Narrative Responsibility

Shadow work often creates a sense of displacement inside the self, while the egoic identify dissolves and re-forms. How do we lean into this instead of resisting it? Are there any tools you can carry with you on an expedition to Mordor, to make the journey less distressing? Are there ways to nourish yourself even when you are deep in your Shadow? Can you, like Sam Gamgee, pack some metaphorical pots into your backpack and stare Sauron in the eye while you eat some stew?

The Shadow...is that like Mordor, or something? Let's see, all the best monsters, the painful searing truth revealed by an all-seeing gaze, and a volcano hot enough to melt your most precious pretensions?...yeah, basically. Don't forget to bring your Sam!

A sneaky bonus episode to conclude the discussion of correspondences between the MTBI system, Jungian cognitive functions, and my growth alignments chart! What happens when you have a "split personality" where your favorite psychological lens fits into one style of growth, but your second-favorite fits into another? Or when you have a personality type made of a dominant and/or auxiliary function that can shift between two growth styles? Or when your personal energy reflects a method of growth that your functions might not match? 

In which we continue our comparison of MTBI type preferences and RPG growth alignments! Today, in Part II, we explore the Jungian cognitive functions for Judging: Fi (introverted Feeling), Fe (extroverted Feeling), Ti (introverted Thinking), and Te (extroverted Thinking). Interestingly, this aspect of type yielded a different spread in our categories of Controlling, Envisioning, and Emerging approaches to growth. Any theories why? 

Let's expand our understanding of the MTBI system AND our RPG style growth alignments chart by looking for the correlations between them! There will be two episodes on this topic. Today, in Part I, we explore the Jungian cognitive functions for Perceiving: Si (introverted Sensing), Se (extroverted Sensing), Ni (introverted iNtuiting), and Ne (extroverted iNtuiting). Any guesses where they fall on the growth alignment chart? 

A personal account of growing up as "the odd one out" in my family and culture, looked at through the lens of emotional belief interpretation and then through the lens of MBTI preferences. Complete with feelings and poetry! 

One of my very favorite "narratives," if you will, is the MBTI/Jungian personality type system. It is a cornerstone of my understanding of the human mind and a really helpful roadmap for our unfolding development. Take a dive with me into the basics of the system! 

Perspective shifts are basically the awesome cousin of ego deaths that you actually want to invite to the party. What exactly are they, why are they such catalyzers for change, and how do get more of them?

Conundrum: how do you solve a problem, when that problem is defined as outside the bounds of the possible and is therefore innately unsolvable? Do you need to venture beyond the boundaries of Euclidean space-time? Or just re-think your assumptions about the (im)possible?

Now that we've learned the framework of Attachment Styles, let's apply it! RPG character class usually correlates to what we think of culturally as "personality traits" - are you funny, charming, shy, etc.? - and attachment styles actually have quite a big influence on the traits we express with others. Where do you get to boost your scores? ...and what do you have to lose to compensate?