The Usefulness of the Gyre

A gyre is a spiral. But when it is called a gyre it is cloaked in a bit more magic than the ordinary spiral. Carl Jung referred to the gyre as the pathway of personal growth. Educators build a curriculuum on a spiral model, starting out with simple concepts in a subject and spiraling back to them over the years in greater and greater depth.
Alchemists wrote of the gyre. For your use, in your journey towards life mastery, spiral around and around your knowledge of self, gaining ever more understanding on that majestic journey. The well formedness of the spiral pattern lets you avoid snags yet keeps you on the path you need to follow.
Often nowdays people meditate by walking a labyrinth. If you look at the patterns
that are shown you will often see a spiral leading towards the center. Rather than going around in static circles, spiral around your growth and development. Come close and focus then spiral away and you absorb the lesson gained, then spiral in once more. There you can appreciate what you find or deepen your perception.

Play Tag With Your Shadow

Your shadow self is all that is repressed, the subconscious, the right brain. To quote Carl Jung, "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, it forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions."
The alchemists of old also understood the need for balance. Their axiom was "As above, so below, as within, so without, so that the miracle of the one can be established."
So don't try too hard to be goody, goody. You'll sabatage that part of you. You must accept all that you are. Introspection is a valuable tool for self-knowledge. But too much introspection can be dull and counter productive. So play. Tag, you're it. Notice that which repels you in others. That is the dark part of your shadow showing through. Your shadow has tagged you. Notice that which attracts you in others. Again your shadow had tagged you. Making conscious choices, based on self knowledge is fine. But choices driven by repression may hurt us and others. Journaling can bring self knowledge, getting feedback from friends, reading our dreams. Those are good. But also know the brief flashes that come from jokes we like, the gut twinges we feel. The swift tags of our shadow. We can learn from all that. Learn to know the people we bring into our life. That's also the shadow at work, trying to bring about balance and wholeness. This is a game you can win.