Wayfinding

Activating the inner compass is one way to find our way through the mazeway of life. Activation can happen through meditation, writing, and the meaning-making process that directs our attention to serendipitous happenings and synchronicities. Stories and legends provide cartographies for navigating the lifecourse. They thicken the storyline, providing depth.
 
Ira Progoff PhD. was a fellow at Bolligen with Carl G. Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist. He developed depth psychology and the Intensive Journal Process. He invited participants to enter their inner sanctuary to connect with the steppingstones that mark the trail of their life, journaling to develop conscious awareness. He taught the importance of integrating symbols that could lead one to a holistic understanding that reveals transformational passageways towards wholeness.
 
This wayfinding is activated through autoethnographic practice when we engage with our story mandalas. As we weave the stories of our lives together with aesthetic intention, we beautify our story mandalas. This work is more than a pathway towards wholeness. It is a form of transformagram that moves us from life-o-grams to transformagrams, allowing us to fashion a better-formed story, through a transformed storyline.
 
Here is a thesis written by James P. Armstrong “The Holistic Depth Psychology of Ira Progoff,” about Progoff’s lifework. It presents a holistic perspective of depth psychology and its roots. Progoff directs us to explore the self-replenishing resources of the human spirit. In this creative space or inner cathedral, we are led to a place where wisdom is stored in the depths of our Self. In this inner homeplace we receive guidance. This referential backdrop sets the stage for understanding the generative promise of autoethnographic practice.
 
Autoethnography proposes a method of self-reliance in the spirit of Ralph Waldo Emmerson, connecting us to the Source. Autoethnography’s capacity to elicit interconnectedness, can be comprehended through mediatorship, a vessel of transportation and exploration. I will end with a famous quote from Emmerson “Life is a journey, not a destination.” My hope is that these explanations and resources will help you find your way.