Y Ddraig Goch

April 28 2025 - Work in Progress

Prompt: “But, if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself.”
C.G. Jung. What does this quote mean to you and do you agree with Jung that we create ourselves?

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C.G. Jung was one of my favourite psychologists when I was studying in college, along with Freud - fun fact they were friends at one point.

It wasn't necessarily because I agreed wholehearted with what either of them were saying (some of Freud's theories are bat-**** crazy - although they do stick in your memory like a brain worm), rather it was that they were so "colourful" and fun to learn about. They were anything but dry. I still like the idea of dream analysis - though again it's more for kicks (a bit like me reading tea leaves). I actually think I have a book on it somewhere, though I don't keep a dream diary anymore - college me did, but I digress.

Jung's focus was on the Self and the Soul, so it's no surprise that his quotes (and there are a LOT of them) focus on this.

"But if you have nothing at all to create, then perhaps you create yourself." is about the ability to change oneself. Talk therapy and psychoanalysis has a strong foundation in tabula rasa - a blank state - where we all have the ability to grow and develop based on our experiences. If someone feels unfulfilled or unhappy (or not creative) they have the power to change the direction of their lives - sometimes this requires them to change themselves.

If someone wants to progress in work but they are lacking a key soft skill (active listening/assertiveness) there are courses to take. If someone is ready/wants to deal with trauma there are different therapies to try. If someone wants to be taken more seriously by friends/family/colleagues - there are steps/actions that they can adapt.

It doesn't mean that any of it is easy or quick. Or that just one thing will work. In fact, most change is achieved with lots of incremental changes. But it means that we have ability to change, adapt, and improve ourselves. If we wish to.

This can be more keenly seen with personas - I am different with my work colleague than I am with my kids and husband, and I'm different with different groups of friends. I'm the same person but I adapt to the situation and different element of my personality will come to the surface as and when needed. And I am constantly changing and adapting as a person - I'm not the same as I was in college, or before I had kids... I won't be the same person in 10 years, because I'm continuously learning, developing, and discovering who I want to me. I am a work in progress!

FYI, my favourite quote my Jung is “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell.".