DIALOGUE

The interest last night was primarily focused on transitioning from one career to another at midlife. As always for me, work is a tool for individuation, so I thought about mid-life transition in terms of Jung.

In the first half of life, we adapt to societal norms. We pick education and careers that are practical and responsible; work that puts food on the table and allows us to care for our families. Then, something happens to many of us--work that excited us at age 26 feels flat and dry at mid-life. A longing for some unknown "other" stirs in us. This is Psyche calling us to greater authenticity.

Over many years of working with individuals around the field of work, I have found that those of us who have put a stake in the ground in favor of depth psychological tenets will not be able to continue in soulless work. Our individuation will demand that we shift gears, or else our daimon will destroy what we've so carefully created (see Hillman's book, Soul's Code). Doors that once welcomed us will close and our best analytical thinking will stop working. We may become ill, or be fired, or lose our marriage, or, or, or . . .

As we transition to something new, we must take advantage of all that direct experience has taught us and accepted logic in the collective. However, we must be led by the wisdom and knowing that is now reaching up from deep within our own psyches. We must still take practical steps; but we must inquire, first, into our dreams, synchronous happenings, and non-rational cues from the body: Why the knot in my stomach? Where did my enthusiasm go when I set out in that direction? Why is it that I lose track of time when I do this particular work?

When we are in a career transition at midlife, we must try to accept the slower pace of Psyche, even as we face our worries about money and all the complexes that will be triggered when we are on the vanguard of the future that is calling us forward.

Do you have questions about being or becoming employed, or earning a living? Share those questions in the Let's Talk Work! group that I just started in the Alliance. I'll try to answer them on the Let's Talk Work! show that airs Tuesday nights at 7:30p PST and Friday mornings at 10:00a. The calls are free and you don't have to be an Alliance member to join the calls:

Click the link to join the session online (you will not be seen or heard unless you choose): 
https://zoom.us/j/909381641 

By phone: 
Dial: +1 646 558 8656 
ID: 909 381 641

Int'l call info: https://zoom.us/zoomconference?m=pYj6Zgd3ntu6YmnuVk05fxzd_wz8Dzq1