Hi! I'm Zachary Scott. Born and raised in central Michigan, I now live near Detroit. I received Bachelor's degrees in computer science and English from the University of Michigan-Flint in 2017, after which I started a career in software engineering. For many years I built software in various fields, from mainframe analysis to video games. Though I enjoyed software engineering as a craft, my life changed when I encountered the works of Jungian analyst James Hollis. After hearing a lecture of his, I began reading his books. In one particularly striking paragraph, he says:
When the soul is not attended to, what healing can occur? Why should we go faster to some place, or learn more about some thing, when we have no idea who we are, or what values those bytes of information serve?
—James Hollis, Mythologems: Incarnations of the Invisible World
I had to ask myself: what values do these bytes of information serve? What is the purpose of these software systems? It was fulfilling work to solve a complex problem or understand some philosophical notion about computer architecture, but was I attending to my soul?
It became clear that, at the time, I was not. And to make matters worse, around my 30th birthday I began to have trouble sleeping. I was bombarded by dream images that were often anxiety inducing, sometimes beautiful, and generally disturbing to my sense of self. For months I tried to work on my "sleep hygiene". I stopped drinking coffee for a time, stopped looking at my phone before bed, imposed on myself a strict bedtime... and the dreams continued. They may have even gotten worse.
At one point, I made an appointment to see a cognitive behavioral therapist. The night before my appointment, I dreamt that I found a massive asylum in the middle of the woods. With its neoclassical architecture and imposing size, it intimidated me a great deal. I felt, deep in my soul, that I should not enter the building. Instead, I raced off into the dark woods and ran along winding dirt paths. It was exhilarating and even a little scary, but I had a sense of a vast expanse.
The meaning of the dream was clear. Cognitive therapy, with its emphasis on behavioral modification, was represented by the asylum. It wasn't for me. I ended up deciding against this therapeutic approach, and instead of rejecting my dreams, I started to listen to them — I felt my way along the paths.
I began to treat my dreams like stories. With a background in literary analysis, I found them endlessly fascinating. Along the way, I quit my job in software engineering and enrolled in Oakland's Clinical Mental Health Counseling program. I read Freud and Jung as well as great philosophical works: Nietzsche, Kant, Kierkegaard, Hegel, etc. I came to the conclusion that my psyche was undergoing a universal process of individuation, and that many aspects of myself, repressed since childhood, were seeking expression and connection. This process of individuation is often extremely difficult, at times presenting us with devastating truths. But this is a universal process:
"... the life of Spirit is not the life that shrinks from death and keeps itself untouched by devastation, but rather the life that endures it and maintains itself in it. It wins its truth only when, in utter dismemberment, it finds itself."
—G.W.F. Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit
As I continued to analyze my dreams and study Jung's works almost daily, friends and family members started to bring dreams to me. By interpreting them together, I saw them come to some very important, and at times even healing, realizations. Dreamwork has clarified many important things for me, and I regularly look to dream symbols for guidance in my life. Though it can be painful to begin the process of psychological growth, it is also a path to a wholeness that can be had no other way.
I am also highly interested in psychotherapy (having benefitted a great deal from it myself!) as well as yoga, both for its physical and philosophical investigations. I am also a huge fan of experimental music, juggling, DIY, comedy, video games, writing, and a bunch of other things. I am a lifelong learner, and I use my interest in reading to translate old, murky texts into accessible language for those around me. And I have a cat, love Indian food, etc. etc.
A friend once said something like: "Zach is not a religious man, but he sure seems like he is".