On Life's Journey

In The Development of Personality, C. G. Jung wrote, "In every adult there lurks a child—an eternal child, something that is always becoming, is never completed, and calls for unceasing care, attention, and education. That is the part of the human personality that wants to develop and become whole." In this reflection on life’s journey, Daniel Lindley applies the insights gleaned from many years of study of literature and psychoanalysis to show how we are always becoming—and always obligated to care for that archetypal child. Drawing upon psychological truths expressed by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Eliot, and others, Lindley illuminates the process of individuation through personal experience, art, and archetype. From birth to old age, he shows that, even in our separateness, we share an archetypal ground. According to the author, at any point in our lives, the path we walk is not unknown but has purpose and direction. We live out stories, which existed long before we did and will continue long after we are gone.