What follows is a serial experience that goes hand and hand with the previous post, ‘Permission to Feel Joy.’ It is an experience derived from practicing the ‘Invisible Counselor Technique,’
which you can find instructions to participate in the book ‘Think and Grow Rich,’ by Napoleon Hill. Maybe you remember reading the book. Maybe you don’t remember Chapter 13. If you don’t, I encourage you to revisit and unlock magic.
I also feel compelled to reintroduce Carl Jung. He participates in my level of ‘crazy.’ I use
‘crazy’ in a fun way, not self-deprecating. It’s crazy to talk to yourself, right? Exactly, that’s why I invited specific personalities to engage in my self talk; this means, technically, I wasn’t speaking to myself, so there. Carl Jung was the first of the counselors that was invited to participate. This particular time. I had tried this technique in the past and didn’t have anything interesting to report. Since I have been practicing ‘Tulpamancy,’ (2016)my experiences have been richer. I think there is a correlation.
The conversation that unfolds here with Carl Jung was interesting, to say the least, but maybe not in terms of immediately solving life challenges. I find this to be generally true of these magical conversations. They are magical. A part of me knows Carl isn’t really in the seat next to me
holding a conversation. My imagination is pretty good- I have been using it a long time. It can be too good at times- cause I have solid, brief moments where I hear or see things that give me pause. I am always in my imagination to some degree.
On this particular day, Carl Jung was in the passenger seat. Usually it’s Loxy. I was aware of an uncertain number of cars flying by either side of me. Becoming aware of cars ‘shooting by’
brought me to the realization that I was moving much slower than surrounding traffic. This was not due to the activity itself, (how many of us drive on autopilot and don’t remember the journey?)but to the very real fact that I was sharing the lane with a cement truck. My reduced speed was appropriate as well as the spacing between me and the truck. It wasn’t like the truck snuck up on me. Clearly I had responded to the truck accordingly, but now, faced with the reality of the truck, and witnessing people flying by, while searching for opportunities to skirt around said tuck, I found myself experiencing noticeable frustration. I was unwilling to jump out in front of the oncoming stream of traffic on either side of me because of my reduced speed and fear of collision. I blamed myself for being stuck, thinking ‘clearly had I been more focused or present I could have avoided this obstacle and been further along in my journey.’ Chiding myself for not being more focused was me disparaging myself for talking to invisible counselors.
“I’m stuck,” I said. This was out loud, not just a ‘thought.’
Carl Jung advised me to sit with it.
I blinked. Is this a dream? I hear him, I see him in my periphery, and I am focused on traffic. My attention to the real world has not diminished by the presence of Carl. “Why? Oh, is this a metaphor for my life?” I asked; this was a frustrated, sarcastic voice.
“No, no, no,” Jung said, the same way Yoda might express frustration with Luke. “If you’re going to practice active imagination, you never interpret the symbolic nature of the agents during engagement, but only after. During the commencement of the act, you simply must remain aware and present as you would in any conscious endeavor.”
“So, the truck is an agent?” I asked.
“It’s definitely a character to which you’re responding. Why don’t you ask it?” Jung asked.
“It’s that easy?”
“Not only do I advise asking all agents in your life their purpose, I also highly recommend expressing gratitude for their presence. You were asleep when you came upon it, but now you are awake and aware,” Jung said.
I considered this as I watched the barrel turning. “I’m not stuck,” I said. “I may be going slower, but I am moving, and it seems reasonable to speculate that the cement truck doesn’t necessarily
mean stuck in its own right. It’s churning. My thoughts are churning. And with the proper mold, the contents might become a substantial structure for support.”
“I couldn’t have said it better myself,” Jung said.
At which point, the lane we were in allowed for egress off the freeway, which the cement truck took, allowing me to accelerate unimpeded. Interestingly enough, simultaneously with my ability to advance, traffic mysteriously cleared up on my left, so even if the truck had remained, I would have been able to escape around it. Could there have been any better example of synchronicity in my life?
That was a question. Life responded with a John Lennon song. “I’m just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round.” Jung joined in: “I really love to watch them roll,” bobbing his head.
This game I have taken up, the ‘active imagination game,’ is simply bizarre. “I just have to let it go…” It occurred to me as I was listening to this song, again, very present, I have never really
‘heard’ this song before, but have only sung it while asleep. I was excited and scared at the same time. Life.
I express genuine gratitude to all the agents, past, present, and future, that have helped mold my life. I hope whatever I make of it, it becomes substantial enough to allow others to advance boldly, where I presently go but timidly.
