Ossification is a necessary biological process in vertebrates, a hardening down, the building and rebuilding of bone. The result of which is a stable framework of support. But in our lives…our culture…our mindset, ossification is not quite so beneficial. Granted, a certain amount of structure is necessary in order for society to work. However, civilization as it’s currently constructed tends to over-focus on structure at the expense of individualism, autonomy, liberty, flexibility, creativity and personal growth. The structure itself begins to dictate the way things are done, what we believe, and what we believe we are capable of, leading to a kind of calcified paralysis; crushing freedom and individual thought. If not consciously identified and eradicated, unchecked ossification eventually and always leads to total collapse.

For a large portion of my life I walked around full of holes. Not surprisingly, I was quite drained much of the time, and people often commented on my pale complexion. Recently I discovered that these holes were openings in my psyche through which various people around me were siphoning off my life force. A classic case of energy vampirism. The common-sense approach to solving this issue would be to extricate one’s self from contact with said vampires. Since this was not feasible, I needed to take dramatic measures. Do I patch the holes with wall spackle? Should I begin sharpening a stake? Neither option seemed workable. Besides, I wanted total immunity. So I set about making myself unappealing to the little suckers by becoming a beacon of internal fortitude. After all, everyone knows that vampires cannot stand the light.

According to Carl Jung, the meanings of archetypes are fluid, individualized and subject to change, but personally I find many of the classic depictions narrow, clichéd and limiting. The mother, the hero, the devil…the words are loaded and carry too much baggage. Therefore I prefer to invent my own archetypes, packaging the qualities I wish to acquire as a human into metaphors that are uniquely meaningful to me, using my own internal language of symbols. I construct my potential archetype as carefully as I would my dream home, and then I move into it…walking around in it, absorbing it until it is part of me. Ultimately though, I always become restless, seeking to expand. It’s funny. No matter how big I build them, I always seem to end up needing more space.

As you may already know, inside each and every one of us are a number of glands that operate by secreting hormones, digestive fluids and chemical messengers directly into the surrounding tissue. They are ductless, not unlike those old furnaces in 1920’s houses where the heat comes up through an open grate in the floor. These glands have a lot of confidence! They don’t waste their time worrying about whether their output is being appreciated, they just spew out material and trust that it will get where it needs to go. If ductless glands were writers, they would not be on the phone trying to track down a publishing deal or scouring the web posting links to their blog on other people’s blogs. They would just type up their manuscript, chuck it out the window of a 40-story office building and assume that somebody will pick it up and read it.