Jung: "Fate is doing gladly that which I must do"

Blazing Reader,

My latest article, "The Worst Christmas Sermon Ever," brought this comment from Gwyneth in Ontario:

"I must say that this is perhaps your best newsletter to date and I agree that the minister's apathy and depression possibly stemmed from ignoring his dream to become an engineer.

"Carl Jung once stated that 'Fate is doing gladly that which I must do.' When one ignores that directive, the unconscious will be experienced in the outer world, seemingly as 'Fate' or random, often unpleasant happenings that must be dealt with."

I can relate to Carl Jung's warning. I've wanted to be a novelist ever since I read The Hobbit in grade four. Instead, I ended up in a monastery at age 18 because a "guru" convinced me that I had to sacrifice my wants for a higher calling (namely service to his multi-million dollar organization). Fortunately, I didn't pass the monk's medical exam (being half-blind has its blessing).

Nonetheless, it still took me another ten years to start writing fiction — as the same religious organization specifically discouraged the reading and writing of novels. I eventually left the organization and started listening to that voice in the centre of my chest that told me writing fiction was, as Jung says, "that which I must do."

It wasn't a loud voice, but I assure you, it could keep me up at night.

— John C.A. Manley

PS If you haven't already, you can now read "The Worst Christmas Sermon Ever' on Activist Post (where it was reprinted today), listen to it on Apple Podcasts or watch it on Rumble.

John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/