome and so glad you are here.

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September 17, 2020
What is Mything in Your Life?

It is unfortunate that in our current world the word “myth” is still maligned as something that is a lie, untrue, and opposed to “fact.” Myth is something to be done away with because it is counter to what is true. The irony here is that such a definition of myth grew out of a period in history when fact, measurement, and quantification were seen as the only way of measuring reality. That in itself is a myth, namely a belief system, a way of seeing and understanding that shoved myth to the sidelines. It has no standing in our nation’s educational curriculum.

Before the rise of reason, of quantifying and the like, myths were the preferred way to knowledge. Simply put, the word myth means story, narrative and for thousands of years humans told one another stories to impart what had happened to them, what they had learned and even their desires and hopes for the future. Just as importantly, the language of myth is metaphor, symbol, figures of speech, images. I like how one writer I enjoy reading put it: “A myth is a loom on which we weave the raw materials of daily experience into a coherent story.” We can all grasp with a little reflection the power of this metaphor.
The key word above is “coherence.” A myth, be it personal or collective, brings the disparate parts of our life together into a meaningful whole. Without such a coherent meaning, our lives are full of holes. And with coherence another element is included: meaning. A life without meaning is a life without a coherent myth. Some have called myths belief systems. That works.

To access one’s myth, one can ask: what am I called to in this life? What is my destiny, my purpose and my path? To answer such questions is to invite one’s myth into the conversation. Most people do not know the myth they are living, or get only glimpses in times of disruption. Illness, surgery, loss of a relationship, family, a job, a purpose for living—all of these can force one to pause and ask: what am I doing in this life? What is not any longer working for me and where do I need to change? Again, these are mythic questions. Not only individuals but nations can find themselves at an impasse where they reach a critical point in what they believe and begin to reflect on its basic values. Values are one of many ways that a myth reveals its presence.

The most popular mythologist of the last century was Joseph Campbell (1904-87). As a comparative mythologist, he spent his life comparing world mythologies and noticed the common terms that so many of them shared. He was also one of the few that understood the power of the media to disseminate not just information but knowledge. His 6 part series on PBS, “The Power of Myth,” in conversation with Bill Moyers is still among the most viewed programs on public television. His book of the same name is a bedrock text for grasping the ways that we are both living a myth and being lived by a myth.
All myths, Campbell believed, are metaphors for actions and events in both our interior life and the external world we move in each day; both can aid us in becoming more aware of life’s meaning. “Follow Your Bliss” reached bumper sticker status years ago. By this he meant follow the path that arises within you, that serves a constructive purpose, rather than following a path dictated to you. If you do, you are living another’s myth, not yours. But he was no sentimentalist; he believed following one’s bliss created its own unique assortment of blisters.

Some of the current myths that govern our country include: the myth of growth, the myth of economics, the myth of technology, the myth of consumption, the myth of safety, the myth of self-protection as well as some form of the myths of equality, freedom and opportunity. Our myths reveal themselves most pointedly in the political and advertising worlds. Of course, what shows find their way into our television sets and movie theaters are also good barometers of our values. Look at any country and not what holidays they celebrate together and you get a pulse read on what myths they believe in, even if only partially. A wonderful short story by the American writer Shirley Jackson entitled “The Lottery,” reveals what happens when belief in a myth has been lost, disavowed or forgotten, but the rituals that once organically supported it continue to be practiced. Violence is the consequence. Her entire story can be read on-line.

When a myth that has heretofore united a people begins to dismantle into tribal myths that divide rather than maintain an essential unity, that myth is stressed and strained, perhaps into distorted forms of itself. When a myth is called into question it may need to be revised and/or reasserted with exceptional vigor. Such a crisis can be a signal that parts of a myth need to be rethought, let go of, or revitalized. Being reflective rather than reactionary about this condition can be constructive and replenishing. Being mythically aware is an essential element of being fully human.

As an addendum to the above post I am adding a separate link to a conversation in CoaHO that covers material from myself, Stephen, Shaheda, and Marianne and contains multiple references to your book plus links to your website and Amazon for it’s purchase for those who may be interested. This book is highly recommended as it was first introduced by Stephen for help in exploring one’s personal myth through journaling:

Hello,

I enjoy the unveiling motif.
Brings to mind :

Godfrey Higgins – The Anacalypsis: An Attempt to Draw Aside the Veil of the Saitic Isis or an Inquiry into the Origin of Languages, Nations and Religions 1836

Blavatsky – Isis Unveiled 1877

Did Joseph Campbell read these works ?

I like The quote -“The wild gander is a rich metaphor for “Hindu master yogis,” who in their trance states, go beyond all boundaries of thought and are best known as “hamsas and paramhamsas: “’wild ganders’ and “’supreme wild ganders.’””
Brings to mind Merkabah/heikhalot mysticism.

Isis

R³

Thank you for your second set of insights, Shaahayda. I touched on your thesis in the last missive. But here you hone in on that mystical sensibility that Campbell had, making many of us who read him feel as if we are truly in the presence of an Elder, someone who has matured into his own work, his vocation, and into himself as a bellwether for us to be directed by. I have tried to follow Campbell’s image as a teacher, to open the space, to create a temenos of the imagination for us to enter and be entertained–not distracted–by his insights. That he so often spoke without notes I can only envy; that is the depth to which he has embodied his discipline and speaks directly from the insights he is having at the moment, as well as a phenomenal memory to retain what he has worked out for himself.

And story, as you mention after working my image of the inner sleeve of a jacket being the mythic fabric that guides and shapes the history on the outside, is at the heart of his work–to find the appropriate metaphor to ground his insights, and I find that stories are like extended metaphors that allow our own stories space to rest beside his, to make the correspondences, one of his favorite words, with the story he tells. His gifts as a literature student gave him a massive treasury from which to pull out the patterns of the plots that guide all of our lives. Wonderful insights from you, Shaahayda. I am very grateful to you for extending what I wrote.

Thank you R3. I loved listening to Dylan on Isis, “you mystical child.” You touch on one of the most rich archetypal actions, that of unveiling. Writing and painting do that for me. It has to do with peeling back some of the layers that hide a person, a thing, a situation so it shows itself in its splendor. Writing is a ritual of unveiling. It requires courage and patience and often, revisions to get at what might be veiled beneath the phenomenal appearance of things.

I wish I knew more of the mystical tradition you mention in your missive. That in itself is an area of study for a lifetime. Campbell has that mystical sense about him and seeks it through moving to a position where one” becomes transparent to transcendence” as he refers to it. That for him was one of the major functions of a myth: to move the individual to that space, that attitude and then to be receptive to what is divine in the ordinary. That is my understanding. Thank you for your comments and for the Dylan song–what a genius he is.

Dennis,
Thank you for your reply. Have you done any computer graphic art with Procreate? Computer graphics is rich in the layering technique/motif. A great metaphor for art and perceptions of reality. Palimpsestical awareness !!!
I reasonate with your revision perspective. Brings to mind literary historical criticism. I like to think on some phenomenal level we humans are the mythic fabric veil of Isis , the Masks of God … We are the Veil the Membrane that separates the eminent immanent and transcendent , the waters below and above , internal and external light.

Yes! Dylan is a genius !!! I got to see him a few years back ! To me he is a God !!! My wife hated him. A playful bone of contention between us.

R³

RCubed

The Three R’s

R to the third power

Robert Raymond Reister

Can your art be seen on the web anywhere ? I would enjoy seeing it.

Have you seen The Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese on Netflicks ? It brought Back so many memories I never had …

Dennis; thank you for your extraordinary sensitivity and thoughtfulness in the way you shared such personalized insights with each of our posts. I found particularly fascinating your own methods of accessing and giving voice to the things in your life that you feel need addressing by letting them speak through two specific categories of: “blessings and blisters”. This brings to mind a story about one of things I heard concerning Joseph’s frustration with the way people often misunderstood the meaning of the way people interpreted his term of: “follow your bliss”; and what it often entailed. His comment of: “I should have said follow your blisters” seems to bear this out since his insights in many of his recorded lectures often state there may be great personal suffering along our individual: “road of trials” to fully understand and process what our life is trying to tell us; often through the personal alchemy of our dreams and life experiences in the way we see ourselves. I find for myself that his interpretations of Jungian material has been some of the most helpful in the way I see myths, metaphors, and symbols as suggestive guideposts instead of concretized “thou shalt” commands that society and religion often put up as roadblocks within our own personal experiences; often keeping us out of our own mythical garden so to speak; where the awe and rapture of being alive lies waiting to be discovered; even within this Grand Opera he mentioned we live in with all it’s pain and heartache. Seeing it as a participatory act instead of an ordeal is tough and difficult business sometimes because being able to look behind this veil where our grail truly lies doesn’t necessarily reveal itself automatically; and as he offered we participate in this game of life with gratitude even though we know it hurts; and that is often extremely difficult to ascertain when all this stuff we are in the middle of may be suggesting otherwise.

