Has The Meaning Of Life Been Within Us All Along? | Letters

I was gladdened to publication Moya Sarner’s reflections connected a life enhanced by deeper meaning and much textured joyousness (A amended life is imaginable – but only if you dive heavy into your unconscious, 8 September). In a civilization that excessively often celebrates relentless acquisition and action, her words connection timely encouragement towards different measurement of being.

She observes: “We do to enactment successful nan shallows, truthful we don’t person to beryllium successful nan depths. But we cognize nan measurement to a amended life sits beneath nan surface, not connected it.” This image of nan heavy oversea is an apt and illuminating metaphor for nan hidden interior beingness of currents and forces that style us.

My ain decades-long pursuit of interior exploration has been nan defining activity of my later life. It is nan 1 domain I tin govern pinch immoderate certainty, and I dream that it brings use to those astir me. Some disregard specified enquiry arsenic selfish aliases narcissistic, citing its evident deficiency of visible publication to community. Yet my acquisition suggests nan reverse. By resisting nan lure of superficial satisfactions, I find myself much attuned to others, little ruled by egoic need, and much tin of compassion and tolerance.

To observe and prosecute pinch these soul dynamics is, I believe, a imaginative enactment of self-nurture that tin enrich and fortify some aforesaid and society. It fosters resilience, encourages patience and provides inspiration. For me, poesy has go nan intends of charting specified passages, grounding experiences that often defy language, and giving tentative shape to nan unseen movements of nan unconscious. In writing, I activity not only to dependable my ain people but besides to awesome that specified soul voyages, though demanding, tin connection gifts of empathy, extent and renewal for nan wider quality community.
Kate Peters
Hayling Island, Hampshire

As a psychologist, I enjoyed Moya Sarner’s article connected nan unconscious. I work together that galore of america enactment busy, preoccupied and successful nan shallows, and that it depletes meaning from our lives. However, I would reason a fewer points. One is that though nan unconscious surely contains feelings, particularly successful cultures that disproportionately worth intellect, feelings are really conscionable nan extremity of nan iceberg. The unconscious besides contains symbols, archetypes and imaginative inspiration, arsenic good arsenic internalised biases and beliefs astir ourselves, others and nan world.

Second, I work together that exploring nan unconscious makes a amended life possible, but it besides makes a amended world possible. Carl Jung’s conception of nan corporate unconscious suggests that turning towards nan deeper life and nan individual unconscious tin move nan corporate needle to thief galore societal ills resoluteness much easy and peacefully. Finally, nan attack of nan article suggests moving pinch nan unconscious arsenic a intends to an end, and this reflects nan transactional mindset of materialist occidental culture. It assumes that by investing our efforts successful a individual process, we will reap circumstantial benefits from it.

However, I person recovered nan unconscious much willing successful building a narration than allowing itself to beryllium mined for resources. By cultivating this narration pinch respect, patience, openness, and without anticipation of deliverables, nan unconscious whitethorn determine to thatch america astir a world that is imaginable but is acold beyond nan reaches of our current imagination.

So, successful sum – I work together wholeheartedly pinch Moya that our unconscious worldly is “capable of unthinkable force” but disagree that “everything that exists successful our unconscious besides exists successful nan ocean”. I judge our depths and imaginable – individually and collectively – are unfathomable, and moving pinch nan individual unconscious is conscionable nan opening of understanding what is possible.
Magda Permut
Portland, Oregon, US

Moya Sarner says that a amended life is imaginable if you dive heavy into your subconscious, but if your worry is triggered by continual money worries, mediocre lodging and mediocre healthcare access, pinch nary realistic dream of betterment successful your life circumstances, past no amount of “digging deep” is going to alteration your life.

Cognitive behavioural therapy and heavy breathing whitethorn help, but that is not nan aforesaid thing. “Deep” psychotherapy very seldom really considers nan awesome effect of socioeconomic factors connected nan psyche. For those experiencing those anxieties, only improved finances and life options will help, and past possibly let abstraction for an individual to unfastened nan doorway to deeper individual changes.
Name and reside supplied

Moya Sarner makes nan statement that, successful bid to cognize what we really need, we must dive heavy into our unconscious minds to uncover our hidden emotions. But is this really true? The happiest, astir fulfilled group I cognize are characterised not by their expertise to “look inwards”, but alternatively by their liking in, and capacity to link with, others successful varied ways.

The article seems to propose that “doing” is simply a distraction method that keeps you successful nan “emotional shallows”, yet tons of engaged group enactment engaged because they are enjoying life and want to fresh 1 much point in, whether it beryllium a societal activity, a hobby aliases thing successful work of others. We each request to bespeak connected our ain thoughts and emotions from clip to time, peculiarly erstwhile life is throwing challenges astatine us, but possibly to execute existent fulfilment, we would do amended to put speech nan intelligence digging, and alternatively look outwards astatine our fellow human beings.
Chris Marshall
Forest Row, East Sussex

The writer appears to presuppose a organization of group who tin spend to spot a therapist aliases a psychoanalyst. A ample information of humanity will ne'er beryllium successful a position to person therapy. In addition, to speak of a meaningful life, what astir group calved into a organization aliases region inundated pinch changeless war, famine aliases genocide? Let’s attraction much connected ending hunger and war, and past talk astir a much meaningful life.

I unpaid astatine a bum shelter weekly, navigator nutrient for a surviving and besides regularly supply nutrient free to my community. I surely bespeak connected deeper parts of my consciousness and I’ll show you what: it doesn’t require money and therapy. Get progressive pinch your organization and you will person recovered free therapy.
Patrick Wickett
Austin, Texas, US