A bad trip led to mental health issues, and a bad skiing accident led to his recovery. Author Jules Evans talks about how ecstatic experiences, greek philosophy and cognitive behavioral therapy can help recover your soul.
“I turned 40 last year. And I keep on coming up with dramatic plans for my life at the moment. So, for example, at the end of last year I thought, ‘I’m going to California, and I want to work in virtual reality and develop virtual reality programs to do with contemplation and mysticism’. And then I went to India and I thought, ‘Actually, I’m going to move to India and I want to work on mental health in India, because there’s a lot of stigma around mental illness there’. And then later I thought, ‘No, I’m going to stay in the UK and I’m going to set up a course in my university for undergraduates on flourishing and wellbeing’. And so I think I’m having a very relaxed form of a midlife crisis. It’s not really involving torment, but I’m conscious that I’m yo-yoing a lot at the moment.”
“But I’m learning to be kinder to myself. And to treat myself with the same kindness I would try to treat other people with, and not be so self critical. You just have to be kind to yourself along your life’s journey, and accept that it’s not always going to be incredibly apparent to you with a five-year plan. I always thought I’d have a family by now, but I’m not married, I don’t have children. And so I could think: What’s wrong with me? But I have to be kind to myself, because this is where I am and I still have a very good life. I’m very lucky to be able to write and publish books, to be able to talk about ideas.”
- The complete interview can be found in Issue 23.
Text Sjoukje van de Kolk Photography Bonnita Postma
