Thread by @jungianLaura

As promised, continuing to tweet all of Chapter 11 of Why Good People Do Bad Things by Jungian analyst James Hollis, Ph.D. "Toward the possible prospect of ceasing to blame others & owning our part in this general messiness we call our life, I offer to the reader the following…

…questions designed to stir the archaic materials within each of us, invite reflection for those brave enough to withdraw projections, and occasion the expansion of consciousness that makes true freedom, and true choice, more possible." ~James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst

"Before we begin, we must recall an old Near Eastern story of a man looking frantically under the arc of light cast by a lamppost. When he was asked by a passerby what he was looking for, he replied, 'I am looking for the keys to my house.'" ~James Hollis, Jungian analyst (1/3)

"When the passerby asked in return, 'Well, is this where you dropped them?' The man replied, 'No, I lost them in the dark, but this is the only place where the light is.'" ~James Hollis, Jungian analyst, Why Good People Do Bad Things: Understanding Our Darker Selves, Ch. 11 (2/3)

"We will not find the keys to our psychic house by looking where the light is, that is, where the ego can survey its familiar territory. We can only find our personal keys in the darkest places, just where we lost them some time ago." ~James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst (3/3)

QUESTIONS FOR #SHADOW WORK REFLECTION

1. Since we all aspire to virtue, or aspire at least to consider ourselves virtuous, what do you consider to be your virtues? Can you imagine the opposite of your virtues? Can you imagine that they could lurk in your #unconscious? (1/2)

Can you see some place in the present, or in your history, where those opposites may in fact be manifest in your life?

From Ch. 11, "Shadow/Work," of Why Good People Do Bad Things: Understanding Our Darker Selves by Jungian analyst James Hollis, Ph.D. speakingofjung.com/podcast/2017/5…

"Let us say that one aspires to be honest. That is a virtue, we agree. Is there a place where our honesty is harmful to another? Is there a possible place in one's psyche where dishonesty, even mendacity lurks?" ~James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst (1/2) #shadow

"It there a place in one's life story where our dishonesty casts the decisive lot? Of course there is, if we are honest for just this moment." ~James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst, Why Good People Do Bad Things: Understanding Our Darker Selves, Ch. 11 (2/2) #shadow

*mendacity: a tendency to lie

"Let us say that one is always caring & thoughtful of others. Do not our own unaddressed needs lurk in the underworld? Do not those needs, so often reflexively ignored, show up in leaks of anger, in depression, or in unacknowledged narcissistic manipulation?" ~James Hollis (1/4)

"If I am so kind and thoughtful, can I even recognize these symptoms of repressed anger for what they are? Given how identified one may be with caring for others, is there a price paid for neglecting one's own agenda?" ~James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst (2/4) #shadow

"If professional caregivers are so devoted to their good work, shouldering the pain of others, how is it that they so often suffer depression, substance abuse, chronic back and shoulder pain?" ~James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst, Why Good People Do Bad Things (3/4) #shadow

"Why is it that their own #Shadow is found in the demanding inner tyrant that grants them no release from the injunction to take care of others?" ~James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian analyst, Why Good People Do Bad Things: Understanding Our Darker Selves, Ch. 11 (4/4)