Aesthetic Space

Being Headless

During the past year my mother’s health has continued to decline—each time I see her she is weaker, more frail, and less able to attend to the daily tasks of living. She is still fighting, but it looks as if she’s losing the fight and it’s been intensely challenging to see her suffer. Part of the challenge has been that I think I know what would help her (I’d change her diet, get her off a lot of her medications, have her see some holistic practitioners in California, and so on.) To be so certain about what’s right, yet not be able to fix it, has been frustrating.

In Getting Messy I told the story of teaching a graduate-level course in a subject of which I was an expert. But in order to get to third space in this class, I had to take off the “expert” cap and simply be present and open. When I let go of my own opinions and ideas, third space was available and things went smoothly. When I stepped into being the “knower” I lost third space, and the group (it felt like the whole group) projected their anger onto me. In other words, when my stance was that of being the expert in the room, I found myself in a polarized situation—-me against the students.

Although I’ve never really taken to acting the role of “expert” when I teach (Getting Messy was all about how learning happens when people connect to their own voices), the experience I had with that class really cemented for me how important third space is in any teaching arena. We will not reach third space when there’s a strong polarity of any sort. I have a PhD in Education from the University of Chicago, have been teaching for years, have written a book about teaching and learning, and I still had to let go of everything I knew about teaching and learning and be “empty” in order to find third space with this class. In Getting Messy, I called it being headless. I wrote that if you can’t do your work when you’re headless, it’s probably not your right work.

At the time I wrote Getting Messy, my experiences with creating third space in group settings were fairly new and experimental, but since that time I have come across Adolg Guggenbuhl’s wonderful book Power in the Helping Professions, in which he discusses something very similar. Guggenbuhl, a Jungian psychiatrist, does not use the term “third space,” but he does detail how those in the helping profession create polarities with clients, students, the elderly, and so on when they take the role of “knower.” He calls the polarization a “split archetype.” In Guggenbuhl’s view, as soon as we know what’s best for our patient (or mother, father, student, friend, lover), we have split the archetype. One of us is all-knowing and all-powerful, and the other is ignorant, neurotic and powerless. In such a situation, no healing or creativity has the space to occur, because the interaction is now about the polarity. Emilie Conrad, the founder of a bodywork method called Continuum calls this model the dominator model: “I will do this to you.” The dominator model is prevalent in the healing professions and in educational settings.

But the dominator model can happen in any situation in which a power imbalance exists. Of course, we are all learners all the time in all kinds of ways. The doctors and nurses attending to my mother likely know much more than I do about her condition and what sort of treatment she needs. But at its best, the exchange between us is one of collegiality—we are “meeting as equals” as I discuss more fully in Getting Messy. When we meet as equals, the creative realm of third space has an opportunity to happen. The doctors and nurses are open to my comments and ideas, they’re not totally directing things.

Upcoming Course at Pacifica Graduate Institute

THE PURPOSE AND POWER OF IMAGE, COURSE SYLLABUS

In the case of every historic scientific discovery and invention that is researched carefully enough, we find that it was imagery, either in dreams or in a waking state, which produced the breakthrough.
~ John Curtis Gowan

Depth psychology has always maintained a close relationship with Image—the literal images which visit in our sleep, the fantasy images we flirt with while awake, the autonomous images that appear “out of nowhere,” the metaphorical images we have of ourselves and others—the psyche is always creating images. In turn, those images give shape to our psyche, an idea which archetypal psychologist James Hillman explores in his work. Hillman proposes that “at the soul’s core we are images,” and that life can be defined as “the actualization over time” of the images in our hearts and souls. Hillman goes even further by suggesting that our unique images are the essence of our life, and “calls [us] to a destiny.” Students will study the writings of James Hillman, Martin Foss, George Lakoff and others on Image and Metaphor in psychological and creative life, and meditate upon the core images meaningful to their lives and work.

1. Introductory Thoughts

Readings:
Arieti, “Imagery”
Boulding, “Chapter 1: Introduction”
Baron, “Visibility”
Cobb, “Echoes of an Imaginal Bell”
Highwater, “Image”

Discussion: Reflect on Cobb’s assertion that the image is “the way in which the heart perceives.” Given your previous coursework and experiences in your own life, in what ways does this statement appear to be true (or not true) for you? In what ways might the other authors agree or disagree with Cobb?

