Finding the door to the world of the wild Self
Top image: Photo of the Norwegian Alps by Jeroen Veenonbos. Used with permission.
In Norse legend, the Jotunheimen Alps are called the “Home of the Giants,” home to jötnar (trolls). This morning, a friend of mine described his recent adventure trekking in that Norwegian wilderness, his face lit with a radiance I hadn’t seen before. I could feel his awe and respect for the beauty of the terrain and the danger he felt in encountering raw wildness — the poorly marked trails that leave you scratching your head and calculating the position of the sun, the unpredictable elements, the nightly spectacle of stars.
After our Zoom call, a pang of longing washed through me, a mixture of desire and regret. Something in me yearns for the shock of a plunge into a glacial lake, or to stand at the edge of a high ridge where earth and sky kiss, dazzled by sunlight and whipped by wind. In her now classic book, Women Who Run With the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estés writes:
“The doors to the world of the wild Self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door, if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
I will never visit the Norwegian Alps, and this is where my longing meets my regret. I have a hunger to shuck off the dictations of the rational mind and experience the wild cosmos, to feel the kind of unburdened freedom animals must enjoy — which is not to romanticize nature tooth and claw, but not to be alien from it, either.
Evocative words, wild and freedom. (As you may know, they comprise the title of my newest book! Wild Freedom: The Princess Who Found Her Name — On Fairy Tales, Imagination, and the Creative Mind)
Wild, meaning in a natural untampered state; freedom, meaning the liberty to imagine, explore, the freedom to fail and try again. What do these words evoke in you? Do they stir a ripple? If so, you might be interested in the five books I’ve recently recommended for Book DNA, a fantastic alternative to Goodreads, which lists author-recommended titles on various subjects.
I’m also happy to announce that after June 29th, the Jung Society of Washington has graciously allowed me to share the video of my recent online discussion about Wild Freedom, and matters of soul and psyche, with three luminary Jungian analysts. When it’s available, you can find it here: “Wild Freedom in Conversation with Dale M. Kushner, Murray Stein, Henry Abramovitch, and Dariane Pictet.”
You can watch now at this link the replay of my May 7 conversation about Wild Freedom with author of writing teacher Tamara Dean at the Mystery to Me bookstore in Madison. Upcoming podcast interviews will also be available on my website as they are finalized. There’s a whole world to explore on my website — my articles for Psychology Today, writing prompts, and more. Please feel free to wander about.
I cherish these opportunities to connect with you. They give us the chance to share in a continuing conversation about what matters to us. There’s an intimacy between writer and reader. You enter a world I’ve created. Your responses to the work wake me up to new possibilities and new perspectives. This fuels my deeper attention to the ongoing spirit of revelation.
So, thank you for taking the time in your busy life to read this newsletter. If you enjoyed Wild Freedom, I’d be incredibly grateful if you’d leave a quick review on Amazon or wherever you bought the book. Reader reviews help other people discover the book and make a huge difference for independent authors like me. And if you still need to buy it, here are some quick direct links: Bookshop ∙ Amazon ∙ Barnes & Noble ∙ Chiron Publications ∙ A Room of One’s Own (which has some signed copies)
We are, in this time on the planet, sharing a story — and creating a new one.
Do good things!
With care and gratitude,
Dale