(This pandemic we are now going through I think underlines how important these insights he left behind are in being able to navigate this: “freefall into the future” he talked about; and our ability to understand what all these inner messages within our lives are telling us with competence.) For instance these last few weeks here in the US with our catastrophic political landscape falling to pieces would be a perfect example of how Joseph’s material could be so very helpful in assimilating the: who, what, and where we all are in getting through these things.) When Joseph talks about Bastion and Spengler and Jung he is not saying that there is some way to see our lives through a single lens; but to see a much larger season of change that is evolving and we must evolve with it and it is hard without the old roadmap we once relied upon. We are making this stuff up as we go along by going inward as well as driving our vehicle outwardly; and our inner compass; (which you so very thoughtfully suggest); is giving us clues we have to: “learn how to read”; and by each of us sharing how we do this I think is of enormous value. Your important book that you put together with such great care is a tremendous aid in helping people to decipher their own inner landscape; and if I may join with the others here in saying we are so glad you could be here with us in sharing these insights you have gathered over the years that are so helpful in doing so.

If I may be allowed one humorous anecdote in reference to your wonderful little clip at the end. My name is (James) btw; and I loved your reference to Hermes and how he loves to have fun by playing the trickster; often causing mischief by messing with communication of any kind. Yesterday; he hijacked my entire post by erasing it completely. Stephen came to my rescue by helping me retrieve it from the “ethers” and alerted me; (that for any astrology buffs); “Mercury is in retrograde at the moment” and this always provides the perfect avenue for him to create mischief and havoc with those who fall under this particular configuration.

Thank you again for your generous and kind participation with us and I will certainly look forward to more of these wonderful insights as we go along. Namaste

Dennis,

Thank you for the link to your website. Your art is Beautifully expressive and archetypical. They seem to make the transcendent concrete. Portals of contemplation meditation. They have a zen quality of pointing at the moon.

Thanks for sharing

I have an affinity for the sprouting leaf as a metaphor … The pale green horse of the apocalypse … great mythic associations …

R³

Dennis; your kind and thoughtful reply sent me off into a reflective reverie today where I was held in a kind of aesthetic arrest thinking about all sorts of mythical related material in relation to your book and the things we have been discussing. The metaphor of: “My Fathers House has many rooms” seems to fit as I began comparing some of the different books and approaches I have been utilizing over the years and how many of these ideas seem to run along similar pathways leading back to one’s personal myth. One is Sam Keen’s and Ann Valley-Foxe’s: “Your Mythic Journey” where the various forms of the “self” engage with our interior processes of assimilation; (thinking about how both the personal and collective unconscious connect within the dream and waking states that connect to one’s constant “becoming” Jung talks about; these things called archetypes); and how these things manifest themselves in our lives. Both in our self-image and that ever illusive thing that pulls us forward. Sometimes they come out through our emotions; sometimes they are expressed in our pens as we write; sometimes we try to see and understand them and sometimes we are successful but often they seem to be just out of reach as they lead us ever onward toward some unknown destination we are not aware of.

Joseph’s conversations with Michael Toms in: “An Open Life” brought up an interesting thing that always grabs my attention in a powerful way when I think about the relationship between Jung’s ideas and how people mistake Joseph for a Jungian which he defiantly refuses. I thought you might have some thoughts about this since you are so familiar with his work and it deals specifically with how one should approach their own myth they are constructing.

___________________________________

On page 123 the conversation states:

Toms:
“Jungian psychology seems to be more open than other more traditional forms of interpretation.”

Joseph:
“You know for some people, “Jungian” is a nasty word, and it has been flung at me by certain reviewers as though to say, “Don’t bother with Joe Campbell; he’s a Jungian. ” I’m not a Jungian! As far as interpreting myths, Jung gives me the best clues I’ve got. But I’m much more interested in diffusion and relationships historically than Jung was, so that the Jungians view me as a kind of questionable person. I don’t use those formula words very often in my interpretation of myths, but Jung gives me the background from which to let the myth talk to me.

If I do have a guru of that sort, it would be Zimmer—the one who really gave me the courage to interpret myths out of what I knew of their common symbols. There is always a risk there, but it’s the risk of your own adventure instead of just gluing yourself to what someone else has found.”

___________________________________

I think this is a huge statement because to me he is saying: (You) are the God that is creating your own life; and you are the one deciding what your myth is to be not someone else. This is the left hand path Joseph talks about that informs the modern hero archetype the individual must listen to in traversing out of and beyond their ropes in order to find and know who and what they are to become. They are not only flying blind making their path up as they go; but they are not obeying any kind of set rulebook on how this is done.

This links back to our earlier conversation of our: “freefall into the future” we were discussing Joseph seems to be pointing out. The older mythic prototypes or stories no longer work because they are out of date; and “all” of these older global myths seem to be combining into some kind of new unknown form. In one comment he made to Bill Moyers in “The Power of Myth” he says: “We can’t have a new myth for a long time because things are changing too fast. So the individual has to find their own way”. So the old tribes we are accustomed to only keep us within the Village Compound of the Right Hand Path that the hero must leave to find or answer their own call of their life. (Then of course we get into these other components and dimensions of the mythical applications of the Jungian cosmology Joseph uses to describe what these things mean and how this quest can be accomplished through the individual’s own interpretation.

On a lighter note Shaheda, Marianne, Stephen, and I were discussing how we all name things and their significance to our lives. We started exchanging stories about this sort of thing and objects that we name came up and one included Joseph’s car he named “Gander”. Well come to find out from Stephen that Joseph gave this car to Sam Keen as a wedding present; and there is a lovely little metal sculpture of a Gander Joseph uses as a paper weight on his desk that Jean gave him that’s now on display in a recreation of Joseph’s writing desk where he composed all his work. (I just love these kinds of things because it gives you a sense of connection to how he created his own: “sacred space” where he wrote all this stuff that is putting you right there with him. Kind of like how you show others how they might create their own inward path.)

Again Dennis; thank you so much for what you do and taking the time out to share it with us.  Namaste

I want to add an addendum to specifically clarify the distinctions I was referring to between the Right and Left hand paths Joseph states in his own words because I think it is critical to the point he is making about what he calls the Hero/Journey/Quest of the Left Hand Path of the individual to find and live their own personal myth which is presented in this clip.

Dear Dennis and Dear All,

Dennis, thank you for this Mythblast that touches upon the personal and the image of the gander and for sharing your background of how you came across Joseph Campbell. I think it is so fitting that Stephen asked you the question about your background and finding Campbell’s works due to the topic of your Mythblast on the personal.

Here are some thoughts that come to my mind as I read this Mythblast on the personal myths and the gander.

Dennis writes, “Campbell’s storytelling gene is a part of all of his utterances, but especially when he works a concept by morphing it into a narrative.” From this, I reflect how Campbell’s writing is pleasant to read and perhaps it is because he has a storytelling quality to his writings in general. When he gives us facts about various mythologies, it still feels like he is telling us Myth’s story. It has that personal feel somehow.

Reading onward, with the following quotes from Dennis in this Mythblast, “the crack, the gap, the thin membrane that allows him to glimpse and discern the symbolic, transcendent nature of the world winking back at us with not a little seduction, through the mask of the sensate realms of the human- and world-body in their fragility and mystery” is where I think of the egg and hatching egg, or the Orphic Egg, and the gander taking its first peek from out of the egg at the “nature of this world.” Inside the egg (as in a womb) is still a sensate world, but it is a whole new sensate world outside the egg (or womb). This is the first time I have ever thought of the yogi as a hatchling, for when the gander cracks through the shell to emerge into this world it is “passing from the sphere of waking consciousness. . .to the unconditioned, nondual state ‘between two thoughts,’ where the subject-object polarity is completely transcended. . .”