2. Image as a Way of Knowing

Readings: Gallegos, E.S., Animals of the Four Windows

Discussion: Do you agree with Gallegos’ definition of Jung’s four modes of consciousness? Why or why not? How has image shown up for you in your own life – both your personal life and your work life? In what ways can this material from Gallegos enhance your practice?

3. Metaphor

Readings: Lakoff & Johnson, Metaphors We Live By

Discussion: Reflect on how your cultural upbringing and access to the natural world may have influenced the metaphors that you currently hold. Bob Samples, who we will read later, says that the natural world is the most important source of metaphor. Did you grow up in the city or the country? What metaphors do you hold from your childhood experiences of city life or country life? Alternatively, what culture did you grow up in? If you did not grow up in the United States, share how your metaphoric lenses are different from people who grew up in this culture. If you did grow up in the United States, share any unique metaphors from your cultural upbringing.

4. Image and Depth Psychology

Readings:
Sells, pp. 1-8, 112-117, 170-185
Avens, “James Hillman: Toward a Poetic Psychology”
Hockley, “Introduction” and “Cinema as Illusion and Reality”
Bachelard, “Introduction”
Greene, “The Self as Alien: Anima as Heroine”
http://metamercury.net/Mythological%20Studies/article/mgalien.html

Discussion: Depth psychology has sometimes been criticized for its emphasis on image. Can you think of ways in which the emphasis on image is (or has been) problematic for human development? Can you think of how image has been used to control, hurt or marginalize others? What thoughts do you have about this?

5. Metaphoric Process

Readings:
Foss, “Poetry and Drama”
Romanyshyn, “Metaphors of Experience and Experience as Metaphorical”
Metzner, “Introduction: From Caterpillar to Butterfly”

Discussion: In many ways, there is a paucity of understanding about change and how change happens in our society. Do the writings of Foss, Romanyshyn and Metzner give you a better understanding of change? If so, how? If not, why not? In addition, what else stood out for you in these readings?

6. Primary Images

Readings:
Corbin, “Theophanic Imagination and the Creativity of the Heart”
Hillman, “In a Nutshell: The Acorn Theory and the Redemption of Psychology”
Kunitz, “From Feathers to Iron”
Plotkin, “Living as if Your Place in the World Mattered”

Discussion: What do you think of the likelihood of the key images that Kunitz, Hillman and Plotkin write about? Have you experienced this in your own life or in the lives of others? Regarding the chapter from Corbin, have you ever experienced a vision? In what ways do key images and visions provide independence and self-assertion, freeing one from passively accepting external demands or restrictions? Can you give any examples from your own life or the lives of those you know?

7. Image and Artmaking

Readings: Moon, Art and Soul

Discussion: What stood out for you in Moon’s book? Is there anything in his discussion of art therapy that impacts your current or future work? Is there anything that has ramifications for how you live your life or make sense of your world? Highlight something from the book that you found important, stirring, troubling, or inspiring.

8. Residential

Topics include:
- Image as ground – the way in which we see
- Image as the language of third space – playing with oppositions
- Dialoguing with key images
- The image as a way of thinking about something
- Images as animate subjects, inviting reciprocity

9. Image and Social Change

Readings:
Berger, “Chapter 1”
Samples, “Sources of Metaphor”
Schon, “Generative Metaphor: A Perspective on Problem-Setting in Social Policy” ”
Shlain, “Image/Word” ”

Discussion: Reflect on image/metaphor and cultural change.

