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Summary
Summary
What does it really mean to be a grown up in today's world?
We assume that once we "get it together" with the right job, marry the right person, have children, and buy a home, all is settled and well. But adulthood presents varying levels of growth, and is rarely the respite of stability we expected. Turbulent emotional shifts can take place anywhere between the age of thirty-five and seventy when we question the choices we've made, realize our limitations, and feel stuck--commonly known as the "midlife crisis." Jungian psycho-analyst James Hollis believes it is only in the second half of life that we can truly come to know who we are and thus create a life that has meaning.
In Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life , Hollis explores the ways we can grow and evolve to fully become ourselves when the traditional roles of adulthood aren't quite working for us, revealing a new way of uncovering and embracing our authentic selves. Offering wisdom to anyone facing a career that no longer seems fulfilling, a long-term relationship that has shifted, or family transitions that raise issues of aging and mortality, Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life provides a reassuring message and a crucial bridge across this critical passage of adult development.
Author Notes
James Hollis is a noted Jungian Analyst. He received his Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, and is the Director of the C.G. Jung Educational Center in Houston, Tex. He is a frequent guest speaker who spends winters in analytic practice and writes during the summers.
Hollis's books include The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning in Midlife and Swamplands of the Soul: New Life in Dismal Places. In his books, he elaborates on the theories of C. G. Jung. Contemplated are such questions as how people may deal with the passage through midlife, creating a richer experience. He also shows readers how to overcome the hardships and struggles of life and how to live every day to the fullest.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
The midlife crisis is familiar enough, but as in previous works, Hollis (The Middle Passage: From Misery to Meaning at Midlife), brings a Jungian perspective to it that goes deeper than the idea of finding mere self-fulfillment. That feeling that you've been living the wrong life, that you're lost and confused, is "an insurgency of the soul," he says poetically, which "overthrows the conscious conduct of our lives." This mental suffering presents an opportunity to embark on a journey transcending expectations foisted on us by others, such as parents, and to find true self-knowledge. Hollis offers not a simple how-to on facing this crisis, but rather a deep Jungian exploration of individuation, the process of becoming the person one was meant to be. Sprinkling his discussion with references to prose, drama, poetry and popular culture as well as examples from patient histories, Hollis recommends working toward a mature spirituality by being true to personal experience and embracing the mystery of life. This spirituality is a reconnection to the voice of the soul, dramatized by images that appear to us in dreams. Hollis is humane and compassionate regarding the human condition, and his focus on the underlying meaning of life will resonate for many, though they may not respond to his somewhat mystical, god-laden language. (May 1) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Library Journal Review
Whose life have I been living? Where does my spirit want to go? Hollis, a Jungian analyst and best-selling author (The Middle Passage), capably probes these questions, arguing for the need to take responsibility for our spiritual maturity as we approach midlife. If we are lucky, the author finds, a spark ignites us, and a sacred realization emerges that we have drifted from our own true nature and inner path. Miraculously, at this point, the ego can be harvested to do the work of honoring our being rather than holding us back. Discussed here is how the psyche works in relation to existential trauma, love, career, grief and loss, guilt, depression, anxiety, and loneliness as well as family of origin issues. Use of the term the Self throughout may cause slight confusion because the word usually refers to the ego and not the soul, but this is a small matter. Recommended for psychology/spirituality collections of larger public and academic libraries.-Lisa Liquori, MLS, Syracuse, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.