I also think of Madame Blavatsky’s books, Isis Veiled and Isis Unveiled; I read these years ago and found their style much more tedious than Campbell’s style. I can almost feel the fireplace hearth whenever I read Campbell. I am reminded of them only because of the idea/symbol of the veil and because her writings were based on concepts from the Eastern world combined then with her form of occult mysticism.

I also want to mention how much I like this description of Campbell’s work that Dennis gives us: “Syncretistic, gathering and clustering, then ultimately clarifying the connective tissue between disciplines to uncover the vast complexity of the human and world psyche on their arc towards unity. He is both hunter and gatherer.” People from all ‘walks of life’ find a core or foundation in their work and philosophy thereof in Campbell’s writings. Musicians, visual artists, deep sea divers, fiction writers, non-fiction writers, poets, anthropologists, historians, teachers, other mythologists, psychologists, etc. all find inspiration from Campbell as we find or seek to find our bliss, enter the caves we are afraid to enter, and find doors where there were only walls and read about Black Elk’s vision of White Buffalo in Flight of the Wild Gander and seek to find our own visions. For these reasons, there is a touch of the mystic in these articles as shamanic and shamanic guide that inspire us to shamanic thought and travels whether in mind or spirit or body. Reading Campbell, I might go back in time in my mind to the days of the buffalo roaming the Great Plains or I might be inspired to travel to modern-day Greece to see the ancient temples. Reading Campbell, I gain insight for living my own life. We see how the personal microcasm can reflect the microcosm, or the little chicken in the egg reflect the archetypal symbol of the Orphic egg.

Then the ““Syncretistic, gathering and clustering, then ultimately clarifying the connective tissue between disciplines to uncover the vast complexity” like the gander or the yogi being formed inside the egg, the tissue connecting…

I very much enjoy Dennis’s metaphor of the jacket lining and the turning of the sleeve inside out to see the hidden myth, the hidden lining. I imagine a golden silk lining because I get such a precious image from that.

That metaphor brought me a memory from my personal myth: That image I received from that metaphor above then became the image of my mother’s coats with their satiny linings hanging in the coat closet where I grew up; from that image,  I can smell English Yardley lavender bar of soap she always kept in that closet. I still have the last bar that ever was in that closet.

From there I think of Shaheda and her story about her uncle’s perfume, from her personal myth.

Thank you for this Mythblast,

Marianne

I can add that I first encountered Campbell while in a creative writing program at BGSU during my undergraduate years in college. It just felt right and true as I read it–true for me, in one of those eureka I found something moments! His ideas rang true for me and expanded my mind back into time and out into those ancient communities and then to bring those “truths” back into community today of today’s world and that transcendent travel back and forth feels like the universality of the human condition throughout eons of time which I marvel at. The Flight of the Wild Gander and The Inner Reaches of Outer Space are both so transforming to my life in what I felt to be a powerful inspiration. By powerful, I mean life-changing and life-affirming. It helped affirm things I had wondered about or as far as life’s mysteries as a child. It goes back to Alison’s dead bird story way back at the beginning opening of this new Forum and memories of finding a dead baby bird fallen in its nest from a tree when I was little and feeling so sad and so puzzled about death. When Campbell traces the growth of folklore historically in Flight of the Wild Gander, I can almost see and feel the emigration as if I am walking in it with the ancients across land and time.

As for Jung, I encountered Jung’s work in the same writing program. I had a prof who studied at the Jungian Swiss Institute who talked about archetypes and symbols and for me that rang true too. Encountering ideas like synchronicity were never something I found out about then had to adopt–for me what I found was that Jung’s theories had already been at work in my life throughout its entirety. His theories were things I already had sensed and experienced. I had always been interested in my dreams ever since I was little and frequently experienced synchronicity with encounters with symbols/words/events.  That is why I always say that I like to use to my personal experience of “lived experience” as it can be called or my personal myth when I write about Jung’s theories, as if my lived experience is “testimonial” to Jung’s theories, and I would add a smiley face emoji here.

Thanks, dear Shaheda,  for sharing the story and newspaper article about Campbell’s talk. Whenever I watch and hear Campbell’s lectures, there is always that sense of immediacy, as if I am in an audience in the same room with him hearing him talk. He has such a wonderful presence!

Same here as you, Shaheda, and Dennis, and as many, I came to Campbell through his Power of Myth with Bill Moyers. I rad the book before I saw or heard the TV PBS series or any audio series though–got the book from the campus library when first I heard about it.

–Marianne

Shaheda; your questions to Dennis should be very interesting and helpful for I’m not familiar with the inside out sleeve reference you mentioned.

However; I should add concerning my cross references between the Spiral and the Labyrinth with the Ariadne thread was related to the important floor depiction of Chartres Cathedral that is used as a meditative device. This can be a very large topic and I should have been a lot more specific. Although not a true Spiral per se; in this particular case it represents a metaphoric inward spiritual journey often referred to in spiritual pilgrimages. Joseph loved Chartres and spent much time there which he talks about in his conversations with Bill Moyers in “The Power of Myth”. This link shows other Labyrinths as well.

Okay; now I get it! Thanks Stephen; yes; I was a bit unclear on that. And I also loved the video as well.

Shaheda; here is one representation of the Spiral Joseph describes in this short clip from the JCF YouTube channel. But as I was mentioning these are huge symbolic subjects with different applications. (Especially concerning the Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral which has a connection to the Greek version.)  Dennis is much more informed on this than I am so it will be interesting to hear if he has any thoughts he would like to share on this subject. Stephen or anyone else is invited to join in on this connection between the two as well.

As I mentioned these two symbols earlier in the thread I will restate the request so as to cut down on any confusion because we have a lot going on here.  Below is the quote:

“I particularly like the image you use of the Spiral; which reminds me of the: “Ariadne thread and the Labyrinth” as symbolic of one’s inner journey of transformation; and I very much look forward to your thoughts on this. Again a warm welcome and so glad you are here.”

Stephen ,

Lovely video !!
So Joseph wore a Coat of Many Colors a quilted  trappistry  and garment of mythology woven from a motley mixed multitude of threads   !!! So much is packed in the garment and name Joseph !!  Does rhyme with history … Dolly would be proud !!!

It seems the lots have been cast. You have inherited the seamless tie-died multicolored garment and wear it with distinction and flair.

R³

As a special tribute to Dennis and his work with teaching about personal mythology I would like to post a link to a special hour long lecture he gave specifically explaining about the many different aspects of this topic which is “extremely” insightful. Dennis if I may say how very fortunate we have been to have you among us for this brief time and hope you’re next visit will not be too long in forthcoming. Namaste

10 ways to understanding one’s Personal Myth

Hello my Dear Dennis, “art thou that Virgilius”?

As I read your mythblast I was transported to our unforgettable classes at Pacifica Graduate Institute, hearing your cadence and ponderous tempo deliver your sweet discourse, “that fountain [of myth] Which spreads abroad so wide a river of speech” (Inferno 1). Art thou that Virgilius? Where you write:

“I have sensed, as have other lovers of Campbell’s work, that his rich mythodology is syncretistic, gathering and clustering, then ultimately clarifying the connective tissue between disciplines to uncover the vast complexity of the human and world psyche on their arc towards unity.”

This is where I was first forced to pause and wonder, spontaneously recalling MLK’s phrase: “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

I was struck at once with the image of this archetypal arc of the universe and our ability to know its fundamental tendency in time, in precisely the mytho-historic terms you describe: “Which persuades us to glance with double vision at both myth and history, one inside the other, one connecting and transforming the other.” As you well know, this was the first lesson I had to learn in my dissertation on The Esoteric Dimensions of the Popol Vuh (2009). Myth and history are dialectical poles of the self-same reality of human existence on this earth in time.

