HYPOTHESIS

LIFE CAN BE IMAGINED AS A MOSAIC OF FRAGMENTS—INDIVIDUAL PIECES OF VARYING SHAPES AND SIZES THAT, IN ISOLATION, SEEM DISCONNECTED. THESE FRAGMENTS REPRESENT EXPERIENCES, IDEAS, AND MOMENTS IN TIME. SOME ARE SIGNIFICANT AND TRANSFORMATIVE; OTHERS SEEM MINOR AND FORGOTTEN. YET, WHEN VIEWED FROM A DISTANCE, THEY GRADUALLY REVEAL THEMSELVES AS PART OF A LARGER PATTERN.

JUNG’S CONCEPT OF THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS OFFERS A POWERFUL PARALLEL. JUST AS OUR PERSONAL LIVES ARE MADE UP OF THESE FRAGMENTS, HUMANITY SHARES A UNIVERSAL RESERVOIR OF ARCHETYPES AND SYMBOLS—FRAGMENTS OF A GREATER WHOLE. THESE UNIVERSAL ELEMENTS, EMBEDDED IN MYTH, DREAMS, AND CULTURE, ACT AS PIECES OF A SHARED MOSAIC, LINKING OUR INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES TO A LARGER COLLECTIVE DESIGN.

THIS IDEA IMPLIES THAT LIFE IS BOTH PERSONAL AND UNIVERSAL, CONNECTED THROUGH AN INCOMPLETE BUT EVER-EVOLVING PATTERN. THE FRAGMENTS OF OUR INDIVIDUAL LIVES RESONATE WITH ARCHETYPAL PATTERNS, OFFERING GLIMPSES INTO A DEEPER ORDER THAT TRANSCENDS OUR CONSCIOUS PERCEPTION.

HOWEVER, THIS MOSAIC IS NOT A FINISHED PICTURE. IT IS AN ETERNAL CONSTRUCTION—A FORM WE CAN NEVER FULLY COMPLETE. INSTEAD, IT IS A WORK THAT MUST BE BUILT IN PERPETUITY, ADDING FRAGMENTS AS WE LIVE AND EXPERIENCE, NEVER KNOWING THE FULL IMAGE BUT TRUSTING IN ITS EMERGENCE. THIS INFINITE ASSEMBLY IS BOTH THE BURDEN AND BEAUTY OF THE HUMAN CONDITION.

IN EMBRACING THIS HYPOTHESIS, WE COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT LIFE’S MEANING IS NOT FOUND IN PERFECT COMPLETION BUT IN THE ACT OF CREATION ITSELF. THE MOSAIC OF OUR LIVES IS A PATTERN WE DISCOVER AND BUILD CONTINUOUSLY, CONTRIBUTING TO BOTH OUR INDIVIDUAL STORY AND THE SHARED NARRATIVE OF HUMANITY.