There’s a well-known joke about a tourist in Ireland who asks one of the locals for directions to Dublin. The Irishman replies: ‘Well sir, if I were you, I wouldn’t start from here’.
It is always amusing to me how we start to pursue for meaning in life and in one way or another enter the world of psych and psychology. In my journey of understanding life and with every shift in my search I remember the Irish wisdom in the joke above. Am I even at the right start point?
I think my first sense of mystery about human psyche and functions started when I was a young adult by finding one of many personality tests. Later in my role as university professor I found some of them very helpful, such as:
- “Learning Styles Questionnaire”, Mumford and Honey
- “Personality Assessment for Individuals (Big Five)”, Jordan Peterson
- “Self Authoring Suite” exercises, Jordan Peterson
After reading countless number of self-help books over the years I shifted my focus on more specific research based subjects such as:
- “The Language of Emotions”, Karla McLaren
- “The Art of Empathy”, Karla McLaren
- “Self-Compassion”, Kristin Neff
- “Happiness by Design”, Paul Dolan
I continued this path by delving into brain studies, neuroscience and related subjects such as:
- “The Master and His Emissary”, Iain McGilchrist
- “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life”, Daniel G. Amen
- “Unleash the Power of Female Brain”, Daniel G. Amen
- “Mind”, Daniel J. Siegel
- “Mindsight”, Daniel J. Siegel
- “Trauma and Memory”, Peter A. Levine
- “Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind”, V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee
- “The Neuroscience Training Summit 2017“, Sound True
Later I read about different schools of psychology and particularly became interested in Jungian analysis. I educated myself with resources such as:
- “Man and His Symbols”, Carl G. Jung
- “The Power of Myth“, Joseph Campbell
- “Goddesses in Everywoman: Powerful Archetypes in Women’s Lives”, Jean Shinoda Bolen
- “Gods in Everyman: Archetypes That Shape Men’s Lives”, Jean Shinoda Bolen
- “Maps of Meaning” course, Jordan Peterson, University of Toronto
- “Personality and Its Transformations” course, Jordan Peterson, University of Toronto
- “Dream Interpretation” course, Maxson J. McDowell
- “Fairy Tale” course, C.G. Jung Society (Seattle)
As time progressed, I grew into a deeper perspective on human psychology by the works of scholars who have worked on spirituality as the ignored, missing part of the field. So I got familiar with:
- “Archetypes”, Caroline Myss
- “Enneagram”, The Enneagram Global Summit 2017, The Shift Network
- “Holotropic Breathwork: A New Approach to Self-Exploration and Therapy”, Stanislav Grof and Christina Grof
- The Psychotherapy and Spirituality Summit 2017, Sound True
I feel by understanding more and deeper about human psyche, there is a better possibility to have discernment for problem solving and adapting to the fast pace changes in lives both as an individual and as a society.