Temporality is the thing that gets lost in a view of myth sub specie aeternitatis, that is, as fixed constellations of “eternal” and static archetypes. I think we both agree that it would be a mistake to pin myth against history as if it were the Manichean war of the literal vs the symbolic, the “spiritual” vs. the material, etc. But do you not find precisely such a Manechian frenzy in the archetypal-Hillmanian approach to myth?

In the work of James Hillman no less than in Campbell, the literal seems to be cursed with the Midas touch of soullessness, making the “tough-minded” dimension of concrete existence a symbol of privation and starvation of the soul’s psychic reality. In the guise of “religion” and its institutional force, the same disdain for the “literal” can be felt in both writers. The literal interpretation of reality is branded as an enemy of “soul-making” and imagination rather than as a vital part of the process of mytho-historic creation.

This is my first question, if you will. Or, actually, my second question. I rushed past the first prompted by the image of the arch of the universe and its drive towards unity, as you suggest. So I’ll ask my first question last and let my last be my first. That is, after all, letting the dialectical play of opposites play into our texts!

So my first question would have been about the implications of this drive towards unity between the human psyche and the world soul. As we know, especially with Jung’s concept of the Collective Unconscious, the human psyche is viewed as already containing within itself the collective dimensions of the world soul (anima mundi). In other words, what we experience subjectively as our “personal psychology,” in the Jungian view, is precisely the very union (or disunion) between the personal and the collective psyche, which Jung came to refer to as the difference between the subjective and the objective psyche. I like that latter formulation as it lays stress on the collective objectivity into which our subjective mind or personal “soul” is embedded—our precious “personality” having everything to do with the performance of the persona rather than some hidden unreality.

When I think about this transcendent drive towards unity, I am implicitly endorsing the notion of the universe as opposed to the specular and multitudinous phenomenality of the open world otherwise known as the epic cosmos. Be that as it may, I still want to know what a complete unity of subjective and objective psyche could possibly mean in time? What would the ultimate unity of conscious and unconscious mind mean in the course of mytho-history? Or is it perhaps a moral question we should ask with MLK as to whether it matters if this posited unity is just or unjust? Or are we simply leading up to some kind of Nirvana of total extinction?

Similarly, do we lean on the Freudian notion of the death-drive—the psychoanalytic notion of mortal transcendence—which Freud defined precisely as the desire of the psyche for the eternal return of life to its original state, namely, its “unorganized” inanimate state. Life as desiring death in order for death to come alive?

But is such mythic unity the ultimate goal of history?

Having no access to a “metalanguage” outside of history, I ask myself, from what perspective is it even possible to envision such a goal? I cannot entirely suppress a doubt that we are dealing with an ideological construction rather than a real existential possibility. To quote Karl Jaspers on The Origin and Goal of History with my brackets at end:

“Who ever turns to history involuntarily adopts one of these universal viewpoints, which reduce the whole of history to a unity. These viewpoints may be accepted uncritically, may even remain unconscious and therefore unquestioned. In the modes of historical thought they are usually taken as self-evident presuppositions [i.e., ideological phantasies]. (xiv)

Nevertheless, despite his critical attitude and mine, Jaspers encourages us to think further while being honest enough to admit his own bias of ignorance:

“My outline is based on an article of faith: that mankind has one single origin and one goal. Origin and goal are unknown to us, utterly unknown by any kind of knowledge. They can be felt in the glimmer of ambiguous symbols. Our actual existence moves between these two poles; in philosophical reflection we may endeavor to draw closer to both origin and goal.” (xv)

What do you think and feel? Are we with Jaspers on this or can we think even further?

Dennis; if you’ll allow me; it has been a real privilege to have you among us and share your deeply sensitive and considered knowledge with us. Your insights have been both meaningful as well as helpful not only in our understanding of how to apply writing to our individual journeys; but your kindness that shows through in every word.

Norland; this applies to you also. The deep well you draw from through you scholarship has been so very appreciated throughout these discussions; and I hope we will continue to hear more from both of you as these discussions move forward. As Dennis suggests the world is in deep need of all of us right now to think in a different way as the ongoing concerns we face continue to challenge our humanity in ways never before encountered. (Especially concerning Covid and it’s effects on all of us in a multitude of ways we could have never conceived.) Thank you both sincerely for what you bring to the table for us to consider looking forward from here!  Namaste

Stephen, I do not know where your posting went. I was about to go to it to respond and I cannot find it. Can you advice?

Many thanks for your help.

Dennis

Dennis; it is just wonderful to have you here. Concerning your thoughts about the Spiral and Dante’ it occurred to me that the Labyrinth motif that was utilized on the floor in so many of the Gothic Cathedrals; (i.e. some of my links); that this meditative symbol had much to do with one’s internal journey; (much like the spiritual pilgrimages undertaken throughout Europe); that was symbolized in much this same way.

Although this was rather clumsily described on my part; I recall in another video podcast of yours a panel discussion you had with several other people describing a kind of spiritual journey you undertook in New Mexico I think it was to different locations like a monk or an individual would travel on a trip to the Holy Land; but “internally’ if that makes sense. In other words when walking the Labyrinth in the Cathedral you were internally evoking this quest of spiritual awakening or transformation. And your shared “reflective” insights with the other members was so informative of how one might invoke their own “meditations” of their individual personal myth in everyday life; just like in your (W)riting rituals. The devotee or monk or individual is internally or meditatively traveling this same road in everything they do as a meditation to the wonder of their own life; even though it includes the Opera that hurts or Ouroboros of life eating life. Joyful sorrow/ sorrowful joy participation of life as is and must be. Rubbing the prayer beads of our own life as we circle down through the Spiral through our own: “House of Mirrors” to meet our Minotaur and listen to what he has to tell us about who we are.

I loved what Joseph recalled in “The Power of Myth” where he recounts the story of the policeman who risked his life to save an individual from committing suicide by grabbing him by the legs as he was about to jump off a bridge. When another policeman grabbed them both and pulled them up to safety he was asked why he did not let go knowing he was about to be pulled to his own death. His response Joseph recounted was: “If I had let go I could not have lived another day of my life.” Joseph revealed this was a one pointed meditation of realization: “that you and the other (are) one”.

It seems this is what your referring to in these spiritual themes one might contemplate while walking or writing or meditating or whatever they are doing while going about the daily tasks of living seem to be symbolized by this psychological  focus Joseph is pointing out; this: “thou art that”; this journey the everyday hero of us all as we stand on the corner waiting for the light to change while watching “Beauty and the Beast” or any number of manifestations of our mythic landscape while trying to figure out who we are and what is our next step we must take to get there.

Please forgive these all too elaborate descriptions; but your book has been such a joy in conjuring up so many of these themes as I sit each day with pen in hand in amazement with what comes out.  Thank you for this gift!

Dennis; you are incredibly kind to say that and I’m wondering if when you have a free moment you might share some of your thoughts about the creative process. People have such a difficult time finding their place in life; finding the thing that takes them where they feel they need to go. Joseph Campbell had much to say about this but often I think the world reflects outer value instead of inner meaning. They look around and think to themselves their life has to have fame or notoriety; something that mirrors that what they “do” is who they are; when persona isn’t necessarily the true reflection of what is looking back at them. That what moves them internally isn’t necessarily the accurate picture of what is going on under the surface.

Your book dives deep into this introspective assimilation to recognize the many faces of the (S)elf archetype which is informing the ego/self/hero of what is happening on the outer conscious plane that isn’t always what the inner subconscious of the individual needs or wants. Joseph talks about the arc-of-life process as it evolves and how the inevitable change from youth through the various stages is going to affect how someone sees themselves and what drives them will start to change as they age. So that when we write within this self-reflective process our awareness will be affected also. I love how your book goes down into the depths of these various dimensions and asks the individual to explore them as they process their own inner world. Can you share some of your thoughts on this in how it has affected your own life and Journey?

For instance after waking from dreaming last night I remember James Hillman use to talk about waking: “to” the night instead of from; (his emphasis on the aging process changing how our inner focus and alchemy is now changing it’s calling); so that the things one is concerned with are looking backward as well as forward; (Janus principle); and negotiating where it wants to go next because now the life journey is considering it’s trajectory toward death and the legacy of what will be left behind begins to enter the picture. The first half of life is focused on achievement as a vehicle of expression; the self-responsible individual has achieved life and all these inner dynamics are shifting and wondering where to go next. So that as we journal or explore these feelings at whatever life stage we find ourselves how do you think about these things and the way you process your feelings as a writer? We use writing as a vehicle to explore but I think sometimes it’s the things we’ve already done or experienced that give us clues where we are instead of looking outward for new horizons.

