It is very important to be aware that you may never be satistied with your analytic career if you feel that you are restricted to what is narrowly called a ‘scientific’ approach. You will have to be able to have a chance of feeling that the interpretation you give is a beautiful one, or that you get a beautiful response from the patient. This aesthetic element of beauty makes a very difficult situation tolerable.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of aesthetics and beauty in the analytic process rather than strictly adhering to a scientific approach.
In this quote, Wilfred Bion highlights the need for analysts to transcend a rigid scientific mindset and embrace the aesthetic aspects of their work. He suggests that incorporating beauty into interpretations and responses can bring a sense of satisfaction and make challenging situations more bearable. This perspective encourages a more holistic view of the analytic journey, suggesting that emotional and aesthetic experiences are crucial to a fulfilling career in analysis.
In practice
In a workshop on therapeutic practices, to highlight the importance of creativity, one could quote Bion to inspire a more flexible approach.
None of the miracles with which ancient histories are filled, occurred under scientific conditions. Observation never once contradicted, teaches us that miracles occur only in periods and countries in which they are believed in and before persons disposed to believe in them.
We tend to think of consecration only as yielding up, when divinely directed, our material possessions. But ultimate consecration is the yielding up of oneself to God. Heart, soul, and mind were the encompassing words of Christ in describing the first commandment, which is constantly, not periodically, operative (see Matt. 22:37). If kept, then our performances will, in turn, be fully consecrated for the lasting welfare of our souls (see 2 Ne. 32:9).
When the institutions of money rule the world, it is perhaps inevitable that the interests of money will take precedence over the interests of people. What we are experiencing might best be described as a case of money colonizing life. To accept this absurd distortion of human institutions and purpose should be considered nothing less than an act of collective, suicidal insanity.
In the Destroyer's steps there spring up bright creations that defy his power, and his dark path becomes a way of light to Heaven.
The effect of violent dislike between groups has always created an indifference to the welfare and honor of the state.
The world is such-and-such or so-and-so only because we tell ourselves that that is the way it is.
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