After reading enough Carl Jung, having the media tell you to “just be yourself,” and watching films where we witness characters become their true self; our minds become convinced that we must find ourselves, or even better, our true selves.

But what does this even mean?

Is the idea of a true self…fiction?

I mean modern capitalism has brought us a culture that has latched onto this desire that people have for finding their perception of a true self! But that’s the point, is it simply a perception? A made-up fiction brought to us by the human myth-making mind.

We…

Take a moment to consider this question, what are taboo topics that come to mind around family and friends? Your mind probably went immediately to religion and politics. Many opt to avoid these topics of conversation others embrace them.

But why should they be taboo…for anyone? Why should any topic be for that matter? Why are they taboo in some circles? To put it simply, they can get heated, fast.

We allow ourselves to enter conversations by believing we already hold all the answers, which prevents us from even being able to entertain the idea that our position is wrong…

Although many traditional sects of Christianity want to proclaim Gnosticism as heresy, the teachings of this religious school of thought have made their way into our modern culture.

Gnosticism saw a revival after the 1945 discovery of Egypt’s Nag Hammadi library, which was a collection of rare early Christian and Gnostic texts. These newly discovered findings had translations spreading throughout the West in the 1960s and 70s.

Now, Gnosticism is a general collection of religious ideas that date back to the 1st century amongst various Jewish and Christian groups. …

The journey of self-exploration, everywhere we turn and everything we do is a movement and flow towards something. We often make a movement inwards, as I think we should. The journey of understanding your own mind, your own consciousness, hoping to find answers.

But what answers lie within the depths of your mind?

What does that move inward bring us?

Liberation or fear?

Well, both, as you cannot have one without the other.

I’ve had my own experiences with my own internal void, my own perception of nihilism. …

I had a realization this week: hope is not found in focussing on everything we perceive as good, the positivity, and the joy everywhere. We need those things of course, it’s a major piece to the puzzle.

Hope is found in the acceptance of the complexity of our existence. This complexity is found in the joy, the positivity, and the good; but we must acknowledge the darkness, the negative, and the bad.

And maybe, in a sense paradoxically, we begin to see how simple life really is when we accept the complexity. …

Let’s talk about religion. And as often is the case, let’s target Christianity here, as this is the organized faith that I have the most experience with and grew up in.

I’m not Catholic anymore.

I’ve had countless encounters in my life with religious people. I used to be that asshole that would take pride in telling them how looney their beliefs are. Not anymore.

Now, I mostly settle with hoping they accept they rely on faith like everyone else. The difference is, I think my reliance on faith is much less risky and relies on more solid ground.

Is…

Traditionally, when people hear about a religion, they want to immediately compare it to the one they’re most familiar with. Unfortunately, this comparison often becomes about finding ways it goes against one’s preferred faith, just so we can quickly dismiss it. Instead of seeing how we can learn from other faiths, ideas, and traditions.

We close ourselves off from learning when we allow our arrogant minds to get the best of us.

Yet, I’m of the mindset that religions actually hold similar ideas for understanding spiritual human experience—they just differ on emphasis and word preference.

I’m also not saying that…

Here is a journey into the Labyrinth that hopes to help you explore your consciousness and leave you something to think about. Thank you for being here with me.

As many of you might know I’m fascinated by our human desire for myth-making.

As of late, I’ve enjoyed reading and re-reading many of the works by Joesph Campbell and Carl Jung, both were fascinated by our meaning-making mechanisms.

But why am I bringing up our myth-making?

Well, for one, I think it’s understanding this very human desire for myth-making that gets at the heart of how we integrate knowledge; it’s…