Beginnings

The diaries and letters of Etty Hillesum offer a compelling and concentrated account of her path of individuation. Carl Gustav Jung coined the term “individuation,” and he described it as the process of “the coming-to-be of the self.” It was Jung's belief and discovery that human development does not stop with young adulthood, but continues for a lifetime.

“Become what thou art” was the chosen maxim of Julius Spier, who had been influenced deeply by Jung, and who became Etty Hillesum's chirologist, depth psychotherapist, mentor, lover, and friend. Etty Hillesum was drawn to the process of becoming her own, full person. She wrote:

The path of individuation is far from easy, as Etty Hillesum and Jung knew from personal experience. Jung wrote:

To engage in the process of becoming one's own full self requires a capacity and willingness to face unknown territory, descend into one's depths, and confront that which is “other.” It requires saying “Yes” to large encounters, both inner and outer. It is not a “safe” path. It is this path to which Etty Hillesum repeatedly assented.

Why give attention to one's inner being, to finding one's own “shape and form”? Why take the risk of large encounters in unknown territory? Jung discovered, out of his own arduous, rich encounter with his depths, that the seeds of new growth, aliveness, and relationship are found there.