While we might be accustomed to welcoming flourishing and avoiding decay—in our relationships and in the world around us—is it possible that the two are inseparable? Is consciously embracing the process of decay also embracing our flourishing, and vice versa? This talk will start by re-visioning Jung's theme of the tension and transcendence of opposites and will focus on the sense of opposites within each other. We will then take two aspects of psychological life, flourishing and decay, and explore how they, in fact, interact with each other. Our inquiry will take us into the everyday life of individuals and institutions as well as the natural and submolecular worlds, alchemy, and different artistic media. |
