The Transformative Power of Solitude

In this episode:
We discuss solitude, and the vital importance it plays in supporting our engagement with life and with the world.

Let's make this a conversation:
Do you have a comment or  question about this episode, or about something you would like me to address in a future episode? Please contact me on Facebook (facebook.com/jungiananalyst) or Twitter (@Jason_E_Smith).

For more on living a symbolic life:
Please check out my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life, available from Chiron Publications.

Sources for quotes and more:

1. “I understand your wish very well, but must tell you at once that it does not fit in with my situation...." ~ C.G. Jung, in 'Letters, Vol II.'
2. “It seems to me that what goes on in the human being when he is by himself is as important as what happens in his interactions with other people…. ~ Anthony Storr in 'Solitude: A Return to the Self.'
3. 'Already the ripening barberries are red' -- poem by Rainer Maria Rilke
4. “Ultimately, and precisely in the deepest and most important matters, we are unspeakably alone.” ~ Rainer Maria Rilke in 'Letters to a Young Poet.'
5. “We each inhabit our own separate world...” ~ Edward Edinger in 'Ego and Archetype.'
6. "The development of personality from the germ-state to full consciousness is at once a charisma and a curse..." ~ C.G. Jung from The Development of the Personality, in 'Collected Works, vol. 17.'
7. 'A Dwelling Place for Wisdom' by Raimon Panikkar
8. 'Forest Lake' -- poem by Edith Sӧdergran
9.  “No one yet has made a list of places where the extraordinary may happen and where it may not...." ~ Mary Oliver in 'Upstream.'
10. “the world from which we draw our wisdom, our lucidities, our power to act, our courage, is in this other world... " ~ Anaïs Nin in 'In Favor of the Sensitive Man: And Other Essays.'
11. 'Is my soul asleep' -- poem by Antonio Machado.

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For more on living a symbolic life:
Please check out my book, Religious but Not Religious: Living a Symbolic Life.