Dreams and Our Need for Empathy and Imagination
How can we avoid the "failure of imagination" we ascribe to our inability to foresee an upcoming catastrophe. Could our dreams unlock the imagination and empathy we're missing?
Understand Your Dreams by Engaging Them Using Jung’s “Active Imagination”
Freud and Jung arrived at quite different conclusions about the meaning of our dreams; try Jung’s “active imagination” technique to begin to understand yours.
Dreaming Our Lives: Five Things Our Dreams Could Be Telling Us
What do our dreams mean? Jungian analysis contends that our dreams can help us solve problems and offer keys to our inner self.
The Hero’s Night Sea Journey: Lunar Consciousness in Where The Wild Things Are
What makes Maurice Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are such a transcendent reading experience for children of all ages? Perhaps Jung's archetype of transformation can explain.
The Lady with the Dog and the Mystery of Attraction
How do we explain the mystery of attraction to a person, or our special attachment to a pet. My encounter with a "lady with a dog" reminded me of Chekhov's famous story.
Earth, Sky, Star, Moon: Bringing Nature Inside Yourself
Environments can increase or reduce our stress and anxiety. “Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.” —E. O. Wilson
Mothers, Witches, and the Power of Archetypes
Why have witches always been with us? Learn how archetypes can help you cope with destructive influences.
Four Principles of Survival My Characters Taught Me
What can fictional characters teach you about survival? I learned four principles of survival from the characters in my first novel, but only after I had finished writing.
Recalling a Visit to Epidaurus Prompts Five Antidotes for a Toxic World
Do you have a sacred place? A visit to Epidaurus revealed the power and meaning of sacred spaces. Recalling that visit suggested five ways you can develop your own sacred space.
Nature, Time, Memory and the Childhood Experience of a “Cherishing Force”
Dale Kushner, author of The Conditions of Love, recalls her childhood experience of a "cherishing force" in nature.
Treating Patients or Creating Characters? Making the Choice
Dale Kushner, author of The Conditions of Love, recalls the time when she decided she must choose between becoming a Jungian analyst and a writer of fiction.
What Do We Really Want To Know About a Writer?
Dale Kushner, author of The Conditions of Love, follows up her popular "Five Best Questions to Ask a Writer" with four questions she'd like to ask herself.
Xu Bing, Radical Denial, and My “Elegy to History”
Dale Kushner, author of The Conditions of Love, shares "Elegy to History," the poem she created in response to Xu Bing's Background Story
Dog Training Maisie and the Power of Name-Calling
Dale Kushner, author of The Conditions of Love, learns how name-calling shapes behavior while dog training her new Golden Retriever puppy.
"My Jewish Question, My Father" on Jewish Currents
Dale Kushner, author of The Conditions of Love, explores her own Jewish identity in "My Jewish Question, My Father," a recent blog post on Jewish Currents
Anne Frank and My Birth as a Writer
For a nine-year-old in New Jersey, the confessions of a 13-year-old German girl to her diary were life-changing.
Girls at Risk: The Enigma of Resilience and What I Learn from My Characters
Dale Kushner explores how the main characters in her two novels are put at risk by their parents but discover resilience within themselves.
How We Understand the World: Taking Sides on the Brain
When I was first married, my husband and I used to joke that together we had a complete brain.
Writer’s Block: Nine Helpful Tips to Get Going Again
I’ve recently had the privilege of teaching several writing workshops and working with a number of talented writers. Since I have never actually taken a fiction workshop, I’m always putting my workshops together out of issues I’ve faced and cures for writing ailments that have worked for me.
Five Remedies for Writer's Envy
A close friend you cherish, a relative, your partner—someone you love and care about—wins the award, gets the job or the raise you thought was in your pocket; charms the socks off the guy you’ve adored from afar, sails for a month-long vacation—attains exactly the goodies you’ve secretly coveted.