Existential Clarity

If you’ve found your way here, chances are you’re wrestling with some big questions about purpose, meaning, self-identity, and direction. The old narratives aren’t working, but perhaps you have a bit of writer's block in crafting new ones. 

You have also likely realized that the missing key between you and your dream life is greater, richer, more intense self-knowledge. 

Difficult feelings are not signs of failure—they are the growing pains of your soul. You are at a crossroad: you can continue as you were, or you can use your growing pains to write a richer and more meaningful next chapter for your life. 

Finding existential clarity is about living deeply, outside of religious dogma, and writing the most vivid and narratively rich story for our selves and our lives. 

Embodied story-telling is deeply rooted in existential philosophy, the work of Carl Jung, and the later work on myth and the heroes’ journey that he inspired. 

Philosophy has been used for thousands of years as a way to help people master life and our position here in a vast, frequently scary and often confusing world. The tools of philosophy have always been essential in giving insight into how we might flourish, thrive, and achieve our dreams amidst great stress, tribulation, and anxiety. 

The existential philosophers are especially relevant in helping to develop how we might live in the modern era, which has a deep cultural crisis of meaning: a collective loss of purpose, community, shared meaning, and identity. 

“About a third of my cases are suffering from no clinically definable neurosis, but from the senselessness and emptiness of their lives. This can be defined as the general neurosis of our times.”

– C.G. Jung

Carl Jung believed that many of our troubles are caused by the confusion, emptiness, and meaninglessness that comes from modern life.

But, wisdom provides guidance on how we might thrive, not in spite of, but precisely because of our experiences of anxiety, depression, meaninglessness, confusion, loneliness, alienation…the list goes on and on.   

In fact, philosophy has been so central to helping to transform the human soul, that it has grown into an entire sub-field of therapy: existential therapy (see the work of Emmy Van Deurzen and Irvin Olsom). And, it has helped to propel the growth of the psychoanalytic tradition, which later evolved into modern psychology and its therapeutic offerings. 

But, philosophy distilled down, imbibed in its purest form, is always an essential ingredient in healing. 

Existential Philosophers and essayists such as Kirkegaard, Nietszche (who later heavily inspired Carl Jung), and more offer ideas that have the capacity to dramatically change our perspective--they change how we see the world. 

This change of perspective changes not only what we focus on and remember internally, but what we focus on and remember in the external world. 

Great ideas literally change what we see in both the world, and ourselves. Our enhanced vision naturally changes how we act--we go where we’re looking. 

It is our vision that allows us to see the world we want to live in. To ‘in-vision’ the world we desire for ourselves and our community.  

But, Embodied Storytelling is not just about how you see and think about the world. I want to directly impact how you feel, in your lived experience embodiment--to embody the great dream and story that is your life. . 

This is why it is important to weave in the narrative principles of myth, e.g. of the hero's journey, shadow integration and healing embodiment o help permanently ground great ideas into your body--so that they become and stay real for you. 

Through the education of great visionaries, the removal of unconscious blockages, and vitalizing embodiment practices, I help to support all parts of you: mind, body, emotions, spirit--consciousness and unconsciousness.  

I want to briefly highlight some key thinkers for the aid in developing existential clarity, particularly in our post religious world.

Soren Kirkegaard: Often considered to be the early modern father of existential philosophy, he argued vigorously against both Christian dogma and the scientistic biases of the “objective” science that were a rebuttal to Christian dogmatism. He believed, like Socrates, that  most people were sleep-walking, living what they think will please other people. They believed that truth could only be discovered by the individual, through the development of key inner faculties. 

Moreover, he believed that losing one’s self, one’s true nature is easily done, and indeed, devastatingly common. 

He believed most people lived fearful lives, unable or unwilling to take the key “leap of faith”, that would push them forward toward a passionate and deep existence--the great journey of self-discovery. He believed that “the most common form of despair is simply not being who you are”.

“To dare is to lose one’s footing but momentarily. But, not to dare is to lose oneself entirely.” 

– Soren Kirkegaard

Friedrich Nietszche: Inarguably the most famous existentialist philosopher, and widely known for his famous proclamation that “God is Dead”, Nietszche noted that the shared cultural narrative of Christianity could no longer support us, and that belief in “Science” alone was not a sufficient alternative. Nietszche was not, as many believed, a nihilist, but instead argued insistently against nihilism. 

He argued that Christianity denied the very spirit of life, that the ideals of asceticism, poverty, self-sacrifice, and living for the here-after, were poisonous to the soul of humanity, and rather that life, taken with all its ups and downs, should be affirmed, and relished with rapturous delight. 

His antidote to the crisis of meaning found was the development of the superman--that one had to be brave enough to rise from the herd of common peoples, and create their own values, their own life-affirming meaning, and through doing so, save themselves from that shadowy valley of nihilism, meaninglessness, and anxious despair. 

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."

– Friedrich Nietszche

Carl Jung: Carl Gustav Jung is not an existentialist philosopher per se, but I have included him here because of his monumental contribution to helping us find existential clarity, meaning and self-transformation in the modern world. 

Much of his thought functions as an answer to Nietszche’s problem of the death of the Judeo-Christian God, and the need to incarnate meaning in ourselves, personally. 

Carl Jung effectively came up with the notion of archetypes, the collective unconscious, and the shadow self. In doing so he created a psychological language, through which we can understand ourselves, and live a richer life. 

For Jung, it is only through exploring our unconscious mind and the collective unconscious, integrating the shadow, and activating our inner archetypes, that we might individuate and become whole persons. 

Through these esoteric practices and teachings we develop life-giving self-knowledge. It is only with this deep knowledge that we can complete the symbolic ideas of the great alchemical work, achieve enlightenment, redeem the world, i.e. ourselves, and develop the ability to manifest our dream lives.

"Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate."

– C.G. Jung

Carl Jung’s work on the collective unconscious, shadow, and archetypes is what inspired Joseph Campbell to write about the monomyth, the Hero’s journey, and has inspired millions of people to embark on their own journey. 

If these ideas excite you, feel free to check out my other writings, or to schedule a free 20 minute consultation with me! I would love to discuss how I can help you write your next best chapter for your life.