What is Individuation? A perspective one of many
Imagine starting your life with a belief that you have something to offer — something to share. Not in a grandiose way, but in a human way. This “something” can be called essence, or self. Without your unique contribution, the world misses out. It will go on, yes, but it will miss your individual shade. Something will be omitted, and the world will sense it. The painting will not be as rich as it could be. Sharing your essence is indispensable.
Now imagine beginning life with the belief that your essence is not significant. As long as you get on and get by, you’re fine. No complaints. The world will go on, with or without your essence. You continue, feeling unimportant, because somewhere, somehow, something went unnoticed. The parts of you that constitute your uniqueness did not receive the attention or nourishment they needed in order to thrive.
Jung said that “individuation is the process by which a person becomes a psychological ‘in-dividual,’ that is, a separate, indivisible unity or whole.”* The whole includes both the conscious, where the ego operates, and the unconscious. Why is it important to become whole? Because both aspects of our being shape our lives. Each of us interacts with what surrounds us in a particular, unique way. Sometimes we know why we do what we do; often, we have no idea. Occasionally, we have an inkling. Without exploring what lies beneath the everyday, we risk living rather empty lives. There is no inner compass to guide us on our journey. We travel half-heartedly and ask, “Is that all?”
Life can be built on many different premises or beliefs.
Some may say that individuation, or the search for the whole self, is not important at all — and that may be true for them. Some question the very idea of wholeness, and that’s OK too. Yet I trust that finding and connecting with an inner compass gives a unique sense of direction — one that makes life more: more fulfilling, more connected, more meaningful.
Individuation means openness and readiness to give attention and nourishment to the aspects of ourselves that have been buried under layers of useful adaptations and necessary compromises. It may be painful, triggering, surprising, or enriching. It may feel like approaching an elusive mystery — touching it briefly, only to let it go again. For some mysterious reason, the whole process is deeply satisfying.
* The Essential Jung, Selected Writings, Introduced by Anthony Storr, Fontana Press, London 1998