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| TRANSITION |
| Sometimes life |
| There are the baby - toddler - school child stages. In some tribes all children stay with the women until age seven. |
| The onset of the senior years is usually marked in the west by retirement. At one time, this was the final connection in the chain. As people live longer, more links have been added. People travel, write, begin "second" careers. Inevitably, however, the final link is added and the last transition comes. Jung viewed this as a time for introspection and preparation for death. |
| ABUSE
ANXIETY CHILDREN COUNSELING DEPRESSION DREAMS FAMILY HYPNOSIS INDIVIDUAL PARTNERS SENIORS TALK THERAPY TESTING TRANSITION WAR |
| © Margaret L. Cunningham, PhD 2002 |
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| Dr.Maggie |
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| At other times, life |
| Worse, life may feel like |
| flows smoothly like a great river. |
| resembles white water rapids. |
| a fragile raft rushing out of control from one jagged rock to another. |
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| Some cultures celebrate these times of transition. |
| The transition periods in your life are where the links overlap. |
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| Think of your life as an interlinking chain. |
| Each link is important; each connection is important. |
| Western cultures acknowledge the end of school - secondary or college - with graduation ceremonies. |
| Carl Jung found a common theme in myths and folk tales that addressed this transition age. Many myths of adventure, dragon slaying, rescuing the maiden, etc. are stories of this coming of age. That is the time people go out into the world to conquer, to make their mark. People marry and bear children. |
| The sexes are then separated; boys hunt and interact with the men while girls learn roles of women in society. |
| The beginning of adolescence may be recognized symbolically e.g. with a bar mitzvah or other symbols of attaining the age of choice. |
| The next major link in the chain is that of mid-life. This is a time when people look inward. They review their lives. |
| Carl Jung wrote that most problems of mid-life are of a spiritual nature. The internal exploration can indeed be a spiritual quest. This is frequently accompanied by vivid dreams. Understanding these dreams can help the person find the correct path through the maze of this transition period. |
| Often this corresponds with external changes: children leave home, people change careers. Some feel as though their world has been turned upside down. |