Carl Jung - becoming your true self

 Carl Jung is a Swiss psychologist who focused on the idea of Individuation, embracing every part of yourself to become who you really are. This is not just surface level acceptance, but a deep dive into your ego, your subconscious desires, and your need for external validation. It is a journey of complete honesty with yourself. All of the parts of yourself, the nasty habits and unsavory memories, the realization and accepting of the flaws you have or the parts of you that might make you a bad person in certain senses. All of this must be acknowledged and embraced, and only after this are you able to become your true self. 

    This idea of accepting your 'shadow self' as Jung says, is an immensely challenging journey that many people never even try to start in their lifetime. It is understandable however, we as people are immensely social, we need people to be, well, people. So learning to embrace the nasty parts of yourself, to learn to be okay without external validation, this directly goes against our wiring as people. Many people who attempt to complete this journey do not find themselves fully completing individuation. It takes time, it takes patience, and it takes honesty with yourself. Some people have a block, they think the process is not worth the reward. That is okay. Not everyone needs to reach individuation, not everyone agrees with Jung's idea of becoming your true self.

    But for those who's Jung's word resonate with, for those who do try and accomplish true individuation, to accept every nasty part of yourself, it's a pilgrimage of inner struggle that lasts years. For some people, they take a set point of time and make this journey their soul priority, but many people cannot do that in the 21st century. We need to work, we have expectations and responsibilities. In this case, it is something that is worked on in the background over the course of years. Some people work with specific counselors who can help guide you, others tackle the journey wholly by themselves.

    The goal of all of these people, of Jung himself, was to feel secure in yourself. To feel like you are who you truly are, authentically and unapologetically. It is a shame that this is such a struggle for the modern person. There are so many expectations, societal pressures that consume us. Tell us we are wrong, we're ugly, not rich enough, not interesting enough, too much, too little. It drives me insane. But this is what our society has normalized, different cultures in different ways, but these pressures are visible no matter where you are. I think it would be good if we all took something from Carl Jung's ideas and learned to embrace who we are, even if just a little bit more than we currently do. Everyone deserves to feel comfortable and happy in their own skin.

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