There is no other choice. It is a destiny which has to be accepted.
Puer Aeternus Problem by Marie-Louise Von Franz
The process of individuation is a process of inner growth to which one is tied – one cannot get away from it. If you say no to it and to do not accept it, then, since you are not in it, it grows against you, and then it is your own inner growth which kills you.
If you refuse the growth, then it kills you, which means that if a person is completely infantile and has not other possibility, then not much will happen.
But if the person has a greater personality within – that is a possibility of growth, then a psychological disturbance will come.
That is why we say that a neurosis is a positive symptom in a way.
It shows that something wants to grow, it shows that that person is not right in his or her present state.
If the growth is not accepted, then it grows against you, at your own expense, and then there is what might be called a negative individuation.
The process of individuation, of inner maturing and growth, goes on unconsciously and ruins the personality instead of healing it.
The inner possibility of growth in a person is a dangerous thing because either you say yes to it and go ahead, or you are killed by it.
There is no other choice. It is a destiny which has to be accepted. — Marie-Louise von Franz, Puer Aeternus, Page 59
