The awareness of the ambiguity of one's highest achievements - as well as one's deepest failures - is a definite symptom of maturity.
09 September 2016
31 August 2016
13 August 2016
But there comes a point (and this is the challenge facing modern technological Western man) when the cult of technique destroys feeling, undermines passion, and blots out individual identity.The technologically efficient lover...has lost the power to be carried away; he knows only too well what he is doing. At this point, technology diminishes consciousness and demolishes eros. Tools are no longer an enlargement of consciousness but a substitute for it and, indeed, tend to repress and truncate it.
- Rollo May
10 August 2016
Quick Book Review: The Meaning of Anxiety
This book discussed the intrapsychic implications of anxiety. It draws much of its analysis on the phenomenon of anxiety from the philosophical (specifically Kierkegaard's), psychoanalytic, and cultural perspectives. I consider it to be a reflection of May's orientation, which is geared towards the Existential-psychoanalysis school.
Although it focused much of its discussion on the origins and implications of anxiety, the most important part of the book is its proposal on how to use anxiety constructively towards personal growth instead of allowing it to be a liability.
01 August 2016
30 July 2016
...it would be a very naive sort of dogmatism to assume that there exists an absolute reality of things which is the same for all living beings. Reality is not a unique and homogeneous thing; it is immensely diversified, having as many different schemes and patterns as there are different organisms. Every organism is, so to speak, a monadic being. It has a world of its own because it has an experience of its own.
29 July 2016
08 July 2016
Book Review: Four Archetypes
Four Archetypes by C.G. Jung
An Illustration of Loki
Jung, among the many psychologists of his time, is the only one who made extensive efforts to bridge Eastern practices and beliefs which are characterized by the power of the collective in shaping the workings of the mind. This book made me understand more the Analytical theory of Jung at a conceptual level and I can say that Jung has been very influential to me.
He explored spirituality, mysticism and religious belief not to criticize them, but to recognize their importance and impact on psychology. The archetypes discussed on this book are merely symbolism akin to literary themes, but his writing resonates with Freud's style although tinged with a more mythological flavor, in a sense.
Anyone who wants to know the human psyche will learn next to nothing from experimental psychology. He would be better advised to abandon exact science, put away his scholar's gown, bid farewell to his study, and wander with human heart through the world.
- CG Jung
He acknowledged that his ideas are open to criticisms, especially if they are viewed on the strictly scientific lens, but then, when it comes to practice, I still lean on the side of considering the influence of spirituality and to the extent that a careful analysis and effective outcome in healing is what actually matters.
I read it many years ago but I still remember my impressions of it as soon as I saw the cover. The book is also filled with illustrations and woodcut prints from medieval periods.
30 June 2016
June Photo Snippets
(Hover and click each photo for detail)
June has been a rollercoaster month. After spending days on the month of May for my grad school practicum at a Drug Rehabilitation Center, I had to focus on selecting readings for my GR Book Challenge, writing a yet unfinished case study, doing errands, and most of all, handling the humdrum of emotional commitments from the very few people in my life. By the end of the month, three kittens arrived, and I named them Coffeemate, Cadbury and Hershey. They were given to me by a dear sister. Most of the foliage and bloom photos here were taken from our home garden.
The month of Ramadan is also drawing to a close, and I hope that all is going well for everyone and may the blessings that come along with it be felt on our hearts despite the turmoil of current events happening in and shaping our world.