Youth and Jung

My classmates, all of us roughly 70 years old, and I got together recently. We are all growing old, we agreed, but do we feel it? I asked. No, they chorused. I feel 50. I feel 60. Well, I feel 35, I said and they all gasped. It’s true. I feel 35 years old, half my age, but without the angst I felt then. This led me to ponder after they left and the days went by — what makes me feel so young?

My children have grown and flown. My grandchildren too are almost all grown. Life is no longer stressed. But what is it that makes me feel younger than most people I know? Then suddenly the answer flashes. Jung! I discovered Carl Gustav Jung and he debunked everything I learned in school, turning me into a much happier person.

First how do you pronounce his name? It’s Y-o-o-o-ng. He was an eminent psychiatrist during his time, which was also around Sigmund Freud’s time. If you think like most locals do, that psychiatrists are only for the crazy, then let me tell you — you’re crazy. I discovered Jung around 1995 when Ateneo held its first Jung Festival. Then I was always tired, couldn’t get rest no matter how much I slept. One Saturday morning I saw Jung Festival advertised in the newspaper, I decided to join, not knowing anything at all about Jung.

Surprisingly I enjoyed myself thoroughly and felt rested afterwards. I enjoyed myself so much I asked if I could attend the lectures by Katherine Asper, a Swiss Jungian therapist who talked about how fairy tales were really our life stories but you had to take them apart to see the mysteries, discover them then understand them. Sometimes that alone is enough. Once you understand what’s really going on you have already solved your dilemma.

If I had to summarize Jung’s philosophy I’d say he believed we continuously grow and change until we die. So we cannot say I wish I could write but I don’t have the talent. Or I wish I could paint but I don’t know how. I learned how to paint because I saw lessons advertised and decided to take them. That was in 1993 and now I have had three exhibits. Now I’m looking for something new to do, something that will stimulate me, get my creative juices flowing again. I might start baking again. Once I baked bread and pies. Maybe I will do that again. All you have to do is decide to do it. Do not be afraid of failure. We all recover from failure. Failure is just a step in the learning process.

Discovering Jung is really interesting, full of laughter and jokes, but finally you get an aha feeling.  You say to yourself, Aha, ganoon pala iyon!  I began to understand myself more. I learned that before anything else you must know yourself very well. Unless you know yourself very well, you cannot know (much less love) another person. 

So now I am a member of the Carl Jung Circle Center. We are holding a conference for two days at Club Filipino in Greenhills on Thursday, July 10 and Friday, July 11, 2014. The conference is titled: Alchemy that Works because that’s what Jung does for you. He teaches you how to do magic on yourself so you become a better happier person. So you can feel half your age like I do.

On the first day these are the titles of the lectures: Iyan si Jung will introduce him to you. Then Mommy Dearest, When Life Changes, and Selfie! The next day we will be discussing Filipino types or images like The Filipino Warrior, the Babaylan, the Black Nazarene of Quiapo, the Balangay and the Filipino Navigator. Most interesting of all is the session titled Pinoy Ka Ba? where we will discuss being Filipino.

How much? If you register before June 10 you get the Early Bird discount. You pay only P8,000, which includes all your materials, lunch and snacks. We must receive your payment before June 10 to get this special rate. If you register between June 10 and July 10, you have to pay the full rate of P10,000. And we will also have exhibits. You can buy our goods from us. I think I will be selling some funky jewelry.

You may send a message to Tin at 0926-6341755 saying Please reserve a slot for the Jung Conference for your name, age, email address and mobile number. Then deposit your payment to The Carl Jung Circle Center, Inc., UCPB Current Account #20181-000070-1. Then email your scanned deposit slip to jungphilippines@yahoo.com or fax it to 872-9229 with your name on it. Please don’t get sensitive about needing your age. Most of the participants are in the upper brackets. I think I was close to 50 when I took it.

But I promise you you won’t regret it. You will enjoy yourself. You will laugh a lot. Long after the conference you will use the tools you learn to handle your life. And you will feel half your age, as young as I feel or maybe even younger.

* * *

Please text your comments to 0917-8155570. I am postponing my writing classes until after the conference. Have to prepare for it.