Reframing
A third strategy can be engaged in bringing about the integration of two polarities. This is the Reframing strategy that is commonly associated with Gregory Bateson and members of the Palo Alto group (Bander and Grinder, 1983). Reframing can be engaged in a variety of ways—some of which I have identified in one of my previous publications (Bergquist, Sandstrom and Mura, 2023). I offer two examples of reframing as they would be engaged in bringing about the integration of home and quest.
First, one can reconceive (reframe) the nature of home. It need not be deeply rooted in one location. Like the snail, we can carry our home on our back. An RV (home) can serve this purpose as we engage our Quest. For the younger crowd (and some older folks), there is the “fantastic” world to be found on the Internet. An Internet user can embark on a digitally mediated quest to exotic lands, fighting dragons or giants, employing magic, and even falling in love with a mythic god or goddess.
The journey to a world of digital fantasy even allows us to change our own identity (avatar) and engage with other Internet users in a collaborative journey (as friends or foes). Most importantly, we have journeyed far away without ever leaving home. Obviously, this Internet journey can be addictive and can distract us from actually leaving home and engaging in the real world. We have to ask ourselves as Internet addicts or as parents of an internet-addict an important question: is this faux quest is contributing to the quality of our life and to our search for an integration of home and quest?
Similarly, we can reframe the very nature of home. Our home might be considered the identity we assume when on a quest (“I am the traveling man/woman!”) Similarly, our home might be the story we tell others about ourselves (including the narrative of the quest we have undertaken). A somewhat different reframing involves a shift in the meaning and purpose of the Quest rather than the meaning and purpose of Home. We identify Quest as an introverted process. Our quest occurs inside our own head, heart and soul. We don’t need a computer or the Internet.
As documented in his Red Book (Jung, 2009), the noted psychoanalyst, Carl Jung, journeyed far and wide within his own psyche. We can do the same. We can also be assisted in our internal journey by outside resources. We become voracious readers of travel books or watch documentaries on our Cable channel that offer a vivid portrait of lands and people who reside far away from our physical home. As observers of (rather than participants in) cross-cultural journeys, we expand our own perspectives and learn to appreciate differing value systems and cultures. At some point we ask: are these faux journeys to other lands that are as “good” as, rich as, personally impactful as the “real thing”? Some regret reenters our search for a way to stay at home while embarking on a psychic journey.
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