Midlife Crisis is Your Call: BECOME YOURSELF!

Quick Overview

The call to 'BECOME YOURSELF' signifies the necessary transition from fulfilling collective societal roles to embracing one's unique, often burdensome, individual destiny, symbolized by the ancient dream of Gilgamesh where a heavy star falls upon him, representing the immortal soul and the necessity to carry the load of self-realization.

Key Points: After age 35 or 40, adaptation shifts from external goals (love life, ambition) toward finding one's own meaning of life, a need now urgent even for young people crushed by mass-mindedness. Society's zeitgeist functions as a 'machine that mass-produces not individuals but costumes that serve their self-propagation,' leading people to feel superfluous and replaceable. The ancient dream of Gilgamesh, where a star falls on him, symbolizes the moment the 'unique destiny befalls him,' forcing him to carry the burden of becoming the unique individual he avoided by pursuing collective power. The star represents the immortal soul, the 'eternal kernel of the human psyche,' and the people kissing its feet teaches Gilgamesh not to take honor for himself, as they worship that star, his heaviest load. The unconscious uses dreams to point out the unique meaning of an individual's life, contrasting with detrimental statistical thinking where 'reality consists of enormous amount of unique beings.' Ignoring the soul's call, manifested as restlessness, anxiety, or depression, results in life becoming thin, empty, and miserable because the individual feels like a function rather than a human being. The Self arrives not as comfort but as a necessity, demanding a conscious relationship with the source of meaning belonging to one's deep nature, an individual path that requires patience and courage.

Context: This transcript explores the psychological crisis often associated with midlife (after 35 or 40), though it notes this urgency is now common in youth, focusing on the conflict between societal expectations and the soul's call for individuation. The discussion centers on interpreting the ancient dream of Gilgamesh, where a star falls upon him, as a universal metaphor for the moment an individual must abandon collective roles to pursue their unique, often difficult, intrinsic destiny.