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The Call of The Heart
“..[W]hat Jung called ‘the moral obligation’ to live out and to express what one has learned in the descent or ascent to the wild Self. This moral obligation he speaks of means to live what we perceive, be it found in the psychic Elysian fields, the isles of the dead, the bone deserts of the psyche, the face of the mountain, the rock of the sea, the lush underworld — any place where La Que Sabe breathes upon us, changing us. Our work is to show we have been breathed upon — to show it, give it out, sing it out, to live out in the topside world what we have received through our sudden knowings, body, from dreams and journeys of all sorts.”
~Clarissa Pinkola Estés
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We need a centering discipline or daily ritual to prevent inflation, burnout, addiction. Think of John Belushi, River Phoenix, Michael Jackson. They did not know how to strike a balance in life and were consumed by the creative fire. Creativity can become very inflating. Jung said he was in the grip of his daimon and it drove him ruthlessly from one discovery to another. Jung really struggled with this….Maya Angelou had a separate and messy hotel room to write in, and clean and comfy home. TS Eliot painted his face with a green mask, to shift out of his business suit role, and washed it off when done writing for the day. A relationship requires such a back and forth. We must care for ourselves…
