One of the good things about growing older, which doesn’t exactly offset all the bad things about growing older, but it’s something, is that as a human being, you become more accurately you.
Hi Bill. I agree. I find my 70 year old plus self is happier with who she is, more comfortable in her skin, more willing to do the things that make her happy, and poopoo on the rest.
In Jungian parlance, one matures into an individuated state, into the transcendent Self where neither conscious nor unconscious holds sway, but each operate together in harmony. One becomes whole.
That's a really interesting question, Erin. On the one hand, the point of being young is to explore, and not arrive at conclusions, but rather test out this and that. So I'm not sure if the two things work together. I think of Bob Dylan, who changed constantly and all those previous Dylans aren't the one he has become in age, though they've enriched the scope of the person who is the final Dylan. But - if someone were to try to distill the world, live without being overly influenced by it, someone who was a young philosopher, for instance, they might arrive at a similar state. But I do think fundamentally, it comes with experience, let's say that.
Yes! The Buddhist idea of non-self comes from this experience. It's not as if you aren't someone, it's just that there's no fixed self, we're always changing, even on a molecular level, our bodies are made of all different molecules every seven years or so, I think it is. Change is inevitable, but it's also jarring. Dylan again, he said "I accept chaos. I'm just not sure whether chaos accepts me." A very funny line, but it's that recognition of so much going on at once that it can't be personal, it's the constant movement of cause and effect, and that's what we really need to accept. It's impartial, it just is. Watch out, pay attention.
Hi Bill. I agree. I find my 70 year old plus self is happier with who she is, more comfortable in her skin, more willing to do the things that make her happy, and poopoo on the rest.
Accurately said!
Thanks, Elisangela
In Jungian parlance, one matures into an individuated state, into the transcendent Self where neither conscious nor unconscious holds sway, but each operate together in harmony. One becomes whole.
I concur with Carl about that happening sometimes, on the proverbial good day.
That's a really interesting question, Erin. On the one hand, the point of being young is to explore, and not arrive at conclusions, but rather test out this and that. So I'm not sure if the two things work together. I think of Bob Dylan, who changed constantly and all those previous Dylans aren't the one he has become in age, though they've enriched the scope of the person who is the final Dylan. But - if someone were to try to distill the world, live without being overly influenced by it, someone who was a young philosopher, for instance, they might arrive at a similar state. But I do think fundamentally, it comes with experience, let's say that.
Yes! The Buddhist idea of non-self comes from this experience. It's not as if you aren't someone, it's just that there's no fixed self, we're always changing, even on a molecular level, our bodies are made of all different molecules every seven years or so, I think it is. Change is inevitable, but it's also jarring. Dylan again, he said "I accept chaos. I'm just not sure whether chaos accepts me." A very funny line, but it's that recognition of so much going on at once that it can't be personal, it's the constant movement of cause and effect, and that's what we really need to accept. It's impartial, it just is. Watch out, pay attention.