On The Rocks
Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, said that “Synchronicity is an ever present reality for those who have eyes to see. …”. What he is alluding to is that things happen for a reason; what appears to us on the surface to be a coincidence actually has deeper meaning. Or to put it another way life is a reflection of something deeper which we do not yet fully understand in our own consciousness. I am sure you have had many instances of things happening in your life in an oddly coincidental way. You think of someone and 5 minutes later they call you, or you wonder what happened to a friend from school only to meet them later that week in the supermarket. You will have your own examples and I have several very startling examples that I could share with you too. But instead let’s just have a look at one that has been in the news recently.
On Friday the 13th of January the Costa Concordia cruise liner was holed below the water and was then run aground. Most of the 4,300 passengers and crew were rescued but over 30 people have been confirmed as dead or are missing. The ship still lies on its side off the coast of the island of Giglio near Italy. A huge metallic symbol of what exactly?
The Concordia was launched in September 2005 and its name was chosen to suggest “continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations”. Each of the thirteen decks of the ship was named after one of the principal counties of the European Union. When the ship was launched the champagne bottle failed to break, never a great sign at a ship launch. Interesting enough it also suffered bow damage in the autumn of 2008.
One of the things that we teach on our training is about the use and construction of metaphors. Metaphors are nice tools to convey messages to people; messages which bypass the conscious mind and get understood by the unconscious. The language of the unconscious mind is symbolism so the message is delivered in a non-direct manner, and is understood by the recipient in the way that it affects them personally.
So let’s stand back for a moment and enjoy the beauty of this metaphor that is being offered to us. In fact I think it’s so obvious that it is very strange that more people aren’t making the connection yet. The ship of the European Union, formed in inauspicious circumstances, damaged in autumn 2008 is fatally holed beneath the waterline and crashes in full view of the world in a catastrophic manner. The leader is apparently quick to abandon ship and the people have to help themselves to safety.
Well let’s hope that this is just a coincidence, let’s hope that this is not a metaphor about the unfolding financial crisis and let’s hope that our leaders don’t abandon us to fend for ourselves. However, even if it is a metaphor remember that it also laid out a canvas for real heroes thus highlighting the indomitable sprit of humanity, and although it is very sad for the families of those who died, almost everyone did survive.
“They survived by helping each other and by pulling together, if you want the enduring metaphor let it be that”
Written by Ewan Mochrie