Opus Day 27: Are You Flighty?

[Barque]

“The Icarus person is filled with air. He becomes inflated with his grand ideas and has difficulty living in the real world, where challenges and realistic considerations discourage him. [Carl] Jung referred to this figure of the psyche or spirit in a person as the puer aeternus, the Eternal Youth. Any man or woman might be dominated, at least for a while, by an excess of spirit - too much wind in their sails, too much glory in their eyes.

On the positive side, the spirit of Eternal Youth may give rise to idealism, inventiveness, enthusiasm, and a strong urge to be creative. On the negative side, it is often unrealistic and wishful. At its core there often sits a smoldering narcissism - excessive self-regard, extreme self-consciousness, and a bloated self-image. When this youthful spirit dominates a personality, many people deride it for its lack of responsibility. In relationships, the Eternal Youth is notorious for not being able to “commit.” He can’t hold a job and rarely realizes his ideals. He thinks up one project after another and rarely completes any of them. He battles time and is good at getting jobs started but not at finishing them.”

Today’s Work: List your Icarus traits and reflect on your Incarus responses to life experiences.

Share your responses with Barque readers, by replying to this discussion.

[Dr. Robert Klass]

It seems to me that it's easy to dismiss the dreams of others as unrealistic, out-of-touch, immature and so on. However, from the dreamer's point of view, dreams are an extremely important part of their being. How does a dreamer know that he/she is dreaming impossible dreams or pursuing lost causes? And, even if that happens to be the case, isn't there something to be said for impossible dreams and lost causes? Aloha, Bob

[Barque]

In this passage, I think Moore acknowledges a variety of characteristics associated with puer aeternus without dismissing the approach. He rounds it out to include features not usually talked about when we consider ambition or drive or success (as culturally defined). While Moore encourages readers to fly high [see Opus Day 11], Icarus may be a cautionary tale when upward movement isn't well grounded. Moore doesn't mention "dreaming" in this quotation. References to "dreaming/ dreamer" could be confused with night dreaming. Icarus was awake, at least in some respects, when he flew close to the sun.