Yesterday and last night I was captivated by the story behind the making of: “Dances With Wolves”; and now coming up for public view on PBS is the biography documentary on Ernest Hemingway by Ken Burns. Both of these projects go deep into huge themes that reflect the life process; and Joseph reminds us that no matter what the Journey or what it entails the alchemy involved to bring it forth isn’t necessarily what it appears. The end game of the endeavor is a reflection of something deeper and these are some of the things you write about in helping the individual to discover as Joseph said to Bill Moyers in “The Power of Myth” of: (what is ticking in them). Hope this makes sense. Thank you again for sharing your time with us.

__________________________________________________________________________________

(Addendum: Sorry my humble apologies; but I missed you prior entry and you may be winding up this truly wonderful MythBlast . If time is running short and you have other things that need attending we can certainly pick this up another time. If so thank you for sharing these truly delightful moments with us; and will look forward to when you can return.)

Shaaheda; yes; “What is ticking inside them”; because this represents the modern dilemma surrounding having a “Personal Myth”. It gives you something to navigate with within a social structure that is without a myth of it’s own. This is what Joseph is talking about in the Hero’s Journey.

Hello Dennis; I have a new topic to introduce within this discussion which you brought up recently at the Jungian Lecture Series a few weeks back that I feel strongly directly relates to this subject of the “Power of the Personal”; which was a central feature of your framework of accessing your Personal Myth. You gave one of the most articulate and moving descriptions of one’s intimate landscapes coming out of your own experience that I hope you will share as it relates I think to something not often talked about but which I think is critically important in exploring and accessing one’s personal story and that is the subject of “Shame”. You shared in very personal and intimate details your journey with painting and how something way back in your youth caused you to feel a tremendous loss of self-esteem which this alchemy you used to address it opened up a whole new illumination towards healing. (For those who have not seen Dennis’s work he has 2 separate Galleries listed on his website; and of particular interest to me was his renderings of Jung’s “Red Book”.) Also not to be missed is his recent blog offering concerning his personal writing teaching techniques with prison inmates using Joseph Campbell’s ideas as a template format.

For me what I think is important to this discussion is the use of personal art and writing as a means to not only express but to deeply explore one’s inner depths of memory where; as Joseph Campbell describes: “the dark jewels glow”; and use these symbolic images and experiences as tools for personal illumination and healing. Joseph describes this process as a kind of: “symbolic imaging”; or as he later refers to as: “symbolic realization” he mentions in one of his Jungian lectures on individuation. He goes into great detail describing how to utilize this process on pages: 155-158; in: “Reflections on the Art of Living – A Joseph Campbell Companion”; by using this process as a means of breaking past blockages and opening gates of transformation of one’s inner world. The particular symbol he uses as an example I am about to quote is the double triangle which forms the: “Jewish Star of David”; and he utilizes this symbol to show how to breakthrough the repression of the psyche by pointing out what each triangle should represent within this process of assimilation in achieving the passage through your own individual process. Each triangle represents something as he describes on 155:

“In the double triangle, the upward pointing triangle–you might use the word “aspiration” for that–is symbolic of the movement principle. The downward-pointed triangle is inertia, and it represents what the obstacle would be. The downward pointing triangle can be experienced either as an impediment or as the door that is opened. When you recognize it’s psychological significance and effect a mental transformation, then you see the obstacle as an opening.

So you can experience the downward-pointed triangle two ways: one, as an obstacle; and the other, as the means by which you are going to make the ascent. So, everything in your life that seems to be obstructive can be transformed by your recognizing that it is the means for your transition.”

__________

On page 156 he continues this train of thought by asking:

“What is the obstruction in your life, and how do you transform it into radiance?” Ask yourself, ” What is the main obstruction to my path?” In India, demons are really obstructions to the expansion of consciousness. A demon or devil is a power in you to which you have not given expression, an recognized or suppressed god. Anyone who is unable to understand a god sees it as a devil.”

_________

He picks this description back up on page 157; where he continues by saying:

“When you find yourself blocked by a concretized symbol from your childhood, meditation is a systematic discipline that will solve your problem. The function of meditation, ideally, would be to transcend the concretized response and deliver the message.

The first thing I’d do would to think, “What are, specifically, the symbols that are still active, still touching me this way?” What are the symbols? There’s a great context of symbols in the world. Not all of them are the ones that afflict you. When you do find the symbol that is blocking you, find some mode of thinking and experience that matches in it’s importance for you what the symbol meant. You cannot get rid of a symbol if you have not found that to which it refers.

If you find in your own heart a center of experience for which the symbol has been substituted, the symbol will dissolve. Think, “Of what is it the metaphor?” When you find that, the symbol will lose it’s blocking force, or it will become the guide.

This is the “knowing” part of “to know, to love, to serve.” If you are in trouble with this part because you do not really know what this thing refers to, then it will push you around. I’m very, very, sure of that.

To dissolve such a concretization as an adult, you need to find what the reference of the symbol is. When that is found, you will have the elucidation. The symbol will move into place, and you can regard it with pleasure: as something that guides you to the realization of what it’s message is, instead of as a roadblock. This is an important point.

That is the downward pointed triangle. It is either an obstruction or the field through which the realization is to come.”

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So Dennis; my question is: “does this description of Joseph’s match up with what you experienced which you shared about Shame” in your lecture? The description you gave rang me like a bell when you bravely offered this “witness” to your childhood; and how you were able to utilize this extremely personal experience as a means for your ascent through your painting. Personal Writing, Painting, or what other means of Art, or Self Expression that one utilizes seems to me to represent this doorway into to the unconscious as well as that of enjoyment, meaning, or purpose that these things are normally used for.

Of particular importance to me was the understanding of the gate-guardians or Dragon of one’s Shame in your personal narrative. This gateway had to be accessed to obtain passage of the threshold to gain the treasure of your emotional wholeness. And what you shared was so poignantly moving that I think it would be of enormous value to this discussion if you would feel comfortable sharing it.

I see shame as one of the major manifestations of personal tragedy; which like the Dragon guards a gateway that holds people hostage. Carl Jung called it: “a soul-eating emotion”; and I think it would be almost impossible to count the number of suicides that have been caused by it’s overpowering effects throughout human history. Who among us have not lost someone from this crippling and devastating condition that it causes.

The below link to the article I am including is a long but very articulate description of what Shame actually is; which I hope everyone will read because I think it has much to offer on this little explored emotional manifestation of the psyche. “Shame” by James M. Shultz

Dennis; Yes my name is James; and thank both you and Shaheda so very much for responding to this question of mine concerning Shame. Yes; as you both surmise this is a huge issue I think that needs so much more attention than it’s been getting and I think in large part because most people don’t really know what it is; but even more important how crippling it can be. Not only is it so hard to talk about; social media and society in general shun any attempt at revealing one’s inner weaknesses and pain because it also exposes their own inner wounds for possibly being criticized as well. So masks are created to hide our pain; often for some through persona devices like self-aggrandizement or more importantly through certain social behaviors like “bullying”. To make another feel small or less important by hiding their own vulnerability this behavior also re-enforces other negative social behaviors like lying or deception which are other ways or forms this infection of the soul is allowed to fester. It is a “Hydra or Medusa” of the worst order; that as you both have illustrated can also be the source of tremendous personal transformation if realized; but herein lies the difficulty I think because to understand and access these wounds one must also realize not only what caused them; but how to heal them.

