Presenter: Dr Ian McCallum

We all have a personal story – a journey to tell and re-tell. The journey is indeed heroic and when viewed through a psychological lens, archetypal. Dr McCallum will draw on two heroic poems: “Salmon Boy” by David Wagoner and “Ithaca” by Cavafy to highlight this journey’s historical, universal, and individual significance.

Every human life is, in its own way, a journey… an Iliad and an Odyssey … a going out and a coming home.  In search of deeper sense of place, agency and identity in the world and for some, the universe itself, it is a journey of twists, turns and feedback, of continually shaping and at the same time, being shaped by people, animals, places and events. No one comes through it unscarred. Along the way, we all have our souls trodden on somewhere, sometime and often by something or someone we thought we knew or understood. And yet, we all, sometimes without knowing it, tread on the souls and dreams of others. The journey is indeed heroic, and when viewed through a psychological lens, archetypal. We are all, in our own way, born seekers of food, turf, adventure, continuity and meaning in our lives. It is an inner and an outer journey at the same time. It is heroic, however absurd and more … it is deeply poetic. It resonates in the psyche of every human being.

To highlight the historical, universal and individual significance of this journey I will draw on two heroic poems: “Salmon Boy” by David Wagoner and “Ithaca” by Cavafy.

We all have a personal story … a journey to tell, and re-tell. To enhance our performance as professionals, this presentation addresses the various ‘milestones’ – not only the adventures – leaving home, expanding our psychological and philosophical boundaries, finding our strengths and weaknesses, but also, the misadventures – the way we handle the inevitable misfortunes in our lives and in the lives of our patients.

Ian McCallum is a psychiatrist, analytical psychologist, and a foundation member of SAAJA. He is an adjunct professor at the Nelson Mandela University Graduate School of Business in Port Elizabeth and an honorary lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cape Town. His interests focus on evolutionary biology, conservation psychology and environmental ethics. He is the author of two anthologies of wilderness poems: Wild Gifts (1999), Untamed (2012). He was the writer/poet for the Mail and Guardian award winning ‘UNTAMED’ exhibition at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens (2010-2012). His book Ecological Intelligence – Rediscovering Ourselves in Nature won the Wild Literary Award at the World Wilderness Congress in Mexico 2009. He is a co-founder of the International League of Conservation Writers (www.ilcwriters.org), a specialist wilderness guide and trustee of the Cape Leopard Trust and a founding partner of safari organisation Invent Africa (www.inventafrica.co.za).