I’ve spent a lot of time looking “out there” for the answers to my problems.

I’ve tried mightily to fix my anxiety by trying to adjust my external circumstances.

The drugs, relationships, jobs, and money have made me feel good for a moment. But flying high has never brought me sustainable inner peace and joy.

Let’s take a look at how we can turn the focus within to make lasting change.

“Space: the final frontier…to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

- William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk

Even the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, knew he was up to more than just space exploration, saying, “A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away.”

We are a species obsessed with looking outward, like Icarus flying too close to the sun. The pursuit of shiny objects “out there” and intellectual discoveries “up there” were the fatal flaws of the Greek figure Icarus. And maybe for us as well.

A more soulful pursuit is below the level of consciousness. Dr. Carl Jung wrote, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” It is not fate - it is unresolved wounds to the deep soul.

The final frontier is within, and that is where we are most afraid to venture.

So, now we have extensive experience with being externally focused - full mastery. We’ve examined every rock we could get to in the sky. And the excitement continues. My brilliant engineer nephew is now working for the Musk machine to go out there even further. Good for him and for us. Now, we have plenty of practice with exploring.

And we will continue our interest in this outer journey. But now, can we adjust our navigational instruments and use these skills to explore the vast space within us?

It is less of an intellectual curiosity than a great emotional uncovering. Aha! The dreaded E-word - emotions. Perhaps that is why looking within is so unpopular and resisted so strongly.

We have considerable mental momentum built up from trying to get control of the outside world, and it is difficult to shift toward those internal pesky emotions.

Men often suppress emotions because we were taught to be tough. Women often got the “be nice” directive. But for all of us, emotions eventually get our attention. 

Life hands us opportunities for course correction - and sometimes we listen and consider looking within.

Maybe we’ve self-medicated with work, relationships, or drugs increasingly until consequences accumulate. Maybe a relationship breakup or job loss cracks us open. We wake up to this inner world we’ve ignored and repressed.

These aspects of our personality did not get buried by chance. We were conditioned to repress, hide, and deny these deeper emotions.

We all have trauma - mild or severe - which dictates how deeply our emotions are buried. And how far off our authentic expression we have journeyed.

Especially in childhood, when we were vulnerable, our experiences taught us to be hyper-vigilant about what was acceptable to our caregivers. Many of us have continued on this people-pleasing trajectory for years - an expedition away from our true self-expression.

Our inner world is mysterious and requires patience and a different approach. Many of our buried truths come forth through metaphor. We must listen to the poetry that squeezes out of us; “I’m buried with work” or “I feel like I’m drowning.”

As we begin this trip within, we may find that creative means are effective in exploring new inner worlds. Certain images in our drawings - like memories from our childhood - may bring forth emotions we put away long ago. Journaling is an especially effective “technology” for bringing up our buried emotional landscapes.

The Jungian analyst Robert A. Johnson writes, “Inner work is primarily the art of learning this symbolic language of the unconscious.” Through dreams, feelings work, and creativity (what Jung called “active imagination”), we can open up a vast and endless world of adventure within.

This process is not quantitative; it is qualitative. It will bring discoveries that lead to a series of other discoveries that we will not be able to easily number, categorize, and reduce to a clear conclusion. This can be difficult for those of us who have relied heavily on our intellect and control as our go-to solution mechanism. This is soul work, and the soul does not want to be “figured out.”

The vessel required for this trip is support. The navigation is impossible without help from others who have been there: A sponsor in recovery, a Jungian analyst, a somatic/psychodynamic therapist, or experiential workshops are recommended. See my resource list.

It’s a trip! - a trip into those “weird” dreams, grief, and anger work, and other creative and emotional discharge processes.

After a while, looking within is not so terrifying and it becomes an enjoyable lifestyle.

Welcome aboard. 

This week’s Premium program “boldly goes” into how to launch this exploration. Please join me at Recover! Heal! Launch!

AN AFFIRMATION

“Today, I am excited for the privilege to be on this inner journey.”

Live long and prosper!,

Bob

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