Jung and the Two Parts of Life

 

One cannot live the afternoon of life according to the program of life’s morning; for what was great in the morning will be of little importance in the evening, and what in the morning was true will at evening become a lie. —C. G. Jung

It was Carl Jung who first popularized the phrase “the two halves of life” to describe the two major tangents and tasks of any human life.

The first half of life is spent building our sense of identity, importance, and security—what I would call the false self and Freud might call the ego self. Jung emphasizes the importance and value of a healthy ego structure.

But inevitably you discover, often through failure or a significant loss, that your conscious self is not all of you, but only the acceptable you. You will find your real purpose and identity at a much deeper level than the positive image you present to the world.

The second half of life is not based on years but on life experience. Many who have suffered early trauma and loss begin the second half of life much earlier.

In the second half of life, the ego still has a place, but now in the service of the True or Authentic Self,  your inner and inherent identity. Your ego is the container that holds you all together, so now its strength is an advantage. Someone who can see their ego in this way is probably what we mean by a “grounded” person.

Jung writes of his own experience: “It was only after an early illness that I understood how important it is to affirm one’s own destiny. In this way we forge an ego that does not break down when incomprehensible things happen; an ego that endures, that endures the truth, and that is capable of coping with the world and with fate. Then, to experience defeat is also to experience victory.”

In the second half of life we discover that it is no longer sufficient to find meaning in being successful or healthy. We need a deeper source of purpose. According to Jung, “Meaning makes a great many things endurable—perhaps everything.

No science will ever replace myth [the communicator of meaning], and a myth cannot be made out of any science. . . . [Myth] is the revelation of a divine life in man. It is not we who invent myth, rather it speaks to us as a "Word of God.” 

Science gives us explanations, and that is a good start, but myth give us meaning which alone satisfies the soul.

Jung says that during the second half of life our various problems are not solved so much by work as by authentic life experience. Jung had a significant influence on Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Thus, Wilson also emphasizes that a “vital spiritual/philosophical experience” is the best therapy of all. A vital  experience, according to Wilson, is the foundational healing of addiction, much more than mere “recovery”—which is just getting you started.

The unitive encounter with a Power greater than you (that may be the Inner Self) reconstructs the self inside of a safe universe where you don’t need to be special, rich, or famous to feel alive.

Those questions are resolved once and for all. The hall of mirrors that most people live in becomes unhelpful and even bothersome. Now aliveness comes from the inside out.

Jung believes we can do damage, therefore, by “petrifying” our transformative experiences when we try to name it, to express "transformation" as an abstract idea. Before you explain your encounter with the "Universal" as an idea or a name that then must be defended, proven, or believed, simply stay with the naked experience itself—the numinous, transcendent experience of allurement, longing, and intimacy within you.

This is oftentimes both a transcendent experience and also my deepest me at the same time.

To discover one is to discover the other. This is why good philosophy and good psychology work together so well. You have touched upon the soul, the unshakable reality of my True Self.

The second half of life is about learning to recognize, honor, and love this voice and this indwelling presence, which feels like your own voice too. All love is now one.

Gateway to Silence:
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” —C. G. Jung