Nowadays more and more people, especially those who live in large cities, suffer from a terrible emptiness and boredom, as if they were waiting for something that never arrives. Movies and television, spectator sports and political excitements may divert them for a while, but again and again, exhausted and disenchanted, they have to return to the wasteland of their own lives.
There are two main reasons why man loses contact with the regulating center of his soul. One of them is that some single instinctive drive or emotional image can carry him into a one- sidedness that makes him lose his balance. This also happens to animals; for example, a sexually excited stag will completely forget hunger and security. This one-sided ness and consequent loss of balance are much dreaded by primitives, who call it “loss of soul.” Another threat to the inner balance comes from excessive daydreaming, which in a secret way usually circles around particular complexes. In fact, daydreams arise just because they connect a man with his com- plexes; at the same time they threaten the concentration and continuity of his consciousness.
The second obstacle is exactly the opposite, and is due to an over-consolidation of ego-consciousness. Although a disciplined conscious-ness is necessary for the performance of civilized activities (we know what happens if a railway signalman lapses into daydreaming), it has the serious disadvantage that it is apt to block the reception of impulses and messages coming from the center. This is why so many dreams of civilized people are concerned with restoring this receptivity by attempting to correct the attitude of consciousness toward the unconscious center or Self.
Today the enormous growth of population, especially obvious in large cities, inevitably has a depressing effect on us. We think, “Oh, well, I am only so-and-so living at such-and-such an address, like thousands of other people. If a few of them get killed, what difference can it make? There are far too many people in any case.” And when we read in the paper about the deaths of innumerable unknown people who personally mean nothing to us, the feeling that our lives count for nothing is further increased. This is the moment when attention to the un- conscious brings the greatest help, for dreams show the dreamer how each detail of his life is interwoven with the most significant realities.
What we all know theoretically —that every thing depends on the individual — becomes through dreams a palpable fact that everyone can experience for himself. Sometimes we have a strong feeling that the Great Man wants something from us and has set us very special tasks. Our response to this experience can help us to acquire the strength to swim against the stream of collective prejudice by taking our own soul seriously into account.
