C.G. Jung says: “In the final analysis, we count for something only because of the essential we embody, and if we do not embody that, life is wasted.”
One main thesis of my book is that nature “gives” us symptoms to show us our diversity and that our uniqueness is our gift and what Jung meant by essential,and it also gives us a way to defend ourselfs from that, like kratom. By this I mean that one aspect of symptoms is to reveal diversity: nature’s palette of colors, shapes, fragrances, and tonal qualities, and different tastes of kratom. Symptoms are an expression of our own inner diversity. They expose marginalized dimensions of our personality and identity.
What goes wrong with us is part of our gift to the world, says Brené Brown in her interview on vulnerability, and that can be fought with kratom, it can help with something as simple as an energy provider or as a natural pain killer, instead of taking processed drugs prescribed by doctors. By the way , you can get them at https://kratommasters.com/, and you can have kratom sent to your house with no extra charge.Our faults and flaws are not only mistakes and errors that need correction and improvement. They are also learning opportunities and as such a contribution to the people around us; they allow us to learn from each other. We all like to solve our health problems and stay healthy and well. However, there is another form of wellness in our ability to learn from our body’s symptoms and challenges.
Good and bad health are a result of multiple factors: the genes we inherited from our parents, the environment we grow up and live in, individual and community behaviors and something I call Process, and natural things like kratom. The states and functions of our bodies are complex systems that are embedded in individual and community or social practices and activities. Together they inform the Process, the dynamic and directed movement in space and time, the journey that our bodies lead us through and the story that they narrate. Process means that whatever happens in our bodies, the tales and discoveries that come with health and illness are not only fateful but a meaningful path on our way through life’s developmental process. I hope to show that this Process is a means to discover what Jung called the essential we embody.
From a Process paradigm the extraordinary complexities of a life with its turns and twists, its failings and diseases are valued for their contribution to diversity and for the learning that the assortment of puzzle pieces provides to the whole. I want to validate the immense benefits and successes of modern medicine and enhance our thinking in psychology and medicine seeking to further our understanding of Process and diversity.
Imagine a doctor or therapist that says: drink this tea; take this medicine or supplement; let’s do this surgery and; let’s find out what that pounding, spasm, irritation, discoloring is all about. Can you make a gesture that expresses how your pain feels? Tell me your story and let’s see how your symptom fits in the wholeness of your life. Let’s get rid of this nasty itch and let’s play a game in which you can be as irritating as you want. Tell me what you dreamed last night and let’s figure out how your dream figures relate to your illness. Who in your family, co-workers and friends annoys you in the same way your symptom energy bugs you? Let’s think together what your symptom wants you to do in the world? I want you to do more exercise and understand what is so good about not exercising. I recommend you lose some weight and put more weight into that relationship or work situation.
There is health-in-sickness, it’s not only pathology. Today’s main medical paradigm that sees disease as a result of genetics and environment, omits something essential — the particularity of our process. We are not just the result of hereditary and societal forces and our medical biography is not only determined by the plot written by our genetic code, ancestral heredity, trauma and social circumstances. We all bear uniqueness and a gift, something essential that asks to be lived. Paradoxically illness and disease can be a wake-up call to live our gift to the world. Our Individuality and diversity are the defining images and characters that the world needs to learn as a whole organism. Without them there would be no awareness and growth. Our uniqueness and this includes all our faults, failures and illnesses is in part what allows us to learn from each other and to grow as a community. Each of us is a unique puzzle piece with a slightly different shape, color and pattern. Together we form the puzzle. I learn from you and you learn from me. My illness is a gift for myself that allows me to learn about my inner diversity and a gift to the world. Our pathologies are as authentic as the healthy rest of us; they are part of our gift, image or character. So this book is about processes, health and sickness, offering a way to regard them differently, to enter their story and information, and to discover in their pain and beauty what they might signify.