Jungian Psychology

Norman Is On Fire — He Is A Broken Man

Inspired by Daryl Sharp’s book, The Survival Papers

I want to talk about one of the works by Daryl Sharp, a Jungian analyst who lived and worked in the Greater Toronto Area. The Survival Papers was the first book I ordered in 1996 from Daryl who had begun a publishing company called Inner City Books.

I had recently found out about Inner City Books because of a Jung-Book-Talks series that had featured James Hollis, a Jungian analyst. I was in a search for Hollis’ book, when I arrived at the Inner City Books page. I ordered the Hollis book, and several others with that first book order, including The Survival Papers.

Not long after the books were received, I received an email from Daryl. At the time I was living in a town called Lanigan. In the email, Daryl mentioned that he had lived in Lanigan as a youth, though he didn’t have the fondest memories of the town.

Regardless, it was the beginning of an email friendship. Not too long ago, I was invited to write up a tribute to Daryl in celebration of his eightieth birthday. But I digress, this post isn’t about Daryl or me, so I had best get back to the task at hand.

The image was drawn by Matthäus Merian and published in a book in 1610. The image seemed to fit the quote I had chosen for this post:

“Norman is on fire. He is a broken man. He has all the symptoms of a midlife crisis: anxiety, depression, self-pity and guilt; he can’t eat and he can’t sleep; he has no energy and he’s confused. Just about the only thing Norman has going for him is that he realizes he has a problem.”

Daryl Sharp, The Survival Papers, p. 34

Sharp told the story of a fictional client who is adrift and needing to deal with a situation in which he had found himself. It was either that or drown in Norman’s opinion. He had hit rock bottom and was in desperate need of help. The story Daryl told weaved between Jungian concepts. This is a style of writing not different from my own where I typically blend Jungian psychology into fantasy novels.

The finding of oneself in the situation of being on fire, drowning, at that cusp of realising what had been held as one’s truths have just been exposed as the ego’s weak crutches.

Hitting rock bottom is an invitation to dive deep and discover what has been hidden by the ego. It’s a risky business. Stripped bare and now exposed, one either accepts the challenge, or one scrambles back into old clothes that no longer fit and hope that no one notices, especially oneself. It is the beginning of a great deceit.

Back at this time when I ordered and read The Survival Papers for the first time, I was a Norman. I was on fire and drowning. I had buried myself under layers upon layers of books that would eventually have me become a mental-health counsellor. Yet, the books were not enough. I needed to be a Norman who turned to a Daryl for help.

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