Description:
Essays, stories, and guidance to find integrity in the second half of life.
We're told that aging must be avoided and delayed, denying its inevitability and therefore its wisdom. In this book, beloved author and teacher James Hollis embraces the perils and the wonders of stepping into one's autumnal days. Hollis invites us to ask fundamental questions about life, agency, grace, and forgiveness through the lens of maturation. "Every choice made, not made, brings about consequences," writes Hollis, "and the widening ripples of each intersect influence us, and alter the texture of our hours, whether we know it or not." Autumnal Days guides us through the importance of this recognition and the necessity of acceptance and compassion in the face of life's many shortcomings. Through essays and questions for reflection, Hollis teaches us to meet regret as a compass for moral action, to make creativity a fundamental principle for life, to discern beauty amidst everything, and to maintain ownership of our souls. With stories, myths, philosophies, Jungian analysis, and Hollis's charming voice, Autumnal Days reminds us that the world is a vast canvas and we fill it with energetic scenarios that drive our soulsBrief description:
James Hollis, PhD, is a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, DC. Originally from Springfield, Illinois, he graduated from Manchester University in 1962 and Drew University in 1967. He taught humanities for 26 years in various colleges and universities before retraining as a Jungian analyst at the Jung Institute of Zürich, Switzerland (1977-82). He served as executive director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas, for many years. He was executive director of the Jung Society of Washington until 2019, and now serves on its board of directors. He is a retired senior training analyst for the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, was first director of training of the Philadelphia Jung Institute, and is vice-president emeritus of the Philemon Foundation. Additionally, he was a professor of Jungian Studies for Saybrook University of San Francisco.
He has written 20 books, available in translations around the world, including Living Between Worlds, What Matters Most, and Living an Examined Life. He lives with his wife, Jill, an artist and retired therapist, near Washington, DC. Together they have three living children and eight grandchildren.Review Quotes: "James Hollis is the most lucid thinker I know about the complexities and complexes that interfere with living a full life. His broad background in literature, philosophy, and Jungian psychology is everywhere present in this important book, which, as it strips away illusions, posits the soul-work that's necessary for the difficult task of making our lives meaningful. He's one of our great teachers and healers."--Stephen Dunn, Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet