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Prisms: Reflections on This Journey We Call Life
Reflections on the Journey We Call Life summarizes a lifetime of observing, engaging, and exploring why we are here, in service to what, and what life asks of us. These eleven essays, all written recently, examine how we understand ourselves, and often we have to reframe that understanding, the nature and gift of comedy, the imagination, desire, as well as our encounters with narcissism, and aging.
James Hollis, Ph.D., a Jungian Analyst in Washington, D.C., explores the roadblocks we encounter and our on-going challenge to live our brief journey with as much courage, insight, and resolve as we can bring to the table.
Table of 1. Archetypal The Large Forms Rolling Beneath The Surface of Our Lives 2. Reframing Our Sense of Self and World in Plague Times 3. Who Heals the Healer?-The Profile of the Wounded Healer 4. On the Psychology of Is the Joke on Us? 5. Permutations of Desire 6. All Is The Imagination as Aperture into Psyche 7. Narcissus's Forlorn The Fading Image in a Pool Too Deep 8. Theogonys and A Jungian Perspective on Evil 9. The Rag and Bone Shop of the Yeats's Passage from Puer Aeternus to Wise Old Man 10. The Necessity of Personal Myth 11. For Every Tatter in Our Mortal Stayin' Alive at the Front Of the Mortal Parade Afterword Bibliography
James Hollis, Ph.D., a Jungian Analyst in Washington, D.C., explores the roadblocks we encounter and our on-going challenge to live our brief journey with as much courage, insight, and resolve as we can bring to the table.
Table of 1. Archetypal The Large Forms Rolling Beneath The Surface of Our Lives 2. Reframing Our Sense of Self and World in Plague Times 3. Who Heals the Healer?-The Profile of the Wounded Healer 4. On the Psychology of Is the Joke on Us? 5. Permutations of Desire 6. All Is The Imagination as Aperture into Psyche 7. Narcissus's Forlorn The Fading Image in a Pool Too Deep 8. Theogonys and A Jungian Perspective on Evil 9. The Rag and Bone Shop of the Yeats's Passage from Puer Aeternus to Wise Old Man 10. The Necessity of Personal Myth 11. For Every Tatter in Our Mortal Stayin' Alive at the Front Of the Mortal Parade Afterword Bibliography
- GenresPsychologyNonfiction
222 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2021
35 people are currently reading
116 people want to read
About the author
James Hollis
54 books951 followersJames Hollis, Ph. D., was born in Springfield, Illinois, and graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught Humanities 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zurich, Switzerland (1977-82). He is presently a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas for many years and now was Executive Director of the Jung Society of Washington until 2019, and now serves on the JSW Board of Directors. He is a retired Senior Training Analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first Director of Training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is Vice-President Emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally he is a Professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco/Houston.
He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grand-children.
He has written a total of seventeen books, which have been translated into Swedish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Farsi, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, Serbian, Latvian, Ukranian and Czech.
He lives with his wife Jill, an artist and retired therapist, in Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grand-children.
He has written a total of seventeen books, which have been translated into Swedish, Russian, German, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian, Korean, Finnish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Farsi, Japanese, Greek, Chinese, Serbian, Latvian, Ukranian and Czech.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 21, 2021
Hollis at his finest. He is 80-years old, see clients full time, writes in the evenings, and maintained this rigorous schedule last year while receiving treatment for cancer. He is an inspiration.
In this book I especially appreciate all the questions he gives that we can use in journaling or pondering to help is choose enlargement rather than diminishment and to help discover what wants to emerge into the world through us.
In this book I especially appreciate all the questions he gives that we can use in journaling or pondering to help is choose enlargement rather than diminishment and to help discover what wants to emerge into the world through us.
August 24, 2021
Okay. Okay. I’m still processing the eleven essays in this book, and I feel that I will be processing them for… well, indefinitely. James Hollis, a jungian analyst turned 80+ years old, kneads humor with academic rigor, philosophy, literature, insights from his practice, and daily wisdom to acquaint the reader with Jungian ideas and deep psychology. Now, if the previous sentence was hard to unpack, just imagine how layered this book will be. But don’t get me wrong: I’ve enjoyed it from start to finish (except maybe the chapter on Yeats, which I wasn’t so fond of — the chapter, not Yeats, I have nothing against the guy). While my knowledge of analytical psychology is almost non-existent, and my take on things might be that of a bull in a China shop, Hollis made it easy and enjoyable for me to step into uncharted territory.
This book is meant to get you to question your motives for everything you do and get curious about why you behave in specific ways. As James Hollis puts it, “it is never about what it is about”. In essence, each chapter debates, through the prism of James Hollis’ experience, the most significant life topics with a Jungian twist. It feels personal and intimate, making the serious issues seem lighter under the guidance of an author who shares wisdom with the candor of a grandparent.
