Carl Jung understood the relative value of science and had a deep appreciation for the inner world, especially as it relates to the numinous. In his autobiography, Jung undertook the challenge of sharing his personal myth. He did not concern himself with whether or not the stories were ‘true’ – as the realm of the imagination and the mythical were as real as waking life for Jung.
Today, truth has seemingly taken on a whole new meaning. With the rise of social media and the attention economy, our minds have been hijacked and overwhelmed by algorithms and uncompromising dark players – purposefully leaving us little room for examining their truthfulness, much less our own narratives. At the same time, however, the scientists and scientific disciplines that have been open to inquiry about the neural correlates of spirituality and the scientific basis of story have made significant strides in their endeavors.
In this workshop we will explore the complexity of truth within us and between us, and examine the distinctions between cohesive and coherent narratives. While cohesive narratives hold something together tightly, these stories can result in a fundamentalist rigidity without integration of past, present, or future. Coherent narratives, on the other hand, fluidly lend themselves to adaptive change. Through examining the foundational principles of Jungian psychology and affective neuroscience, exploratory creative writing, breathwork exercises, and other grounding tools and resources, we will discover our own narratives of true integration – stories that both hold themselves together well, and facilitate connection when shared in community with others.