Posted on Fri, May. 30, 2003
Complexity in simpler terms
By Steve Snow
Special to The Observer
SACRED SELFISHNESS:
A Guide to Living a Life of Substance
353 pages. $24.95
Sometimes a topic rings true, but is so forbiddingly presented it scares us off. Such are the philosophy and psychological theories of Carl Jung. Jung, the founder of analytical psychology, was a titanic thinker and insightful synthesizer, but his ideas have been largely inaccessible, hidden behind a smokescreen of complex concepts and arcane jargon.
However, like a fan blowing across a smoky room, Asheville analyst Bud Harris clears away a good deal of that complexity in "Sacred Selfishness."
Harris, who has a doctorate in counseling psychology, is a Jungian analyst. You will not read much Jungian jargon here or struggle with deep discussions of archetypes, animas and the collective unconscious. Instead, he presents a lucid, almost chatty, exploration -- augmented by examples from his practice -- of what it means to want, seek and find wholeness in living. When Harris does present Jungian concepts directly, he explains them with care, as if he were opening delicate gifts.
Harris makes an important distinction between "sick" selfishness (perhaps best defined by endless acquisitiveness) and "sacred" selfishness, or loving ourselves enough to seek substance, rather than merely abundance, in our lives.
Harris offers a meaty alternative to the sugar-coated "you-can-have-it-all" paperbacks, with a book that, while easy to read, is packed with, well, substance. Especially noteworthy are his focuses on the feeling, experiencing and spiritual aspects of inner growth.
This isn't Harris' first literary outing: He and his wife, Massimilla, also a Jungian analyst, have written several books. Additional information is available on his Web site, www.budharris.com.
Harris has been a Jungian analyst for 30 years, and his comfort with his subject is obvious. The depth and thoroughness of his knowledge is what makes it possible for him to write so simply and directly. He also shows his own connection to the book's focus: He became an analyst after a successful business career he says left him "empty."
One of Jung's great wishes was that someone would take his ideas and put them into a form that was more understandable to the rest of us. If, as you read the book, you hear a clapping sound, it is Jung, applauding his disciple and "translator." Harris has done a wonderful job.
Steve Snow, a former arts editor at The Observer, is a doctoral student in the counseling program at UNC Charlotte.
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