James Hollis, a licensed Jungian analyst and former director of the Jung Society of Washington, delves into the complexities of life, vocation, and purpose. He discusses the significance of depth psychology and the necessity of reconnecting with one's inner voice to avoid the modern existential crisis. Hollis explores the interplay between imagination and reason, highlighting the influence of addiction as a coping mechanism for deeper anxieties. He also reflects on masculinity's challenges in a patriarchal society, calling for self-awareness and a quest for meaning.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Learning As Lifelong Calling
James Hollis describes how kindergarten teachers and a librarian opened a larger world and made learning his lifelong passion.
He recounts switching from college teaching to Jungian analysis after midlife depression and therapy revealed a deeper calling.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Choose What Deserves Your Discipline
If something truly matters to you, discipline becomes easier because it clears space to pursue it.
If your current life lacks reciprocity and meaning, change it and search for what truly matters.
insights INSIGHT
The Unlived Life Crisis
Hollis names the cultural epidemic as a disconnect from meaning that leaves many living an 'unlived life.'
He frames the key question: do you care enough about your life to make the hard changes required to live authentically.
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Episode 4: A life worth living. A conversation with James Hollis
In this episode, Jim and I discuss how elements of his personal history positioned his interest in depth psychology specifically and learning in general. Jim defines depth psychology and discusses how a relationship to one’s inner world orients one’s self to meaning and purpose. We explore how the relationship to a vocation or calling will either enhance or limit each of our life experience. He frames the price of being separated from one’s inner voice as “the problem of our time.” We discuss how the poet’s life and interest investigate the cosmos and psyche, as Jim believes that the poet is depth psychology. We investigate the difference between learning and thinking and evaluate how making a living and making money have contributed to the unbalancing of our culture. We explore the imagination and reason as working together to image possibilities. We frame addiction as a consequence of ego consciousness clinging to a management system believed to palliate the suffering of living. He eloquently identifies the core struggle shared amongst men and the related consequences of this struggle. We converse about the nature of transcendence and how attending to our symptoms, dreams, and fantasies place us into relationship with mysteries beyond our conscious sense of “I.”
James Hollis, Ph. D. was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught Humanities 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zurich, Switzerland (1977-82). He is presently a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years and now is Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington. He is a retired Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally, he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco/Houston.
He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grand-children.
He has written a total of fifteen books and over fifty articles. The books have been translated into Swedish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Farsi, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, and Czech.
www.jameshollis.net
Music provided by:
www.modernnationsmusic.com
Learn more about this project at:
www.thesacredspeaks.com