Thursday September 13, 2012 – Instincts

Thursday September 13, 2012 – Instincts


I am sitting on the porch of the abandon house located next to my hill. It is raining and the roof over the porch offers the best and nearest cover. It is not the most pleasant place. Years of homeless taking their respite here and the smells of urine brought forth and amplified by the wet and humidity. But, at least it is dry.

Thunderstorms came through earlier today while a large number of us were standing in line to be fed lunch at a local restaurant which provides meals at 11 a.m. for the poor and homeless. It could have been worse, but we clung close to the wall and were able to keep anything we had essential dry by placing it between ourselves and the wall. And within a half hour were dry enough to go on about the days business. Well, it has been threatening rain all day, but only started to sprinkle as we stood in line at the Salvation Army. After the dinner meal I made my way to my hill and just kept an eye on the clouds. They seemed to be clearing to the south, the wind was from that direction, but it was beginning to thunder progressively more to the north. I sat and waited and eventually it started to sprinkle harder and I decided to move before I was caught and soaked. As I sat on the porch it did begin raining harder, though no thunderstorm. I sit there now, waiting, hoping it will subside and I can go make a phone call later tonight.

But as I sat (or sit), I began to wonder about our instinct to survive. Most modern day psychologists would tell us that we human beings are not “instinctual”. Instincts are a relic of our pre-human evolutionary past. The human being is now a conscious thinking animal.

C.G. Jung says that instincts are a part of our unconscious. Hidden away and virtually forgotten, and our conscious minds taught to disavow the existence of not only our instincts, but the unconscious itself.

I am no expert on the unconscious, but I am learning and I have realized there is a great deal more to and about the human psyche that we, if we are open and willing to explore it, can come to realize and integrate into a fuller human experience. Much of this I see as what Jesus Christ taught.

And I can’t help but wonder, living on the streets of Austin Texas, is this not a way to force me to learn to live on the long forgotten instincts and integrate them into my conscious mind?