“In the acorn lies not only the completion of life before it is lived but the dissatisfied frustration of unlived life. The acorn sees, it knows, it urges – but what can it do? This discrepancy between seed and tree, between the spindle in the lap of the gods in heaven and the traffic in the lap of the family on earth, packs the acorn with the fury of incapacity, of reach without grasp; the acorn is like a tiny child empurpled with rage because it cannot do what it images.”
James Hillman, The Soul’s Code, p284
We, as a soul, are growing down on earth. We embarked on our journey carrying the innate image we had chosen but had forgotten during the process of arrival.
This image, this calling, or the fate is yet to be lived. But how do we recognize it?
We have our daimon. This soul-companion, assigned to each soul before birth according to Plato, remembers what is in our image and belongs to our pattern. It is our daimon that guides us as the carrier of our destiny. 1
Despite being forgotten, the fact that we have brought the image to fulfill leads us to a great realization. And I love the metaphor of an acorn in describing our human existence that carries indescribable yearnings.
The acorn seed not only contains the complete image of the oak tree but also fulfills its destiny. There may be times of fiery frustration due to being unable to reach a height without a grasp.
The human condition likewise is to be understood as such.
Looking at an acorn, we can read the life of an oak tree backward, for we know the image of a beautiful oak tree when the seed completes its growth. Even if our every tiny experience in life doesn’t appear to add any meaning, in every moment we are leading our lives backward.
There is a beautiful testimony where we witness this great wisdom:
“Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” 2
Steve Jobs, The Stanford Commencement Address, 2005
We don’t disregard every small detail in an artist’s painting. We rather appreciate every beauty that each piece offers. However, in appreciating small things we never lose the image of the whole painting.
Your innate image is complete and whole. Again, the notion of growing downward is reminded. Our life and our person is not a process or a development. We are an essential image that develops throughout our life.
Our self-worth in this sense is never to be underestimated, because now we know that we are a complete image that awaits our recognition and development to fullness.
Jay
note 1) James Hillman, The Soul’s Code, p8
note 2) The commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs, 2005 (https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/12/youve-got-find-love-jobs-says/)
Leading by Reading 