Mitch:
“So, I can dance with Frank rather than fend off his attacks. I like this idea. However, what is my dream teaching me when we are in the village? . . . Let me try to do the work on this dream. Then I can ask you to lend a hand before I get washed away by the flood of water from the dam. So, first, the dream might be teaching me about my ability to discern potential troubles when other people seem blind to them. Others in the village should have been aware of the crack in the dam and should have either repaired the crack or left the village before the dam broke.
Frank and I are with our kids. We arrived in the village too late to be of any help. This suggests that part of my distinctive identity concerns the desire to provide a warning to my community before something disastrous occurs. I find that I am often frustrated that the message was given out too late or that other people in my community don’t read our newspaper or ignore our message. . . .
I wonder if this relates to some of the problems I have had in recent years with members of my editorial staff. I am often a bit pushy when asking them to cover a specific story in greater depth or when a story is late in being reported. Sometimes, I want to save the world from the impending flood. Wow, I am being very melodramatic . . . but there are floods coming to my community and to the world in which we now live.”
Dr. Jung offers a self-disclosure:
“Sometimes I think I continue to live in Switzerland, like my uncle, because it seems to offer a bit of protection from our flooding world. I know that isn’t based in reality. Just as your desire to save the world comes from the mythic realm of your unconscious. Both of us probably must watch for the flooding of our conscious life with these highly unrealistic beliefs and aspirations.”
Mitch is touched by Dr. Jung’s disclosure regarding his own mythic realm. Mitch is appreciating his time in Zurich and his brief trips with Joan to the magnificent mountainside of Switzerland. He understands why Dr. Jung would want to stay here in Zurich – with or without the influence of his mythic realm. . . .
Dr. Jung suggests that they take a short break. Mitch asks for another cup of Swiss coffee. While sipping on the coffee, Mitch recalls the image in his dream of the water pouring down on the village and his own racing with Frank and their boys for their lives. He shudders. It was a horrible dream.
Myths and Fantasies
When Mitch and Dr. Jung commence their work together, the good doctor offers several introductory comments:
“We human beings seem to need not only what dreams teach us, but also what our society and culture teach us through our myths and collective fantasies. I already mentioned The Wizard of Oz; however, there are many other powerful narratives, ranging from King Arthur and his Round Table to Spiderman and his magical powers. There are mythical figures, like King Arthur, Superman and Superwoman, who are always powerful (or at least potentially powerful).
It is only a matter of revealing who they are, transitioning to this person, and engaging the enemy. Often this sense of “who they are” is a matter of discovery. Arthur pulled the sword out of the stone, Superman and Superwoman discovered their special powers during their youth. There is another set of mythic figures who are transformed from mere human beings to superheroes via some magical intervention, be it a spider bite, process of getting mad, or lightning bolt (“Shazam!”). So, who about you? How do you become a leader? Are you a transitional leader or a transformation leader?”
Mitch responds:
“That is a very interesting and challenging question. As a child, I was always attracted to Captain Marvel (“Shazam”) and Spiderman, because, like them, I didn’t feel I was any special let along super as a child. I needed something to transform me into a powerful person . . .and later into a successful leader. I still don’t quite believe that I am powerful. I keep thinking that I will be found out and will return to my status as a powerless child. I actually mourned the death of Captain Marvel when it was forced to close shop, only to be revised for my own children in recent years.”
