Sharing happiness with my Hive family

You know the feeling when something wonderful happens and you want to share it with someone? Sadly, I realized that there are few people I know IRL whom I could share my feelings with right now. At best, their reaction would be “You got what for your birthday?” coupled with an eye-roll loud enough to hear even if you’re on the phone with them.
Thing is my birthday is coming up next week and my kids were struggling to come up with an idea for a present. If you know @honeydue, you know she’s not the type of person who’d contend herself with buying some crap from the mall. You also know that she’s crazy enough to come up with an outlandish idea. So, this year, she and her equally crazy brother decided to offer me the gift of a new experience. They got tickets for a trip to Zurich, the Mecca of psychoanalytic studies.

As I was saying in a previous post, I’m currently taking an online course in psychoanalysis and my bookshelves are full of Jung and his followers. What could be better at this point than visiting Jung’s house, his grave, and going to a lecture at the famous Jung Institute? The past two days have been filled with excitement. If you ever need a travel counselor, reach out to @honeydue. She’s a pro at dealing with the practical aspects of any trip and finding the cheapest airfare. Give her time and she could find you the best accommodations on Mars! When she presented me with the plan, she’d already researched when you can visit the Museum (apparently only on Thursdays) and what lectures at the Institute might appeal to me. The trip won’t happen until February, but this is something I can definitely wait for, although I’m not known for being patient.
It’s going to be a short trip so we had to figure out how we can fit in everything. Including a trip to the cemetery in Kussnacht (just outside Zurich) where Jung and some of his early followers are buried. (It's weird how excited I am to visit the graves of some women who, a few months back, I didn’t know they ever existed.)

‘Psychoanalyst’ by Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, painting currently housed at the Freud Museum in London

Now, imagine telling people that I’m going to a cemetery in Switzerland for my birthday. It will be fun to do it, but they won’t understand. They’ll think I’m weird. This is why I’m sharing this on Hive. Being weird is normal on Hive. From the normies’ point of view, people who believe in crypto are weird by definition. Also, Hive is the home of people who chose an alternative lifestyle - people who quit their jobs to dedicate themselves to the blockchain, to write books, to pursue a spiritual journey, to become homesteaders, to travel the world, to learn new skills, etc. It takes a lot of courage to change course and reinvent yourself, something normies don’t have, generally distrust, and judge. On Hive, people are acceptant. To each their own. If it makes you happy, sort of thing.

At this point in my life, this trip to Zurich makes me happy. I’ve done some research on this Jung Institute and it’s very expensive. At best, I could go there for an intensive course, something called further education, with no real prospect of becoming an analyst. I’m curious about the lecture I’ll be attending as I’ll get a chance to see whether they teach something different from what you can find online or in books. However, it’s going to be thrilling just to be in this place where all the important figures in the psychoanalytical world have studied or taught.

Freud's famous couch which he took with him to London when he had to flee Nazi Germany

Last time we were in London, we visited the Freud Museum, which I found awe-inspiring. The friendship-turned-bitter-rivalry between Freud and Jung is well-known. To this day, the two camps hate each other, but there would be no Jung without Freud. It was an exceptional experience to be in the room where Freud worked (even for a brief time) and the room where he died. I’m curious how it will feel to be in Jung’s house. I’m not looking for some sort of religious experience, but I’d welcome a small sign, a mere nod would do, so I know I’m on the right path.

I’m so happy I could share this with you!