Dennis; your lecture on this issue I think provided a very important insight that was further addressed in  Michael Meade’s lecture that same week on one’s “Inner Genius”; when he talked about where our “Inner Genius” lies which is behind our pain and our wounds. But he also approached this critical need by adding another way to think about it which you also addressed by personal writing. Meade said that there is an inner desire to not only “Witness” our inner self; but also it is just as important – “to be Heard”! I think here is one of the greatest gifts humanity has to offer itself; because by entering into a dialogue with our inner personhood and sharing it with both with oneself as well as others we allow others to also become vehicles of healing and wholeness; and the raising of consciousness itself. And whether one’s inner process of dialogue is instigated through journaling, through support groups, or through just sharing one’s pain through that most important of human relationships – (that of Friendship); we become more than just an individual; we become part of our larger community of human family; we become that realization of what Joseph and so many others throughout history have referred to as: “you and the other are one”. And we are not alone; left in the darkness or our own human suffering! For instance if we consider the definitions below:

“Nihilism” is the belief that nothing matters. Existentialism is the attempt to confront and deal with meaninglessness…to not succumb to nihilism or despair: to not give up or avoid responsibility.”

Then we must come to terms with the questions of not only: who we are; why we are here; and what does our life really mean; but more importantly how we can answer them.

I think there is incredible angst going on in the world right now that not only the Covid crisis has opened up; but this sense that because the ecology is in such dire straights looking ahead that we feel alone and abandoned to helplessness and that our ability to make sense of our existence so often hinges on this ability to reach out and express these things by sharing our fears and our deep inner pain. And these aspects and dimensions of our lives as you both point out; can in many ways be both the source as well as the springboard toward a much larger potential of who we can become. But it is within this internal cocoonlike metamorphosis that we must often retreat to evoke the necessary inner alchemy for this transition of transformation to start. And at the bottom of this Dragon’s lair lies “Shame”; waiting to be realized as the child within us all asking to be recognized and given voice to speak.

(I hope this long drawn out explanation makes sense; because I think this particular issue lies at the very root and heart of much that is going on right now. Suicide rates are exploding; and people are crying out for help to express something they don’t understand. As Joseph mentioned in different ways in different situations that if people don’t address these deep inner needs they risk a schizophrenic crackup because they don’t know what it is that’s ticking inside them. We have fears and repression and anger that needs to be unraveled and understood. Not everyone can afford an analyst; “but everyone can make and be a friend”. That’s Joseph’s theme song he often mentioned of: “the joyful participation of suffering with someone in the sorrows of the world”; and by going into your cave and getting to know your minotaur or your dragon and sharing your fears and sorrows; whether on paper, on your hard drive, through your intimate relationships; or even helping a total stranger in need we become that thing we are searching for; that longing to be whole when we fell from the metaphoric Grace of Eden’s Garden of our Shame; and we are to find that Jesus or Buddha that lies within us all.)

Again; thank you both so very much for listening and responding to this issue; I have more to add for I think it is a very critical concern right now ; especially with Covid raging across the planet and it’s new variants starting to emerge that may be even more dangerous than what we have been dealing with at present. And then there is climate change and global warming looming in the distance. Not to sound alarmist; but I think it’s so important that we will need to be able to use every emotional resource we have at our disposal looking forward to what Joseph called: “our freefall into the future”. I think is this more than evident when one looks at the news; and even though Joseph stated:” the world is a mess and you are not going to change that reality. What we can do is change ourselves and the way we understand our interior. And I think understanding Shame is one place real inroads can be made.

Thank you so much Dennis; your response ties in perfectly with my last request which is directly related to: anxiety, shame, and the debilitating effects of: separation, isolation, and loneliness that are the cause and result of not only low self-esteem; but that of mistrust. Mistrust caused by the inability to share one’s inner feelings which further exacerbates their sense of hopelessness and despair that nothing can come to relieve their pain. This is what happens when shame and loss of community closes all doors. And it contains a much darker milieu talked about in today’s newsfeed where there was an article that specifically articulates what many are feeling now because Covid; and especially “misinformation” has created a social isolation so severe that people do not know who to trust to seek help from their pain and isolation. And when one considers the toxicity and distrust promoted within our newsfeeds and especially social media it is no wonder that this mistrust is a main driver surrounding our new normal. If people fear medical opinion much less vaccines, if they despise people they do not know much less have never met because of encouraged political animosity; then where do they look to find relief, comfort, and hope that they can overcome their inner tragedies and demons.

This is where the second part of my query from the lecture series comes in; (which unfortunately you were not able to attend); which Michael Meade mentions about: “witnessing; and being heard”; which I mentioned here:

Dennis; your lecture on this issue I think provided a very important insight that was further addressed in  Michael Meade’s lecture that same week on one’s “Inner Genius”; when he talked about where our “Inner Genius” lies which is behind our pain and our wounds. But he also approached this critical need by adding another way to think about it which you also addressed by personal writing. Meade said that there is an inner desire to not only “Witness” our inner self; but also it is just as important – “to be Heard”! I think here is one of the greatest gifts humanity has to offer itself; because by entering into a dialogue with our inner personhood and sharing it with both with oneself as well as others we allow others to also become vehicles of healing and wholeness; and the raising of consciousness itself. And whether one’s inner process of dialogue is instigated through journaling, through support groups, or through just sharing one’s pain through that most important of human relationships – (that of Friendship); we become more than just an individual; we become part of our larger community of human family; we become that realization of what Joseph and so many others throughout history have referred to as: “you and the other are one”. And we are not alone; left in the darkness of our own human suffering!” To many this simple suggestion would seem like a “no brainer”; but if we look deeper I think it would be very difficult to articulate the depth these nuances go to supply the meaning and sense of personhood these relationships provide. For instance how many real friendships does one normally have? Not the virtual chit-chat ones; but the deep heartfelt ones the soul longs for to share one’s innermost thoughts, feelings, and fears with? But it’s more than just having a sounding board to bounce things off of; because as we should know from what our books and art tell us these very special and rare relationships should offer what the soul needs to thrive; for we also know that no soul thrives alone!

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In your brand new project with prison inmates as well as what you have so often encouraged throughout your books and lectures; “personal journaling” you show us is an important resource to establish an inner dialogue with the self so that one may be able to hear what our inner voice is asking for. And indeed when we as individuals seek human contact and are able to share our intimate feelings with others so that we no longer feel alone. AA meetings for instance are a great example where “witnessing and being heard” can have healing results concerning acknowledging our masks and defense mechanisms and what lies behind them; but one thing I think is lacking is understanding our “new normal” is somewhat different in that it also exposes our lack of community in a new and terrifying way. It sends a message that lets you know in no uncertain terms that we are not only alone; but there is now mistrust and fear to contend with on a level not seen before that promotes helplessness. Here is where our most valuable weapon can be called forth which is that of friendship. This powerful tool has the ability turn adversity into meaning, comfort, and hope; something that can reveal the deeper inner dimensions of who we really are because it lights the candle that illuminates the darkness that surrounds us with an affirmation that only love and compassion and inter-human connection can supply. I know for myself sometimes in closed group settings venting my frustration can often bring a sense of temporary “Catharsis”. A feeling of fighting back against the frustration that grips so many of us. But this is only a band-aid for a much deeper wound that I think many us are experiencing; and whether it visits us through our Shadow projections out loud; or follows us in quiet reflection; we are still confronted by this social dilemma that seems to know no end in sight.

I think this ties in very much with personal expression and our psyche’s inner need to express itself; to make sense of what we are surrounded by in a way that provides affirmation to our existence that we share with others. And it does this in a way where we can actually experience that ultimate goal of the psyche that Jung refers to of: “being-in-being”. (What Joseph refers to as experiencing: “the rapture and wonder of being alive”; not just that of mere existence; and which goes past meaning.)

I see more and more as your important work points out that people don’t know themselves; and that furthermore as Joseph points out; that the world is a wasteland that we must deal with in learning how live within a system that must “not” be allowed to rob us of our personal selfhood. And by getting in touch with who we are this road or path becomes a gateway to see our interhuman connection with others as well as healing our inner wounds.

One of our chief moderators; Michael Lambert; over the years has brought up the importance of teaching kids to: “write about themselves”; to explore their inner feelings and to connect these insights to their developing understanding of what archetypes and mythic themes are and to be able to see these things in everyday life and how this relates to them. But what one of the most illuminating questions he would often have to address from them is: “I just don’t know how to write about myself”. I think this question lies at the very heart of why people feel so disconnected to themselves; which is one of the main issues I think your work is so critically concerned with.

