Found in Translation

Abstract

for Presentation for Turkey Conference, April 2010 A real shift from hate and competition to cooperation and acceptance can only occur if we help and are helped to acknowledge congested feelings and allegiances stored in what psychoanalyst Carl Jung called the “shadow”. The shadow refers to the compartments we create to store feelings which disgust or frighten us to the extent that we hide them, often on unconscious levels. There they fester and explode or more frequently are projected onto others designated in our minds as those we have the right to demonize. What isn’t known cannot be modulated and tamed, or used in creative expressions. For example, vulnerability is an emotional state often seen as a sign of failure, but it is actually a crucial human resource that can be a precursor to courage. In our rejection of many emotional and developmental needs, we create too narrow a picture of the human condition, making it impossible for us to understand what is outside our constricted comfort zones. A peace movement, to make a lasting difference, needs to recognize and include all the shades of human emotion, even those including hate and revenge. If only righteous and loving intentions are included in our framework, we will be amputating parts of ourselves and others. By connecting the personal and political through examples from my own psychotherapy practice, I will illustrate the concept of moving from hatred to dignifying the truth about the broad spectrum of human feeling.