"Where there is shadow, there must be light.” Haruki Murakami

Identity is important not because we are always the same - if we were, we would scarcely think about our identities…It is precisely because we can be so different in different contexts that we need to ask ourselves “who am I?” - Paul Wachtel

Jung said in a letter once that life is a short pause between two great mysteries. Beware of those who offer answers. They may be sincere, but their answers are not necessarily yours.~James Hollis, 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦

"The courage to understand and the courage not to understand — these are not intellectual qualities, but a matter of character, an expression of moral courage, an issue of inner sincerity— manifested in spite of and often in opposition to the ego." — Theodor Reik, 1933

"Anything you avoid in life will come back, over and over again, until you're willing to face it—to look deeply into its true nature." ~ Adyashanti Art: 'Subversion' by Irish artist Miriam Sweeney.

“Nothing is easy when you might come apart in the middle at any moment.” Trauma, growth, and how to be twice as alive — beloved Moomins creator Tove Jansson on the worm and the art of self-renewal www.themarginalian.org/2024/08/02/t...

Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 in G, Prélude

But nature is always more subtle, more intricate, more elegant than what we are able to imagine. ― Carl Sagan

"The time will come when, with elation, you will greet yourself arriving at your own door, in your own mirror, and each will smile at the other’s welcome, and say, sit here. Eat. You will love again the stranger who was your self..." www.themarginalian.org/2015/04/21/l...

To journey inward is to encounter both the light and the shadow. True self-discovery does not mean rejecting darkness but integrating it into the wholeness of one’s being.~CG Jung, 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 9𝘪

'Bristol Night II' by contemporary UK painter Cath Read #womensart

Contemporary psychoanalysis can be summed up in a single sentence: We treat ourselves as we were treated, and the only way to really learn to treat ourselves differently is to be treated differently. There’s nothing magical or unscientific about this. - Michael Karson

[T]he unconscious, the healing process of the unconscious, never goes in a straight way. It always makes the most amazing detours.~Marie-Louise von Franz, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘵: 𝘈 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯

Learn a range of theories; digest them well enough to hold them and use them lightly.

I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better

As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself...The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know. That takes an enormous amount of courage.~Bessel van der Kolk, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘒𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦

"If everything was amazing all of the time, I think we’d all be speechless, and if you make that your starting point for creativity, you’re going nowhere." — Neneh Cherry

"The courage to understand and the courage not to understand — these are not intellectual qualities, but a matter of character, an expression of moral courage, an issue of inner sincerity— manifested in spite of and often in opposition to the ego." — Theodor Reik, 1933

Bonnie MacLean, US artist known for her 1960s and 70s classic posters using an iconic psychedelic art style to promote rock band gigs #WomensArt

"My proposition is that it is impossible to overreact. That when we call our reactions overreactions what we mean is just that they are stronger than we would like them to be." — Adam Phillips

🧵 Breathtaking! Here's the oldest film of a solar eclipse, restored and released online. On 28 May 1900, magician, astronomer and filmmaker Nevil Maskelyne used a special adapter to film the astronomical event in North Carolina. Source: www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/o... 🔭 🧪 #Science

"I feel that most people have reached an age where they have so much knowledge that they can't penetrate through to the wisdom [...] It's a new kind of forest which you can't see for the trees. You can't see the wisdom for the knowledge." — Wilfred Bion, 1978

𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴. I see it as the tip of an iceberg. . .and then there’s this vast world down below. And I think we are meant to live with mystery. It opens up the dimensions that keep us human and compassionate.~Marion Woodman

´Whirlpool´ embroidery detail by Annemieke Mein, Dutch-born Australian textile artist who specialises in depicting wildlife #womensart

"To be, is to be enough."

Grief work is soul work. It requires courage to face the world as it is and not turn away, to not burrow into a hole of comfort and anesthetization. ~Francis Weller, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘌𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸

A space to explore the emotional toll of NHS Work and the tension between care and sacrifice. Sat, 2 Aug 2025 10:30 - 12:30 BST www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1372961196...

When old modes do not suffice and a new mode must be undertaken, there is always danger involved. No one does it willingly. One avoids it as long as possible. - Allen Wheelis

'Bluebell Solitude' by printmaker Alexandra Buckle #WomensArt

To a room full of women doctors @medicalwomenuk.bsky.social conference, what better message than to be wary of those who insist we always #bekind. Kindness is precious; so is truth and timely dissent to benefit our patients. Beware ‘kindwashing’ in medicine. From the inimitable @doctoroxford.com

You seek the path. I warn you away from my own. It can also be the wrong way for you. May each go his own way. ~CG Jung

The discovery of what one feels is also the discovery of who one is, and who one was. Feelings contain our perceptions, our memories, and our losses. - Paul Russell

"..You have the right to be angry sometimes" - Little My, character in the Moomin books by Tove Jansson who first appeared in 1950. She is small, determined, mischievous and fiercely independent and partly based on the author herself. #WomensArt #Monday

Psychologically you develop in a spiral, you always come over the same point where you have been before, but it is never exactly the same, it is either above or below. ~CG Jung, 𝘚𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮 𝘈𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴

Speech is but broken light upon the depth of the unspoken. - George Eliot

Today’s reading exercise.

Happy birthday, Sıgmund Freud! Sigismund Schlomo Freud was born May 6th 1856 in Freiberg in the Austrian empire. Here with his chows.

Happy birthday to Dr. Freud!

"To try to observe and interpret something unconscious in oneself is rather like trying to see the back of one’s own head.” — Margaret Little

Tattooed porcelain figurines by Scotland-based artist Jessica Harrison #womensart

'Breathing Space', etching by contemporary UK artist and printmaker Janis Goodman #WomensArt

This is one of the best ads I have ever seen and I can’t believe I missed it

Dr. Anthony Fauci urges Americans not to accept "Normalization of Untruths".

Understanding one’s impact 𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 is utterly central to understanding 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓. - Paul Wachtel

'Bluebells at Wisley' by contemporary UK painter Susan Entwistle #womensart

Start close in, don't take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in, the step you don't want to take. — David Whyte, Start Close In