The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, and the novelist Hermann Hesse (who was inspired by Jung), located the source of irritation with others within ourselves. They argued that when we become irritated by others, this can lead to self-understanding, namely, that the specific trait or behaviour that gets under our nerves exists within us. I have…
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In an earlier post on AA founder Bill Wilson, I dispelled the idea that he used a psychedelic to get sober (a claim made on the Netflix series How to Change Your Mind, and which has appeared elsewhere). Wilson was given a deliriant concoction (belladonna and henbane) to beat his addiction to alcohol. This occurred…
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I’ve previously written about the Stoic perspective on travel (see here and here), which includes the idea that our strong impulse to travel often comes from a desire to escape the self (which is doomed to fail). Our discontent about who we are can be refashioned, unconsciously, as discontent about where we are. We avoid…
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‘Inner healing intelligence’ is a term derived from Stan Grof that is frequently used in the context of MDMA- and psychedelic-assisted therapy. (The central idea behind the term certainly predates Grof, however.) The MAPS Manual for MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy in the Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (2015) – authored by Michael Mithoefer – places great importance…
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Over the past year, I’ve found it particularly difficult to land new freelance writing gigs. It’s been discouraging. I’ve experienced blips and quiet periods like this before, but work would eventually pick up, and I’d have regular assignments to do every week, from multiple clients. This ‘feast and famine’ cycle is common among freelancers of…
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