The gift of an image is that it provides a place to watch your so... by James Hillman

The gift of an image is that it provides a place to watch your soul.

James Hillman

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Categorized in : Watches Soul Rewards

We approach people the same way we approach our cars. We take the poor kid to a doctor and ask, "What's wrong with him, how much will it cost, and when can I pick him up?"

doctors kids children

It is impossible to see the angel unless you first have a notion... by James Hillman

It is impossible to see the angel unless you first have a notion of it.

angel letting-go firsts

Art, for example, becomes "art therapy." When patients make music, it becomes "music therapy." When the arts are used for "therapy" in this way, they are degraded to a secondary position.

example way art

I think there is such a thing as a bad seed that comes to flower in certain people. The danger with that theory is that we begin to look for those "troublemakers" early on and try to weed them out. That's very dangerous, because it could work against kids who are just routine troublemakers.

weed flower kids

Depression opens the door to beauty of some kind. by James Hillman

Depression opens the door to beauty of some kind.

kind depression doors

You are born with a character; it is given, a gift, as the old stories say, from the guardians upon your birth...Each person enters the world called.

stories character world

Each person enters the world "called," like an oak tree, to fulfi... by James Hillman

Each person enters the world "called," like an oak tree, to fulfill their soul’s agenda.

Pathology is not a problem to be solved, but the soul's way of wo... by James Hillman

Pathology is not a problem to be solved, but the soul's way of working on itself.

problem soul way

How can Hitler, or some other murderer, appear in this world? I don't think any single theory can account for the phenomenon, and I think it's a mistake to try to reduce it to being brutalized by your parents or having grown up in some horrible situation - like Charles Manson.

parent mistake thinking

Without time for loss you don't have time for soul. by James Hillman

Without time for loss you don't have time for soul.

We forget that the soul has its own ancestors. by James Hillman

We forget that the soul has its own ancestors.

ancestor soul forget

I'm not critical of the people who do psychotherapy. The therapists in the trenches have to face an awful lot of the social, political, and economic failures of capitalism. They have to take care of all the rejects and failures. They are sincere and work hard with very little credit, and the HMOs and the pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies are trying to wipe them out. So certainly I am not attacking them. I am attacking the theories of psychotherapy.

political hard-work people

I think the worst atmosphere for a six-year-old is one in which there are no expectations whatsoever. That is, it's worse for the child to grow up in a vacuum where "whatever you do is alright, I'm sure you'll succeed." That is a statement of disinterest. It says, "I really have no fantasies for you at all."

growing-up children thinking

The culture is going into a psychological depression. We are concerned about our place in the world, about being competitive: Will my children have as much as I have? Will I ever own my own home? How can I pay for a new car? Are immigrants taking away my white world?

white home children

I tend to think that you fulfill your own destiny, whether you re... by James Hillman

I tend to think that you fulfill your own destiny, whether you realize it or not.

realizing destiny thinking

Beauty has never been an important topic in the writings of the major psychologists. In fact, for Jung, aesthetics is a weak, early stage of development. He follows the Germanic view that ethics is more important than aesthetics, and he draws a stark contrast between the two. Freud may have written about literature a bit, but an aesthetic sensitivity is not part of his psychology.

views writing two

From my perspective as a depth psychologist, I see that those who have a connection with story are in better shape and have better prognosis than those to whom story must be introduced.

connections perspective depth

Calling can refer not only to ways of doing - meaning work - but... by James Hillman

Calling can refer not only to ways of doing - meaning work - but also to ways of being.

The idea of death robs inquiry of its passionate vitality and empties our efforts of their purpose by coming to one predestined conclusion, death. Why inquire if you already know the answer?

effort death ideas

In the past, friendship was a huge thing. But it's hard for us to think of friendship as a calling, because it's not a vocation.

calling past thinking