Life of Meaning: Relocating Your Center of Spiritual Gravity Paperback – 25 July 2023

A new book from Dr Hollis is always something I look forward to with great anticipation. This marvellous book covers many of the topics discussed previously but does so with a very personal touch. He draws from his wide experience as Jungian Scholar and teacher but also other interests inform the narrative such as poetry, Greek Mythology and a general down home wisdom.Compelling and resonant.

The simplicity of this book belies the complicity of its content. Our heart seeks meaning in a way which may leave the rationality of the mind behind. Hollis explores a way to resolve this dilemma and find purpose and integrity in life especially as we travel through our mid life and beyond.

Love everything Hollis does. This is harder to read because of the conversational style and it’s more of a summary of all the other books but the messages are clear and wonderful as ever.

I discovered this book while listening to a podcast on neuroscience. Glad to get it on time. The wisdom finely unfolded by the author offers a practical application for self-inquiry in human development. Very well-written style that truly connects with readers. The only cons: I would appreciate a larger font size and better-quality printing paper. But the content surpasses the form.

Helpful tool along with others for a life review. A reminder to return to the within in the midst of outer circumstances. Based as all his writings and talks are on Jung and his favourite poets. Deep thinker and generous teacher whom I appreciate. Dreams as he often references are a big part of my own reflection. Add this to other resources for any life review.

At the age of 82, James Hollis continues to provide deeper insight into the human psyche & the need for inner growth. And as with his recent books, in A LIFE OF MEANING he opens up a little more personally than in his past, which I both appreciate & find illuminating. Yet he doesn't do this to make the book about himself. No, it's to show his readers that he's still going through the process of growth & enlarging his view of life just as much as he advises us to do. He's not already at the top of the mountain, he's still climbing it with the rest of us. It's simply that he's been at it a long time & has been trained for it, so he can offer us advice & support drawn from his own trek.Please note, I only said advise—the choices we make (or don't make) with that advice are still our own, as are our stumbling blocks & advances. He's not telling or ordering us what to do in these pages. He's only drawing on his own experience to remind us that we've all got to do the hard inner work—sometimes with professional help, sometimes on our own. That's the only way we can find or make meaning that actually matters to & for us.Meaning—now, there's the key word. We can see how many people are desperately searching for meaning, all too often in the wrong places & for the wrong goals. As Hollis says plainly, meaning is not the same as happiness. Yes, happiness is lovely when it comes ... but it's also fleeting. Savor it whenever you have it, but don't set unending happiness with trouble of doubt as your goal. You won't get it. As William Blake wrote:He who binds to himself a joyDoes the winged life destroyHe who kisses the joy as it fliesLives in eternity's sunriseAnd where does joy come from? In meaning—in that inner sense of rightness that can't quite be put into words, but that can be felt as something real & something true. And while it can sometimes come as a gift of grace, it's much more common to have to do the work of opening a space for it within ourselves. That's where the Jungian approach is so helpful, as it enables us to slowly, often painfully, enlarge our lives & our self-knowledge—to become more authentically who we are & who we can be as human beings.For those familiar with Hollis' life-work, this comes as no revelation. It's a simple fact he's explored for decades ... but the point of returning to it as he does in this book is because knowing the words & even recognizing their truth isn't the same as living them. This is the work we are called to do as individual human beings. And Hollis, as always, is an excellent guide—just remember that while he can show us the trail & describe its perils, he can't walk it for us. We've got to do that ourselves.Most highly recommended!

I love this book! It was recommended by a therapist, and it is very well written. Since buying and reading it, I find myself going back to parts of the book to re-read certain passages. Very insightful reading.

I am very disappointed to find the book arrived not only stained and discoloured but sticky as well. Something had clearly been spilled on the book and the pages are frayed