As explained in Part 1, the deep recognition of yourself as a dual being, a conscious ego accompanied by a constant alien companion in the form of your unconscious mind or personal genius, is necessary but not sufficient. Once you’ve begun to grasp the reality of the situation, you’ll need to start learning the highly distinctive and idiosyncratic personality of your inner companion in order to activate that knowledge and make it more than just an idle insight.
After all, you’re living in a permanent inner partnership with a being that you can only glimpse indirectly, and whose existence you are free to take as a metaphor, a literal reality, or some combination thereof. Getting familiar with its ways is crucial for success in life and art. What follows is equally applicable to both.
The third technique: examine your life and self
The two techniques described in Part One — practicing morning writing and composing a dialogue between your ego and unconscious mind, and analyzing the specific character traits that are revealed about your unconscious — are aimed at engaging your genius directly and trying to channel its “voice” onto paper. By contrast, the one to be described here consists of several parts and counsels you to search for clues about your deep nature by reflecting on the overall outline of your life and personal character. Read the rest of this entry »