From archetypal types to our sense of self, comedy, imagination, and our ego that mistakenly believes it runs the show, nothing escapes the observational lense of Hollis, who does a tremendous feat in exploring mysteries without spoiling them. What you might read and see between the lines of each essay will probably be different from what I saw, simply because you’ll be holding your prism in your own way. However, the purpose is not to emerge at the end with the same answers but to start asking relevant questions.
Reading this book has been just like jumping into ice-cold water on a scorching summer day. At first, I felt refreshed, pleasantly surprised, even soothed. All good, all fine. But shortly after, the realisation that my feet can’t touch the bottom dawned on me, and I started feeling the monumental task ahead. Then, I was struck by the recognition that I’m not swimming, in fact, in a lake, but an ocean, and I’m a mediocre swimmer at best. Acting with accountability is what Hollis essentially proposes and is, indeed, a massive undertaking that lasts a lifetime. And, contrary to what we might fool ourselves into thinking, realising where we’re at is not enough. To get out of the depths, we must swim.
This book is meant to get you to question your motives for everything you do and get curious about why you behave in specific ways. As James Hollis puts it, “it is never about what it is about”. In essence, each chapter debates, through the prism of James Hollis’ experience, the most significant life topics with a Jungian twist. It feels personal and intimate, making the serious issues seem lighter under the guidance of an author who shares wisdom with the candor of a grandparent.
From archetypal types to our sense of self, comedy, imagination, and our ego that mistakenly believes it runs the show, nothing escapes the observational lense of Hollis, who does a tremendous feat in exploring mysteries without spoiling them. What you might read and see between the lines of each essay will probably be different from what I saw, simply because you’ll be holding your prism in your own way. However, the purpose is not to emerge at the end with the same answers but to start asking relevant questions.
Reading this book has been just like jumping into ice-cold water on a scorching summer day. At first, I felt refreshed, pleasantly surprised, even soothed. All good, all fine. But shortly after, the realisation that my feet can’t touch the bottom dawned on me, and I started feeling the monumental task ahead. Then, I was struck by the recognition that I’m not swimming, in fact, in a lake, but an ocean, and I’m a mediocre swimmer at best. Acting with accountability is what Hollis essentially proposes and is, indeed, a massive undertaking that lasts a lifetime. And, contrary to what we might fool ourselves into thinking, realising where we’re at is not enough. To get out of the depths, we must swim.
March 23, 2021
Prisms is Hollis's most current book of essays, thus including the pandemic and political crises. He reveals he is treating two cancers and is eighty years old. The tone of the book somehow falls into the category of joy and reality. He poignantly illuminates our options in the last half of life. (50+) He encourages us to life the rock we have unknowingly placed over our inner self in the first half to see what has been growing beneath it. The excitement of discovery and inner growth propels the book and the reader.
Hollis's most expansive knowledge of philosophy, literature, and psychology is profound. To me, he is channeling himself. All of his stored experience and knowledge is offered to us in capsule form. I generally need a dictionary for Hollis, but this one requires one in every reading! His wistful and wise offering begets my deep gratitude.
Hollis's most expansive knowledge of philosophy, literature, and psychology is profound. To me, he is channeling himself. All of his stored experience and knowledge is offered to us in capsule form. I generally need a dictionary for Hollis, but this one requires one in every reading! His wistful and wise offering begets my deep gratitude.
August 28, 2021
He just gets better!
Soon I will have read all his books and that will be a very sad day for me. His ability to synthesize material from various sources with his own journey and share it in language that makes sense is amazing. Oh yes, he does like using “big words” and foreign words, but that makes even more interesting. I suggest reading his books on Kindle since it has a built dictionary and translator. Bravo, maestro!
Soon I will have read all his books and that will be a very sad day for me. His ability to synthesize material from various sources with his own journey and share it in language that makes sense is amazing. Oh yes, he does like using “big words” and foreign words, but that makes even more interesting. I suggest reading his books on Kindle since it has a built dictionary and translator. Bravo, maestro!
September 4, 2021
Another good read by Hollis. I think he has one of the biggest vocabularies of anyone I read and know! So, this alone is enjoyable. I meditated on his many questions throughout the essays and will continue to be challenged by them as I move forward. I have loved Hollis since the very first book of his I read, The Middle Passage. He is a writer with depth, respect, and ongoing invitations for personal growth for the reader. Thank you for this book.
December 6, 2021
Thoughtful collection of James Hollis’ ideas
James explores some familiar themes in these essays, capturing his views on individuation, through different angles. He continues to ask the question that life asks all of us: What, from within me, will be brought out into the world?
James explores some familiar themes in these essays, capturing his views on individuation, through different angles. He continues to ask the question that life asks all of us: What, from within me, will be brought out into the world?
November 28, 2022
Great and insightful book, with a fantasic, eye-opening, ending. Will update the review with more details as I re-read it.
July 19, 2023
Life changing material
Poetic truths that illuminate and energise in classic Hollis fashion. It took me a while to read as the quality made me re-read many paragraphs twice!
Poetic truths that illuminate and energise in classic Hollis fashion. It took me a while to read as the quality made me re-read many paragraphs twice!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews