"And we all need to do the same, because from that honesty, everything else follows: the boundaries that need to be set; the things that need to be said; the actions to be taken; and the version of self that will eventually come to light. The animus doesn’t arrive before the courage — it arrives *as* the courage." I love this...over and over again, I find that honesty with myself is the key to freedom in every way possible. Thank you, Hazel for this wonderful piece and for introducing me to a series I didn't know before.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I 1000% agree about self-honesty and freedom 🤍
I also can’t believe you’ve escaped the SJM madness of late. ACOTAR is romantasy, so defo not everyone’s cup of tea. I actually didn’t think I’d read on after book 1 but persisted on a trusted recommendation and am so glad I did as the stories she writes are epic, and the world building is phenomenal. The “smut” is an added bonus 😂
indeed, self-honesty. It occured to me today that this is the answer to the final question you posed in "how not to become your ideal self". I love how that landed for me...I'd also add self-compassion and self-trust; thank you for being the curator of these maps within the human consciousness. Also I'm really glad you went for this series and found such profound inspiration from it! things always look different after we go deeper.
That’s so true. I was expecting backlash for a romantasy analysis, and I have certainly had some, but the people judging it most harshly have not read more than a few pages as far as I can tell. That’s unfair on the author, for a start, and screams of learned prejudice.
This was such an eloquent piece. Thank you for putting so much of your energy and effort into all that you do.
Your writing makes me wonder. Do writers know about myths, psychology, Jung, shadows and incorporate it consciously? Is it based on structure of other stories they spent their whole lives reading?
Or does it come through unconsciously through thousands of years of collective storytelling?
The more I dive deeper into my own shadows and unconscious, the more I see the motifs in every story, movie, book worth its weight.
A bit of both, almost certainly. There are writers of hugely archetypal stories who are/were strongly against psychological interpretations (like Tolkien). Presumably, archetypal content in stories like LotR is unconsciously incorporated. SJM, I have never heard speak about psychology or Jungian archetypes, but as so, so many of her characters walk recognised story arcs and share the names of their mythical/folkloric doubles (Tam Lin, Cerridwen, Koschei and Vassa/Vasilisa, just to name a handful), she is clearly consciously incorporating established stories into her work. It’s something I love, actually — mythical Easter eggs!
Yes, precisely. It's such a deep underlying principle in life, I even feel storytelling aspects in my own life and journeys that I go through. I didn't consciously put them there, they are just there (or so I hope).
We're just little people on a board, embodying stories and archetypes without us fully recognizing it. Whether you like it or not, it's going to show up in your writing.
What an incredible deep dive into this world. Never in a million years while reading it would I have been able to draw the parallels you've drawn here, yet now that it's laid out so clearly, it makes so much sense. It's almost frightening how easy it is to compare moments in the archetype's journey to moments experienced in real life, and thus understand why this series has such a draw as it does. I'm very much looking forward now to re-reading the series again before the new books come out and keeping all of this in mind.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I should be clear that these ideas take a while for me to arrive at, too. The first time I read ACOTAR, I wasn’t thinking along these lines at all. I started rereading the books ahead of ACOTAR 6 and 7 and, with the extra brain space afforded by a reread, found that the possibilities for analysis were endless. I actually planned a five-part ACOTAR series, but thought I should stick to one for the time being.
I’m currently rereading Throne of Glass ahead of the new releases and have done Crescent City, too. The Maasverse connections are just constant. It’s been blowing my mind that she’s had all of this in mind for so long. (I’m writing this assuming you have read CC. If not, ignore what I just said… and read it 😂)
"And we all need to do the same, because from that honesty, everything else follows: the boundaries that need to be set; the things that need to be said; the actions to be taken; and the version of self that will eventually come to light. The animus doesn’t arrive before the courage — it arrives *as* the courage." I love this...over and over again, I find that honesty with myself is the key to freedom in every way possible. Thank you, Hazel for this wonderful piece and for introducing me to a series I didn't know before.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And I 1000% agree about self-honesty and freedom 🤍
I also can’t believe you’ve escaped the SJM madness of late. ACOTAR is romantasy, so defo not everyone’s cup of tea. I actually didn’t think I’d read on after book 1 but persisted on a trusted recommendation and am so glad I did as the stories she writes are epic, and the world building is phenomenal. The “smut” is an added bonus 😂
indeed, self-honesty. It occured to me today that this is the answer to the final question you posed in "how not to become your ideal self". I love how that landed for me...I'd also add self-compassion and self-trust; thank you for being the curator of these maps within the human consciousness. Also I'm really glad you went for this series and found such profound inspiration from it! things always look different after we go deeper.
That’s so true. I was expecting backlash for a romantasy analysis, and I have certainly had some, but the people judging it most harshly have not read more than a few pages as far as I can tell. That’s unfair on the author, for a start, and screams of learned prejudice.
wow
Thank you (um… assuming that was a good wow)
Only the best for you, Hazel
This was such an eloquent piece. Thank you for putting so much of your energy and effort into all that you do.
Your writing makes me wonder. Do writers know about myths, psychology, Jung, shadows and incorporate it consciously? Is it based on structure of other stories they spent their whole lives reading?
Or does it come through unconsciously through thousands of years of collective storytelling?
The more I dive deeper into my own shadows and unconscious, the more I see the motifs in every story, movie, book worth its weight.
Exactly, exactly! And the writing will be all the more transformative for it 🩵
A bit of both, almost certainly. There are writers of hugely archetypal stories who are/were strongly against psychological interpretations (like Tolkien). Presumably, archetypal content in stories like LotR is unconsciously incorporated. SJM, I have never heard speak about psychology or Jungian archetypes, but as so, so many of her characters walk recognised story arcs and share the names of their mythical/folkloric doubles (Tam Lin, Cerridwen, Koschei and Vassa/Vasilisa, just to name a handful), she is clearly consciously incorporating established stories into her work. It’s something I love, actually — mythical Easter eggs!
Yes, precisely. It's such a deep underlying principle in life, I even feel storytelling aspects in my own life and journeys that I go through. I didn't consciously put them there, they are just there (or so I hope).
We're just little people on a board, embodying stories and archetypes without us fully recognizing it. Whether you like it or not, it's going to show up in your writing.
What an incredible deep dive into this world. Never in a million years while reading it would I have been able to draw the parallels you've drawn here, yet now that it's laid out so clearly, it makes so much sense. It's almost frightening how easy it is to compare moments in the archetype's journey to moments experienced in real life, and thus understand why this series has such a draw as it does. I'm very much looking forward now to re-reading the series again before the new books come out and keeping all of this in mind.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I should be clear that these ideas take a while for me to arrive at, too. The first time I read ACOTAR, I wasn’t thinking along these lines at all. I started rereading the books ahead of ACOTAR 6 and 7 and, with the extra brain space afforded by a reread, found that the possibilities for analysis were endless. I actually planned a five-part ACOTAR series, but thought I should stick to one for the time being.
I’m currently rereading Throne of Glass ahead of the new releases and have done Crescent City, too. The Maasverse connections are just constant. It’s been blowing my mind that she’s had all of this in mind for so long. (I’m writing this assuming you have read CC. If not, ignore what I just said… and read it 😂)