REQUIRED READINGS
Arieti, S. (1976). Creativity: The magic synthesis. New York: Basic Books.
Avens, R. (1980). James Hillman: Toward a Poetic Psychology. Journal of Religion and Health, 19(3), Fall 1980.
Bachelard, G. (1964). The poetics of space. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Barron, F., Montuori, A. & Barron, A. (eds.) Creators on creating. New York, NY: Jeremy P. Tarcher.
Berger, J. (1973). Ways of seeing. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam Inc.
Boulding, K.E. (1956). The image: Knowledge in life and society. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
Cobb, N. (1992). Archetypal imagination: Glimpses of the gods in life and art. Hudson, NY: Lindisfarne Press.
Corbin, H. (1969). Creative imagination and the Sufism of Ibn Arabi. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. [*note: a later edition of this book is titled Alone with the alone.]
Foss, M. (1949). Symbol and metaphor in human experience. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Gallegos, E. S. (1991). Animals of the four windows. Sante Fe, NM: Moon Bear Press.
Highwater, J. (1981). The primal mind: Vision and reality in Indian America. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
Hillman, J. (1996). The soul’s code: In search of character and calling. New York: Random House.
Hockley, L. (2007). Frames of mind: A post-Jungian look at cinema, television and technology. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Kunitz, S. (1986). From feathers to iron. In Next-to-last things: New poems and essays. Boston: Atlantic Monthly Press.
Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
McNiff, S. (2004). Art heals: How creativity cures the soul. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications.
Metzner, R. (1998). The unfolding self. Novato, CA: Origin Press.
Moon, B. (2004). http://www.amazon.com/Art-Soul-Reflections-Artistic-Psychology/dp/0398075247/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1314594197&sr=1-1. Chicago, IL: Charles C. Thomas Pub Ltd.
Plotkin, B. (2003). Soulcraft: Crossing into the mysteries of nature and psyche. Novato, CA: New World Library.
Romanyshyn, R. (1981). Metaphors of experience and experience as metaphorical [Chap. 1]. In Valle, R.S. & von Eckartsberg, R. (eds.) The metaphors of consciousnesss. New York, NY: Plenum Press.
Samples, B. (1976). The metaphoric mind. Torrance, CA: Jalmar Press.
Schon, D.A. (1993). Generative metaphor: A perspective on problem-setting in social policy [Chap. 4]. In Ortony, A. (ed.) Metaphor and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sells, B. (ed.) (2000). Working with images: The theoretical base of archetypal psychology. Woodstock, CN: Spring Publications.
Shlain, L. (1998). The alphabet versus the goddess: The conflict between word and image. New York, NY: Penguin Putnam.

Teaching as Creative Process

The creative process is how we engage with life, and all of us engage with life in a variety of ways. Teaching has been my creative passion because it seems to me to be the ultimate “meeting of life.” When we work with a new group, we have no idea who is going to show up or what challenges (or gifts) lie before us. Jacob Needleman, one of my favorite authors, says that a sense of meaning is more important than anything else in life. Without meaning, we are in despair. He writes, “We’re built to serve something greater than ourselves.”

Getting Messy is a book about the beauty and richness of teaching. Here’s an excerpt from the Conclusion:

A friend who loves metaphors asked me what metaphor came to my mind for this book. My subconscious mind immediately gave me a very clear image, but I didn’t want to share it, because my image was the mushroom cloud after the atomic bomb was dropped. (That certainly was messy.)

My subconscious had been influenced by a play I saw recently about the science that led up to the bomb. What I remember from watching the play is that two different substances collide which results in the splitting of atoms, and the splitting of atoms creates an enormous amount of energy. Finding myself curious, I looked it up on wikipedia.org:

“In 1898, French physicist Pierre Curie and his Polish wife Maria Sklodowska-Curie had discovered that present in pitchblende, an ore of uranium, was a substance which emitted large amounts of radioactivity, which they named radium. This raised the hopes of both scientists and lay people that the elements around us could contain tremendous amounts of unseen energy, waiting to be tapped.”

There is something about the line “containing tremendous amounts of unseen energy, waiting to be tapped” that has to do with why this particular image came up for me. Getting Messy is about learning, creativity, imagination, and traversing into unknown space. It presents a higher vision of teaching and learning, a vision that bridges two well-established polarities: learner-expert and learning process- creative process. When we bridge these polarities, we create third space—imaginal space. Like the radium discovered by Pierre and Maria Curie, imaginal space is already present in our everyday lives. It is unseen energy waiting to be tapped. I believe it’s time for us to tap it.

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Note: The quilt at the top of this post was made by Essie Bendolph Pettway. See more Gee's Bend quilts at http://www.auburn.edu/academic/other/geesbend/explore/catalog/slideshow/index.htm

Getting Messy Facebook Page!

Please check out my new facebook page for Getting Messy:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Getting-Messy-Taking-Risks-and-Opening-the-Imagination/201587503232115

Hope you're all having a wonderful summer. I just finished reading Adolf Guggenbuhl's book, Power in the helping professions. My favorite quote was written by John Haule in the preface:

“As soon as we know ‘what’s best’ for our patient or student—we have in Guggenbuhl’s language ‘split the archetype.’ One of us is all-knowing and all-powerful, and the other is ignorant, neurotic and powerless.”