Who is Writing Your as Yet Uncompleted Biography?

“Something wakes you at three in the morning—a forgotten face reappears in a dream, a familiar apprehension stirs slumber, some ache agitates the soul. Or, driving on the expressway, hurrying home, a moment long ago leaks through psyche’s floorboard into consciousness, and you wonder why it came to the surface just now, in this quiet different place. You see your child, or grandchild, and recall a moment like that, and wonder where it all got lost, and how it all led to this place you are now obliged to call your life. You wonder how you became the person you think you are. How is it that you married the person you married? How is that familiar doubts, self-sabotaging behaviors, predictable outcomes still govern your choices? Who is writing your as yet uncompleted biography—you, someone else, or unnamed sinister agencies? Just how is it that you got to this place, so different from the beginning of the journey, and how do you get back to where you lost your track amid the blizzard of necessary choices?”

From What Matters Most: Living a More Considered Life, by James Hollis, PhD

Spirituality & Practice reviewers, Frederick and Mary Ann Brussat, have called this “a thorough book,” and say it is filled with “insights on learning to tolerate ambiguity, feeding the soul, respecting the power of Eros, stepping into largeness, risking growth over security,” and much more.

Hollis is a Jungian Analyst, professor, and much published author. I love his writing style. His brilliance sometimes gets in the way of his very useful counsel. But he is still one of my favorite writers on how to confront our sometimes phony lives and learn to be ourselves with fierce courage, honesty, delight and meaning.

If you are struggling with any secret personal issues this book will knock you off your feet and then help lift you back up into possible healthy solutions.