Now I bring this up because I wanted to directly address an issue that Shaheda and I; as well as others like Marianne, Stephen, and Michael have talked about on various occasions which is teenage disconnection. And it most often raises it’s head with teen gun violence and crime in a world that doesn’t seem to care. The rising numbers are staggering; and yet no one seems to know how to address the cultural divides that exacerbate it; and as this drift away from the previous moorings that society always depended on to provide guidance and help; such as religion; no longer work because as Joseph pointed out they are no longer relevant to the reality in which they are enveloped. Here is where personal writing can become a weapon against despair as you point out; as well as a lifeline to a sense of friendship and community that can be nurtured that Michael Meade mentioned; but these other new social dynamics I mentioned I think are changing the rule book. Covid and mistrust; especially on social media are isolating people more and more in regards to this inner despondency and angst; especially among teenagers; and to bridge these gaps I think is going to take more than just the same old approaches.

There was a movie I referred to in one of my other posts called: “The Freedom Writers Diary” where teacher Erwin Gruwell used personal writing as a gateway to opening up possibilities to who they could become; and went on to build a foundation that teaches others how to do this as one example. But my point has to do with connecting some of these various dots as to how you see or interpret these “new normal” dynamics through your own ideas; (like you talk about in your book of: Writing Myth/Mythic Writing); of breaching this guardian gateway for writing, sharing, and being heard, and sense of friendship and community as weapons seen in within your own philosophy of how to combat these forces we face; and if you wouldn’t mind sharing some of your personal thoughts about this. You have spoken so eloquently and passionately from your own personal experience of using “the pen in your hand” to make these connections to open this door. And I find the biggest hurdle to overcome sometimes is our own reluctance to share these things with others in a way we can get past these gate guardians where our dragon or minotaur lies waiting for us to do battle with our own fears.

Again as before; my apologies if my post seems somewhat more convoluted than before; and I know this may be a bit longer and more complicated request than before; but I also think it has very deep relevance to what now we are currently facing concerning Covid, mistrust, and the frightening insecurities that many are dealing with; not only for kids but for grownups as well. You have been so very kind with your thoughts and your time; and please know that what you have shared is so deeply appreciated.

Thank you Shaheda for such a powerful insight into exactly what I was attempting to address; which the term I was unaware of had already been identified as: “Social Isolation”. And one of the horrific results that can come about if not understood within it’s proper context is starting to finally gain attention as it is now coming to be realized from your extraordinary piece in the outrageous tragedy of “KIRS”. The psychological dimensions of this nightmare atrocity are beyond human comprehension that such unbelievable treatment of any child could be hidden for so long; and because of race like the holocaust must never be allowed to occur again goes without saying. And even though the depths of human depravity and abuse have been recognized throughout history this takes that realization to a whole other level considering; as she so adamantly pointed out: “that no one would attempt to even listen”!

Although nowhere near as extreme I want to make a connection about “listening and being heard” to an even larger scale because it hasn’t been noticed like it needs to be flying under the radar for so long and only now as the Corona virus has emerged has exacerbated it into full devastating view. In many ways we are becoming increasingly disconnected from each other and this evidence is everywhere hiding in plain sight under the radar of our everyday social consciousness as I’ll show you why.

Below I will leave a copy of an article that continually kept popping up on my newsfeed yesterday that illustrates what I’m talking about.

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Associated Press
Poll: Millions in US struggle through life with few to trust
ALEXANDRA OLSON
Thu, June 10, 2021, 7:00 AM

NEW YORK (AP) — Karen Glidden’s loneliness became unbearable during the coronavirus pandemic.
The 72-year-old widow, who suffers from vision loss and diabetes and lives far from any relatives, barely left her house in Champion, Michigan, this past year, for fear of contracting the virus. Finally vaccinated, she was looking forward to venturing out when her beloved service dog died last month.

It doesn’t help that her circle of trusted friends has dwindled to one neighbor she counts on to help her shop, get to the doctor and hang out.

“I feel like I’m in a prison most of the time and once in a while, I get to go out,” said Glidden, whose adult children live in California and Hawaii, where she was born and raised.

She is not alone in her sense of social isolation.

Millions of Americans are struggling through life with few people they can trust for personal and professional help, a disconnect that raises a key barrier to recovery from the social, emotional and economic fallout of the pandemic, according to a new a poll from The Impact Genome Project and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The poll finds 18% of U.S. adults, or about 46 million people, say they have just one person or nobody they can trust for help in their personal lives, such as emergency child care needs, a ride to the airport or support when they fall sick. And 28% say they have just one person or nobody they can trust to help draft a resume, connect to an employer or navigate workplace challenges.

The isolation is more acute among Black and Hispanic Americans. Thirty-eight percent of Black adults and 35% of Hispanic adults said they had only one or no trusted person to help navigate their work lives, compared with 26% of white adults. In their personal lives, 30% of Hispanic adults and 25% of Black adults said they have one or no trusted people, while 14% of white adults said the same.

Researchers have long debated the idea that the U.S. has suffered from a decline in social capital, or the value derived from personal relationships and civic engagement.

The General Social Survey, a national representative survey conducted by NORC since 1972, suggests that the number of people Americans feel they can trust had declined by the early 2000s, compared with two decades earlier, although there is little consensus about the extent of this isolation or its causes. The rise of social media has added another layer of debate, as experts explore whether it broadens networks or lures people in isolating echo chambers.

The Impact Genome/AP-NORC poll sought to measure how much social capital Americans can count as they try to pick up the pieces of lives fractured by the pandemic. The findings suggest that for many Americans, the pandemic has chipped away at whatever social capital they had going into it.

Americans were more likely to report a decline than an increase in the number of people they could trust over the past year. Just 6% of Americans said their network of trusted people grew, compared with 16% who reported that it shrank. While the majority of Americans said the number of people they could trust stayed the same, nearly 3 in 10 said they asked for less support from family and friends because of COVID-19.

Community bonds have proved to be critical to recovery from calamities such as Superstorm Sandy in 2012, said Jennifer Benz, deputy director of The AP-NORC Center.

But the nature of the pandemic made those bonds difficult or even impossible to maintain. Schools, community centers, churches, synagogues and mosques closed. People couldn’t ask neighbors or grandparents for help with child care or other needs for fear of spreading the virus.

About half of Americans are engaged in civic groups such as religious institutions, schools or community service groups, according to the new poll. And 42% of all adults said they have become less involved with civic groups during the pandemic, compared with just 21% who said they became more engaged.

“Compared to the way social capital can be leveraged in other disasters, the key difference has been that this is a disaster where your civic duty was to be on your own,” Benz said.

Surveys from the Pew Research Center suggested that relocation increased during the pandemic. While some people moved to be closer to family, more relocated because of job loss or other financial stresses.

Warlin Rosso, 29, has moved often in pursuit of financial stability, often at the cost of his social ties.

He left behind his entire family, including 14 siblings, when he immigrated to the U.S. five years ago from the Dominican Republic. He worked at a warehouse in Chicago for three years, sharing an apartment with a girlfriend. But when that relationship fell apart, he couldn’t afford to move out on his own. In December 2019, he relocated to Jackson, Mississippi, where a childhood friend let him move in.

That friend, Rosso said, remains the only person in Jackson he can trust for help. As the pandemic closed in, Rosso struggled in a city where the Hispanic community is tiny.

Through social media, he found work with a Nicaraguan man who owned a construction business. Later, he found a training program that landed him a job as hospital aide.

His co-workers are friendly, but he feels isolated. Sometimes, he said, patients bluntly ask to be helped by a non-Latino worker. He hopes eventually to get a similar job back in Chicago, where he has friends.

“It’s not always welcoming for Hispanics here,” Rosso said. “Here, I’m alone.”
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The AP-NORC poll of 2,314 adults was conducted March 25-April 15 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

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This is only one of a number of pieces that have been becoming more and more visible about what Covid has helped to bring into view about our increasing social dilemma that underlines what is happening to the human condition because of an increasing rise in our inability to connect with each other on a deep interpersonal level and it’s global. This is the face of our new normal that modern society is presenting that we as human beings must figure out how to address. Social media is both a cause and a savior in many senses because it allows us the ability to interface and interact globally in real time; but at the same time it also in many ways isolates us into separate groups. Modern computer based technology has through the internet become both a boon and an invasive and controlling force; and with the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence with also begin to sculpt our perception of reality in ways we aren’t even aware of such as the use of misinformation for instance.

