Order, From Disorder

"Under all disorder there is an underlying order."

The author thinks this is an interesting quote from psychiatrist and psychotherapist Carl Jung.

It is interesting because the word "disorder" seems to imply that things are "haphazard", so to speak. What Dr. Jung seems to implying in this quotation is that things make sense if you look at the disorder at a deeper level (underlying order).

The Collective Unconscious

To get more meaning out of your life one thing to look at is the symmetry of the human body in regard to emotion. In this sense symmetry does not mean that one side of something is exactly the same or the same size at the other side. It means that an overabundance of one emotion can imply a cause is actually the "opposite" emotion. In a sense it takes disorder (overabundance of one emotion) and rationalizes it with order (balance), which is usually done in a subconscious manner. Dr. Jung referred to this as The Collective Unconscious (The Third section).

According to this article, in the collective unconscious Jung saw images—which he called archetypes—that were, he claimed, related to personal, cultural, and spiritual growth. In fact, Jung’s followers have made a sort of pseudo-religion out of unconscious functioning.

It mentioned spiritual growth. According to Dr. Jung beneath the surface of outward human actions lie archetypes. This is a general term for how the mind works, but in this post the focus is on human emotions. Emotions are an essential part of everyday human life, physically and mentally. It could be reasoned that these archetypes help take the disorder and change it to the order, as in his quote.

The process of trying to understand this unconscious reasoning (archetypes) can help add meaning to daily life and bring order from disorder. One could ask how Webster's dictionary defines archetype in a modern sense. One definition of archetype in Webster's dictionary is:

"The original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies."

In the realm of human emotions the unconscious mind has a pattern deep down, according to this definition. The mind works subconsciously in a way that is not always obvious externally.

Determining the order is another matter. What are some possible examples of this pattern? The following examples are inferred from psychology and are basically speculation by the author. These include the symptom (disorder) and a possible cause (Order).

1. Laughter - pain

2. Raised voice - fear

3. Happiness - previous trial

4. Too quiet - something bothering the person

5. Substance abuse - boredom of a person with unused talent

Of course the levels of these things differ between people.

It shows, however, that things can be very different externally and internally. The implication in this post is that even if your life seems :out of order" externally there lies some pattern internally. Trying to find how this pattern works can add meaning to your life.

How does this add meaning to life? Even though things might seem "out of order" on the surface, there might be an order underneath if you look for it. In the realm of Christianity following God's word is the underlying order.

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