Intriguing Insights #002 Lover in the time of Corona - Part I

So it all started when I was doing some working from home on the Jungian Archetypes. Now as my parents heard me discussing movie characters on a work call, they suspiciously asked my son what I was up to. That's when I heard him tell them something about a Jester and a Hero beyond the noise cancellation of my ear phones.

I asked him later and realised he had actually picked up bits and pieces of Jungian Archetypes from all my calls and discussions.

Given his interest - I thought it was a rather rich topic to explain to him but was on the lookout for a way to make it more relevant. That's the genesis of this piece, and here is how I intend to bring alive the Archetypes to him.

As we are on the eve of completing two months of the lockdown, I have tried to bring out the various people we come across at home, through social media, on TV, in the news using the lens of the Archetypes. As the attempt is to explain the archetypes through these emerging personality types, read on even if this is an alien concept to you.

In a nutshell, Archetypes were a concept introduced by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, who believed that archetypes were models of people, behaviours, or personalities. Archetypes, he suggested, were inborn tendencies that play a role in influencing human behavior.

Now back to the subject matter of my text... 

Ruler

The ruler is one who wants to take control of the situation. Sets the rules and ensures everyone is abiding by them. This one to me is the Society Managing Committee Members. From locking gates to scanning visitors they are the ones wielding their authority.

Creator

The creator is all about imagining something and making it happen. The wonderful videos of Balcony Musicians that we are seeing from all across Europe is just the right example of this archetype for me. 

The music parodies over video calls are yet another classic case of the creators expressing their vision.

Sage

The sage to me is a treasure cove of knowledge. Enlightened with the experiences of a lifetime. Grandparents to me bring alive this archetype. Whether it is giving us the back story of what we see in Ramayan or Mahabharat or bringing out the comparison about our current state to the blackouts in the 1970s [or in some lucky cases their childhood WWII experieces] they are the wise ones.

Innocent

The innocent is always happy though can sometimes be naive. I have just the right representation of this archetype - who but  Our Four Legged Friends. They are happy to make an entry in an on-going video call. Or to jump up for a stroll - quarantine or no. They continue to wag their tails despite what the news says... truly they bring positivity enough to retain your faith.

Hero

While the obvious heros are the doctors in the field today and i definitely agree with that. For me the host of Corona Warriors are also heros. Be it the watch men who are now staying away from home in the building premises for over two months. Or the garbage collectors, both in the society and from the BMC. Let's not forget the shopowners supplying us with our essentials.

Explorers

Now this is an archetype I have certainly seen going up post lockdown. All the Upskillers who are learning new things, taking on new hobbies or even cooking up some expeirment in the kitchen are all explorers. Who says you can only explore in the outdoors. Kudos to the armchair explorers. This is one time noone is going to frown down on you.

So that's six of the twelve archetypes that I have come across during our quarantine. If you are wondering what the title of this post is about. Just hold on for Part II and it will be abundantly clear.