Carl Jung's Individuation

Individuation is the process of transformation, where the collective and personal unconscious is expressed through dreams, active imagination and free association. This idea was perpetuated by Carl Jung.
Through recorded ideas and the exploration of deeper self, and this includes the daily battles, interpersonal circumstances and situations, which might include both the positive and the negative, self is able to recognise incongruity and discrepancy that might lead to dysfunctionality. Careful observation of chronicled thoughts and feelings, situations and circumstances, allows the person to make informed and constructive choices that often lead to progressive change. This permits maturation and individuation to take place, which in turn, raises
self-esteem and confidence.
Apart from relieving stress, which is a common factor in most people’s lives and blight on the 21st century, journalling also permits inner freedom and autonomy through privacy and a sense of emotional seclusion, away from the often harsh reality of human existence.
This becomes more important and significant especially during extreme life situations such as bereavement, divorce and the loss of independence and individuality that comes with old age. As humans, we need to remind ourselves and give ourselves permission, to find positivity in all aspects of our existence.
Being positive in times of distress and great anxiety was the trade-mark of the young Jewish girl
Ann Frank, who lived during the Second World War in Amsterdam. She kept a running log of her daily life, her fears, anxieties plus hopes and dreams
During periods of extreme stress that is associated with the early days of grief and bereavement, reality becomes non-existent and the self is forced into a strange land of rhetoric, words of comfort and often misunderstood euphemisms along with overpowering emotions that can evoke feelings of panic and terror .
The spoken word cannot heal the brokenness and distress of those that are left behind and day to day living is often replaced by profound feelings of loss and sadness. These thoughts and feelings will eventually dissipate and weaken, but the loss of that person will never be recovered and it is
just a case of learning to live in a new and foreign life, without the loved one. By using journalling as an aid to inner healing, the writer is allowed to vent his or hers deepest emotions that will include, anger and overwhelming sadness often accompanied by guilt.
This is taken from Journey Through Grief.Com: ‘Grief journalling and all forms of writing have long been recognised as an important and helpful tool for healing.
In his book Waking the Tiger, Peter
Levine says that "[traumatic symptoms] stem from the frozen residue of energy that has not been resolved and discharged; this residue remains trapped in the nervous system and can wreak havoc on our bodies." (p. 19)
Grief work is very exacting and draining. (on a personal note, after losing my 18 year old son to cancer, some 22 years ago, it took me nearly 5 years to find some sort of peace of mind and this was aided firstly through my faith, but also through my written poetry that enabled me to work through crushing bouts of sadness, anger and guilt. I am a testimony to the fact that journalling, in my case, poetry, aided my emotional, mental and spiritual recovery, to where I am now in a position to help other people).
In David Hodgson’s book, Magic of Modern Metaphor, Walking with the Stars, the author quotes: ‘So, looking for the magic inside the familiar – Look for the positive inside ourselves and we will find it.’ In each journal there will be good indicators of the positive that we have consecrated to the
blank page. This positive is concrete and visible and acts as an invaluable tool in the quest for future change and self-actualisation, which must also include self-acceptance and the promise of growth and adaptation.