ABOUT THIS PROJECT

hello

And welcome to the Life Below the Layer of Everyday Life project aka "The Life Below".

This project, my heart and brain child, is the marriage of two of my passions: depth psychology and self-knowledge. The precursors to this project are a blog I maintained in 2011- 2014 and theories formulated whilst completing Masters in Jungian Psychology 2016 - 2018.

The blog was entitled "Life, Love & My Universe" and was a no-holds barred expose of my experience of my inner world as I began to awaken to myself. Here I openly, and as much as possible, honestly shared selected experiences and realisations from those experiences gained as a result of deep introspection and self-analysis I call "inner work".

The theories formulated during my Masters were based on my realisations, some of which I found in Carl Jung's work, and were somewhat brought to life in my dissertation entitled "What Does It Mean To Individuate Via the Body? - A Phenomenological Enquiry" As part of my thesis, I undertook a phenomenological exploration on the role of the body in the awakening and self realisation process, a process Jung called "Individuation".

As part of my awakening process, I was struck by how little material existed on the process at an experiential level. Instead material about the process was often written from an abstract and objective perspective and I needed something more. I needed something that included subjectivity and experience that I could relate to. As part of my thesis, I argued that subjective experience was the key to understanding and adequately critiquing Jung's work to include his central theory of Individuation.

To validate and expand upon my theory, and with feelings and sensations a common language to us all, I'm keen to understand "just what does it feel like to awaken?". This, for me, brings a wholly subjective process back to the subject, namely you and I. This is where phenomenology comes in.

on phenomenology

The objective of this project is to talk about and understand what it truly means to awaken to ourselves.

What do we experience? What similarities exist as well as differences? What can we learn from each other as we awaken?

Phenomenology is a term I'm using to explain how I'll seek to answer these questions with potentially your participation. This is because as a "discipline" it is concerned with our awareness of our experiences as we experience them i.e. what thoughts/emotions/feelings/sensations am I experiencing as I watch this scary movie on TV or as a I speak to this guy or woman to whom I am attracted or as I begin to realise that I'm not just a victim but a perpetrator as well?

the psychological age

With existence being a dialogue between the external and internal world, and let's face it, the world being a crazy hot mess with an imbalance in wealth, way too many humans living in poverty in this day and age, war, social injustices it would appear that change is very much needed. And many of us are awakening to that fact.

For some, it's an awakening to the fact that our consciousness, we humans, co-create this reality, or matrix, whether it be actively or passively. Those "some" have also awakened to the the fact that true change can only occur by turning inwards and transforming ourselves.

The question is how? And to what are we awakening to?

The objective of the project is to explore the answers to those question with your help.

why am I doing this?

Well firstly because I have the desire to. And if there's one thing I've learned through my journey, it is that certain desires, true desires, point to our life's purpose and meaning on this Earth. They also aid us on our journey but we'll discuss this as part of the project.

And secondly, I feel this is needed. Throughout human history, epochal revolutions and evolutions of human thought and "consciousness" have occurred, creating paradigms and ages and transforming the way we perceive, approach, live our lives. This includes the way in which we relate to ourselves and each other. Examples of these revolutions include the Age of Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and most recently the Technological Age.

Whilst these revolutions etc. have focused on the external world, in the late 19th century a shift occurred in the West led by Sigmund Freud. Through the creation of his psychoanalytic approach to understanding and healing the human psyche, Freud revolutionised our understanding of what it means to be human and ushered in an age that would see a shift in focus towards the importance of our internal world. As such, over the past 140 years, we have become more and more self-reflective and concerned with our inner worlds.

The previously mentioned revolutions and thus ages, such as the Industrial Revolution and this current Technological Age with their external focus, transformed and continues to transform human existence. Yet, with this psychological age and its internal focus, I see that a certain imbalance is being restored at both a macro and micro level. I also see that we are potentially on the precipice of much needed transformation and the realisation of something...

Can you see it too?