There’s been a series of dreadful news items – terrible violence against women, wars, economic and political refugees living in such poor conditions and the never ending environmental damage and degradation.

Is it just me or are things getting markedly worse? Perhaps it’s a fantasy but surely the world is crazier and less stable than it was… The last century was unbelievably violent with rates of genocide, warfare and cruelty beyond imagining but this current century is becoming almost as bad. And yet, and yet as is well known we are all capable of these actions, for murderous rage is part of the human condition. The very least we can do is to acknowledge these aspects of oneself and own and so use them constructively rather than destructively. I’ve learnt recently that being angry and understanding why I am angry can give the biggest energy buzz with which I can take more positive and dynamic action. In that sense it is no bad thing… Anger has a bad press which is usually because we read and hear of the destructive outcome of uncontrollable rage and anger. Anger can be fuelled or funnelled through projection where we scapegoat or single out someone or a group to carry the negative that we disown… and all that contributes or leads to violence.

The analytical psychologist Carl Jung said that the best thing each of us can do in our lifetimes is to own our projections by which he meant understanding our feelings and that includes all the horrible negative stuff rather than project them onto others. It’s the task of a lifetime and despite the best intentions extremely difficult. Nothing new here but worth pondering ….