When we look at a newspaper photo, we see an entire, complete image. If we get out a magnifying glass, we can start to see the individual dots that combine to form the whole. If we look even closer, all we can see are those individual dots. This is a visual metaphor for the process of individuation. Early in life, we try to figure out our place in the world: we try to see how our pixel fits into the picture. As we get older, we tend to focus on our own individuality. How is our pixel different from the others? How are we distinct? We are part of the whole, yes, but what are we on our own? Individuation is the quest of finding these answers.
€The goal of individuation,€ writes Carl Jung, €is the synthesis of self.€ How does one even begin to synthesize the various components of our personalities, the elements of our very selves? In Jungian thought, there are two different schematic models by which we can start to discover ourselves.
Our Personalities: Strengths and Weaknesses
If you have taken any psychology test or have entered many professions, you have likely given your number 2 pencil a workout on the Myers-Briggs personality test. Are you INTJ? ESFP? What does this mean?
Are you:
€ Extroverted? (Attitude)
€ Introverted? (Attitude)
€ Feeling? (Function)
€ Thinking? (Function)
€ Sensing? (Function)
€ Intuitive? (Function)
These are sets of opposites: you are feeling or thinking, or intuitive or sensing. Extroversion is opposite of introversion. These attitudes and functions are very difficult to change, though sometimes we are called upon to wear a mask. An introvert, for instance, might have to act as an extrovert for work, or vice versa. Even so, that doesn't change their dominant attitude or function.
So, what is this to do with individuation? If you are an introvert, that is your dominant trait. If you are feeling, that is dominant over thinking. If you are intuitive, sensing is subordinate. In the process of individuation, you begin working on the €easiest€ features, or those which you already possess. You strengthen your strengths, in other words.
You then move on to developing your €weaknesses,€ or the skills you find less natural to you. A person who is extroverted, feeling, and sensing would work on becoming more independent, concentrating internally, and becoming more thoughtful. They would pay attention to logical analysis and evaluation; they would try to incorporate these new skills into their consciousness. This allows us to become more balanced. If we tend to naturally evaluate things in terms of ethics, we might learn to balance that by trying to evaluate based on intellect or logic, or vice versa.
Path to the Self
Jung also explored a framework for individuation in his work, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology. Here, we begin work into the various elements of our psyches, seeking to address deficiencies and achieve balance:
€ Persona. We wear different masks. We present ourselves one way at work, another way with friends, another with family. These masks are necessary, but it is also important that we do not over-identify with them. We are not our masks. Likewise, under-identifying can bring social difficulties. Balance is the key.
€ Ego. This is the center of consciousness, but it is not who we €are.€ Through our egos, we are able to differentiate ourselves from others. We are able to make sense of our own pixilation, so to speak. We strengthen the ego before we continue with individuation so we can handle the conflict and contradiction we may find.
€ Shadow. The shadow represents our hidden side, the traits of which we are ashamed or scared. This is our Mr. Hyde, and we all have one to one degree or another.
€ Anima/animus. This is yin/yang: the feminine influence in men, and the masculine influence in women. These need to be in balance to achieve that optimal sense of energy.
€ Mana. When this energy is not balanced, it can flood the ego. The archetypal energy of the Old Man, or the Old Woman, can flow into the ego and cause us to become overly aggressive, power-hungry, effeminate, or contemptuous of women (for men). This energy needs to be segregated and addressed before individuation can proceed.
€ The Self. Here you are: you are black and white, and neither. You are good and bad, and neither. You are shadow and ego, and neither. You are your opposites, and you are not. It's quite a concept to grasp! No wonder individuation is a lifelong process. Here, we are coherent, a whole.
Jung wrote, €The goal is important only as an idea; the essential thing is the opus which leads to the goal: that is the goal of a lifetime.€ Individuation is not a destination; it is a journey. Along the way, you address skills and weaknesses, traits and deficiencies in order to become more balanced and to reach the self. The endpoint is beside the point: it is the work that matters.
€The goal of individuation,€ writes Carl Jung, €is the synthesis of self.€ How does one even begin to synthesize the various components of our personalities, the elements of our very selves? In Jungian thought, there are two different schematic models by which we can start to discover ourselves.
Our Personalities: Strengths and Weaknesses
If you have taken any psychology test or have entered many professions, you have likely given your number 2 pencil a workout on the Myers-Briggs personality test. Are you INTJ? ESFP? What does this mean?
Are you:
€ Extroverted? (Attitude)
€ Introverted? (Attitude)
€ Feeling? (Function)
€ Thinking? (Function)
€ Sensing? (Function)
€ Intuitive? (Function)
These are sets of opposites: you are feeling or thinking, or intuitive or sensing. Extroversion is opposite of introversion. These attitudes and functions are very difficult to change, though sometimes we are called upon to wear a mask. An introvert, for instance, might have to act as an extrovert for work, or vice versa. Even so, that doesn't change their dominant attitude or function.
So, what is this to do with individuation? If you are an introvert, that is your dominant trait. If you are feeling, that is dominant over thinking. If you are intuitive, sensing is subordinate. In the process of individuation, you begin working on the €easiest€ features, or those which you already possess. You strengthen your strengths, in other words.
You then move on to developing your €weaknesses,€ or the skills you find less natural to you. A person who is extroverted, feeling, and sensing would work on becoming more independent, concentrating internally, and becoming more thoughtful. They would pay attention to logical analysis and evaluation; they would try to incorporate these new skills into their consciousness. This allows us to become more balanced. If we tend to naturally evaluate things in terms of ethics, we might learn to balance that by trying to evaluate based on intellect or logic, or vice versa.
Path to the Self
Jung also explored a framework for individuation in his work, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology. Here, we begin work into the various elements of our psyches, seeking to address deficiencies and achieve balance:
€ Persona. We wear different masks. We present ourselves one way at work, another way with friends, another with family. These masks are necessary, but it is also important that we do not over-identify with them. We are not our masks. Likewise, under-identifying can bring social difficulties. Balance is the key.
€ Ego. This is the center of consciousness, but it is not who we €are.€ Through our egos, we are able to differentiate ourselves from others. We are able to make sense of our own pixilation, so to speak. We strengthen the ego before we continue with individuation so we can handle the conflict and contradiction we may find.
€ Shadow. The shadow represents our hidden side, the traits of which we are ashamed or scared. This is our Mr. Hyde, and we all have one to one degree or another.
€ Anima/animus. This is yin/yang: the feminine influence in men, and the masculine influence in women. These need to be in balance to achieve that optimal sense of energy.
€ Mana. When this energy is not balanced, it can flood the ego. The archetypal energy of the Old Man, or the Old Woman, can flow into the ego and cause us to become overly aggressive, power-hungry, effeminate, or contemptuous of women (for men). This energy needs to be segregated and addressed before individuation can proceed.
€ The Self. Here you are: you are black and white, and neither. You are good and bad, and neither. You are shadow and ego, and neither. You are your opposites, and you are not. It's quite a concept to grasp! No wonder individuation is a lifelong process. Here, we are coherent, a whole.
Jung wrote, €The goal is important only as an idea; the essential thing is the opus which leads to the goal: that is the goal of a lifetime.€ Individuation is not a destination; it is a journey. Along the way, you address skills and weaknesses, traits and deficiencies in order to become more balanced and to reach the self. The endpoint is beside the point: it is the work that matters.
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