Up: [[Image]] Related: [[What Does it Mean to Live a Symbolic Life?]] Created: 2023-01-20 Updated: 2026-02-10 # Add Nick has “Add” in the first position of ARC. I agree but am putting my emphasis on adding a personally meaningful image so that connections to inner self are significant from the get-go. This work is not about collecting or deliberately seeking images to fill a particular slot. It is starting from the image, connecting to subjective and objective associations, contemplating and further exploring the meaning of those associations to my psyche, my life and priorities, and then creating art or writing in a variety of genres. All I have to do is pay attention to what captures my attention or, in my friend Joanne’s words, “notice what I notice.” I don’t have to go looking for inspiration. [[What Does it Mean to Live a Symbolic Life?]] # Relate [[Associating and Amplifying a Dream]] is a common Jungian practice. Since it works so beautifully with dream images, it makes sense to have both of these processes as part of the Relate stage. #### Association What are the connections both personally and in the world? I make sure to note these inner ideas first. Jung said that an image is vivid if associations with it immediately spring to mind. I don’t want to lose my inner associations by going to external searches too quickly. There are a number of different processes for connecting to an image listed in the [[Image]] MOC. There are often lots of associations to an image, especially once I’ve added some external searching through symbol dictionaries or the internet. I keep searching until I’ve found an association that feels important to me. For others of lesser importance but still worth exploring, I either go ahead and make notes or I toss the association into my Sparks note for future development. #### Amplification This is where I really work with my chosen association. I dig deeper into the resources I’ve used for associating and lots more besides, such as DevonThink and Scrivener. Plus I read my from extensive library, and look at online courses I own. I’m noticing images that relate and I’m really working my system, looking for the unexpected links to memories, psychological theories, fairytales… # Communicate This is where I’m doing something with my material from Relate. Ideally, I’d love for whatever I make to be a combination of image and text, but often it’s one or the other. _______ The whole workflow is a process of layering in details at every pass in order to get closer and closer to whatever I’m considering the essential centre of the image for me.