As Shaheda so precisely and articulately pointed out our ability to: “Listen and be Heard” I think is going to become increasingly more important because as these two pieces illustrate we have only scratched the veneer of a very deep inner need that lies festering underneath the surface of our everyday lives. We are disconnected in a way we are only beginning to realize the scope of as can be seen in the rise of hate groups and growing animosity between people who don’t even know each other and have lost this ability to listen; be heard; and to feel like they have a place at the table of our larger human family.

There is no way this humble little entry can truly identify the larger landscape of this ever growing concern that Covid among other things has begun to reveal; but the ability of people to get to know themselves underneath the surface of their normal everyday conscious I think is going to become a more important part of the demands of future everyday life looking ahead. And simple little things like learning how to write about oneself and reflect on who you are and to know you are not alone I think will not only be desirable but critical for the basic mental health of the society in which they live. Perhaps a new way of integrating religion might be a possibility; but so far there are definite problems that are going to have to be resolved. And maybe this is not doable in the near future; but looking into the distance it may be unavoidable if we as human beings are going to be able to survive; because looming in the distance is climate change and global warming and not just a virus that’s already brought us to an uncertain future which we must figure out how to negotiate looking ahead.

Shaheda offers a powerful reminder of what can happen if we just turn our backs and say: “it’s always been this way”; but as Joseph Campbell also reminded us; even though the world has always been a mess and you are not going to change that reality of life eating life; you participate in it. You can make a choice and engage in this wonderous Operatic nightmare that Joseph describes; or you can continue to be locked in the cage of your own never ending pain which like Joseph also describes: (would be like: “a madman screaming at bughouse walls”). Jung saw this approaching darkness of the human condition coming down the road when he warned about mankind’s future and that we must confront our shadow and integrate it. And I think if we as human beings can learn how to listen and be heard we will be one step closer to opening this door and seeing not only who we are, but who we can become. And Dennis we so appreciate your spending your time and offering your insights so we may better understand how better to accomplish these things.

Thank you again for this powerful post James, which covers many issues –COVID and isolation, role of social media in our lives, mental health, teen isolation and more.  The issue that  led me to recall this particular story that I am going to tell,  is on teaching kids to write about themselves.

The story is about Alanis Obomsawin, CC GOQ (born August 31, 1932) who is an American Canadian Abenaki filmmaker, singer, artist and activist mostly known for her documentary films. Born in New Hampshire, United States and raised primarily in Quebec, Canada, she has written and directed many National Film Board of Canada documentaries on First Nations issues.

She began her career as a professional singer and storyteller before joining the National Film Board (NFB) in 1967. Her award-winning films address the struggles of Indigenous peoples in Canada from their perspective, giving prominence to voices that have long been ignored or dismissed. The basic purpose of her films is to give a voice to her people and to have their existence recognized — to speak of their values, their beliefs, their songs, and that it’s alright to be a native person in North America.

It was my good fortune to meet Alanis in person, and to hear her sing songs,  and tell stories of her people. Her own story from her life in a school in Trois-Rivière touched me to the bones.  The emotions in her voice as she narrated her short story resonate in my being to this day.

Her parents left New Hampshire and moved to Trois-Rivières, in Quebec, Canada. Her mother’s cousin, initiated her into the history of the Abenaki Nation and taught her many songs and legends. But in Trois-Rivière, she was cut off from her tradition, she spoke little French and not a word of English, but she held tightly to the songs and stories taught by her aunt on the reserve.

James, you wrote,  “One of our chief moderators; Michael Lambert; over the years has brought up the importance of teaching kids to: “write about themselves”; to explore their inner feelings and to connect these insights to their developing understanding of what archetypes and mythic themes are and to be able to see these things in everyday life and how this relates to them. But what one of the most illuminating questions he would often have to address from them is: “I just don’t know how to write about myself”. 

Yes indeed, “I just didn’t  know how to express myself until ” was Alanis’ story.  It so happened that the girls at the Trois-Rivières school had made a practice to circle around Alanis during their lunch break and beat her up. This happened every single day for a year or more, perhaps more. Alanis was  embarrassed, ashamed, as if she had done something wrong. She spoke not a word, to anyone at school. The year she turned 12, was also the year that her father died, and she had to be in school the day after his death. Lunch break arrived, the girls came around to form a circle and begin their beating. This time, Alanis was not the old Alanis, she got up and beat each and every single one of them. They never ever came for her. The beating stopped. Alanis had changed and so did the girls.  She did not say, “it’s always been this way”  she fought back, and       “participated in it and freed herself from an operatic nightmare”.  She refused to be locked in the cage of her never ending pain. That day, I learned a lot from Alanis.

More about Alanis’ films and other works can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alanis_Obomsawin

Shaheda

Dennis; I just want to say how meaningful it is to be able to have these discussions with you and to explore all these different dimensions of these various themes and why they are so important to all of us. I want to add one more topic ingredient to the pot because I definitely think it mixes in with the entire soup batch we have been cooking because I think we need to be thinking in a different way than we are use to about this last component which is “aging and Elder-hood” as opposed to child-hood. If we spent our entire life acquiring: knowledge, wisdom, and experience, why in the world as we age is all of this value that has been accumulated dismissed and as people age; (which by the way we all have a stake in); and the answer is “ageism”. I think this topic is of enormous importance in relation to understanding and making use of not only the mythical dimension of the life process and it’s connection to the ends and means of living itself; but to the very same social and emotional isolation that youth is experiencing and the resulting imbalance within society. The Elderly are isolated from society in much the same way as the young who are just entering Adult-hood; so that the inter-personal inner sense of meaningful life trajectory is not experienced in the same manner and in many ways is excluded and not acknowledged the same social value. With the young it usually goes something like: “Oh, they are too young to know better”; with the elderly: ” They are too old to grasp what is in front of them”. And their social worth is not validated in the same manner or way because it is minimized.

So let us dig a little deeper when we think in terms of social isolation and personal meaning that someone might have or feel when we start to see the rise in suicide rates; (which by the way this pandemic has exacerbated); and add in where the Elderly often wind up as they age-out of social importance and engagement as in retirement for instance. Senior care facilities often become warehouses for the sick and dying without the proper emotional and spiritual nourishment and attention which they might need to draw from; but also we are as a society are denied the accumulated wealth and benefits of their experiences. If we have a youth oriented culture that puts all emphasis on what Adults can offer; how and where will the life experience come from if not from those who have already experienced it? In other words Adults have “immediate” know how; the Elderly have “long range” know how. (Children need both immediate and long range know how.)

So here is where I’m heading with this. For most of human history the elder adults lived and died within the family unit; and grandparents were an essential part of the family structure because the interplay between: young, middle, and elder individuals not only gave life meaning and purpose; it provided the necessary tools to navigate the life process; but there have been some huge alterations within modern society that reflect so much of it’s present dysfunction.

There is a great deal more that could be added about the pressures the modern individual is experiencing concerning not only: digital technology, social media, how the actual living structure of houses and cities have been altered; play into this; but more importantly as Joseph has pointed out there is the loss of social myth and how it has affected this; (which he called our new “Free Fall into the future”); which has to do with the actual glue the older myths provided that once held them together. Because he saw these older mythic structures were losing their relevance because of science and a more secular individualized personal mythic form was taking it’s place.

But saying this I don’t want to make this addition to the topic to complex and I will just stay with “aging” for the moment because it has not been covered and has a great deal to offer this subject of the: “The Power of the Personal”. We need to think about aging differently as AARP’s Dr. Bill Thomas: (recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on Geriatrics has been suggesting).  And like Joseph has been a real maverick in the groundbreaking way he has been helping to instigate a new healthcare revolution in the way we perceive and approach this oncoming tsunami of elderly coming down the road. (Think Boomer generation population explosion that are now retiring). His books, lectures, and projects are too vast to cover here; but my objective is to point out this subject has been completely left out of most discussions concerning the social relevance to this topic of social isolation; and along with youth needs and development are so important to the way we think of our total life processes, meaning, and interplay concerning where we are now going forward. So with that in mind I’m going to leave a very short YouTube interview that explains some of his insights.