Finding your purpose is hard Finding out what you’re supposed to do in life is hard. Finding out who you’re supposed to be is messy. I really only know one surefire way to go about it. Be willing to be wrong in public. Emerson… When I was 25 years old…

In 2015 I was fired from what I thought was my dream job (It wasn’t.) After getting fired, I went through seven years of what I have come to call, “my dark night of the soul.” This time, for me, was characterized by a general lack of direction or purpose…

(Or Where You Come From Before Your Born is Where You Go When You Die) I was driving, my son, Jack Henry, and two of his friends home from school the other day when suddenly, the youngest of the trio asked, “Do either of you remember what heaven was like?” The needle dropped, the record skipped and I was like, “Whhaaaaaaa?” Neither Jack Henry nor…

When the western ears hear the word, “yoga,” it likely brings to mind images of stretchy blank pants, padded mats, and stretching.

I’ve heard and read the story of Jung’s search for his personal myth dozens of times — his personal break from Freud, the toll it took on…

(ACCORDING TO SCHOPENHAUER, PLATO, HILLMAN, CAMPBELL, AND CROWLEY) In the world of awkwardly titled essays, Schopenhauer's “On An Apparent Intention in the Fate of the Individual” may reign supreme. Its topic, however, is one that remains near and dear to my heart. In the essay, Schopenhauer suggests that viewed from a great enough distance, a person’s life seems…

Lots of historical cultures had a version of the personal guiding spirit. Greeks had the Daimon (or Daemon). Romans had the Genius. Egyptians had the Ka or Ba soul. The Norse had the fylgja. Christian cultures often believed each person was accompanied by a guardian angel. Modern people seem much…

Every man you can think of — your father, your pastor, politicians, celebrities, scientists, looks for those moments when no one is around. Where they won’t be missed or disturbed. They sneak off and masturbate. And, if statisticians are to be believed (though statistics tend to insist upon themselves, I…

Swiss psychologist and grandaddy to psychoanalysis, Carl Jung, used to talk about synchronicities — a very particular form of coincidence where the contents of our psyches (whether a recurring thought, dream content or peculiar symbol) manifests in some way in the real world. …