“Seth material” search engine (Jane Roberts)

As soon as I realized that Dreams, “Evolution,” and Value Fulfillment was going to be so long that it would require publication in two volumes, I began to think about how I was going to summarize here all of the material that Jane, Seth, and I had contributed to Volume 1. I developed the hilarious notion that if I did the job the way I really wanted to, this introduction would be as long as that first volume is itself! [...]

Our publishing company had very patiently waited for several years while Jane and I struggled to produce the book; in all that time no one ever exerted pressure upon us to hurry up and finish the job. [...]

It mirrored your attitudes toward your job, not toward your art in that regard. [...]

[...] If you wanted to leave your job badly enough and could not consciously decide to do so, then it would force the situation for you in the most obvious way possible.

[...] When Ruburt needed jobs he worked in a factory, or he was a sales clerk or a door-to-door sales person—jobs he felt that gave him no prestige. He was afraid, however, of such jobs—prestigious ones—for fear the need for money would lead him to neglect his work. [...]

[...] You used your dexterity in “artistic” ways in your jobs—but the bulk of your artistic yearnings were divorced completely from the world at large. [...]

Ruburt liked jobs where he was outside and free. [...] This, combined with your attitude that he take a normal job, almost literally paralyzed him, for your voice was added, in his mind you see, reinforcing the rigid attitude of the overly conscientious self. It deeply distrusted the spontaneity allowed in such jobs.

[...] An earlier particular fear felt during the day involving, say, a loss of a job may then be translated when you close your eyes into a series of seemingly unrelated symbols, all however connected to that one fear.

[...] Nowhere would the thought of the potential loss of a job enter in. [...]

[...] The job situation might never appear as such within any of the dreams, of course.

[...] It usually involves spending a certain amount of time at a job, for which you receive financial payment. [...] If you do not have a job you are lazy—so that work becomes of course a virtue, as well as, usually, a necessity.

[...] The creative person often is not wanted at a job, because their creativity by contrast with others’ behavior shows the vast difference between what I will now call joyful work and the usual variety.

With your projects of the past finished, the “man who needed a job” had no job. It was as if he were laid off, and immediately had to find a new job. That man approves of creative projects only when he thinks of them as jobs, when they become acceptable as legitimate male pursuits. [...]

Eyes bothered me quite a bit all day; got some discouraged though did try to keep spirits up, etc.; and did fairly decent job of it.

Ruburt received certain kinds of knowledge by taking various jobs throughout his early adulthood, including factory work or whatever. [...] On a certain level he took those jobs because he needed money, not because he needed experience in other lines of work or with other kinds of people. [...] He could not have faked pretending to need the jobs, or it would not have worked, so neither of you could pretend to have physical difficulties so that you could, for example, put yourselves in other peoples’ shoes. [...]

[...] When you gave up your job you did not have to explain why you did not have to find another as “any normal red-blooded male should do,” but stayed at home devoted to a time of painting and philosophy. [...]

[...] Before that, jobs for both of you served to make you rub elbows, so to speak, with others, and to equalize your paths and theirs. [...]

(An added note: I now also realize that my not having an outside job helps Jane perpetuate her symptoms—the idea of “protecting” me against the world, etc. [...]

[...] [But he could have chosen somebody else and he chose me because I had these ideas about work, wouldn’t threaten him with kids, make him get a regular job, keep us focused, etc. [...]

3. Above; of course; not enough money or a job I see as jeopardizing my artistic self; while with the physical condition I can write.

4. Can’t count on Rob to do much financially, would think it self-betrayal on his part to get a job, and he always complained at Artistic. [...]

[...] He took a routine job in a local business and stayed with it for over 20 years, all of the time hating to go to work, or saying that he did, and at the same time refusing to try other areas of activity that were open to him — because he was afraid to try.

[...] He had offers of other jobs that would have pleased him more, but he is so convinced of his lack of power that he did not dare take advantage of the opportunities. [...]

[...] One young lady wanted to quit her job, stay at home, and immerse herself in “psychic work,” hoping that her part in changing the world could be accomplished in that manner. [...]

[...] He doesn’t want to leave town, which is the place of his birth, to find a better job; nor does it occur to him to try and understand better the experiences of his fellow workers. [...]

If you want to change your job, and hold that desire, a new job will come into your experience in precisely the same fashion, in that the inner events will be arranged by the inner ego. [...] An event involving a job change concerns motion on the part of many people, and implies a network of communication on the part of all of the inner egos involved. [...]

There was some resentment against you, for he could not accept what he considered as a sacrifice on your part in jobs throughout your life, and yet he was angry because you would not do, he thought, what he had done—try to do your creative best, and then force the marketplace to take it. So if you had a job he felt you were sacrificing, but if you did not then he expected you to paint your best, and make the world take it, and pay for it.

[...] The fact that some of your criticisms are justified makes him worry the more, that he is not doing as good a job as he should.

[...] I would go back to painting, try to sell some, and possibly end up with a part-time job for ready money—anything to break the vicious mental pattern of distrust I seem to keep creating. [...]

[...] As you have said yourself, the people simply want to get through their day’s job as quickly and as easily as possible. [...]

[...] You would do far better, however, to think of painting rather than a simple job, which would certainly seem like cutting off your nose to spite your face. [...]

(9:47.) The idea of a simple job attracts you because it separates your ideas of art from money—but in order to content you it could not involve money at all, for even commercial art brings you to the matter of the artistic ideal and its practical presentation. [...]

Larry was telling me that he had a new job, running the cash register at a convenient grocery store, and I nodded but the (shivery) feeling persisted till the next moment when I checked my predictions.

[...] Could 3 and 7 — egg carton and milk man — apply to Larry’s grocery store job? [...]

[...] A fan (Larry), here from Pennsylvania, says he has a new 2nd job — in grocery chain convenient market (that sells basics — nothing fancy; eggs, milk, beer, etc.). [...]

[...] After not appearing on job for days. [...]

[...] They’re trying out two medications — Gentamicin and Bactrim — to see which will do the job best. [...]

[...] She called to tell Ruburt that she had lost her job this morning; but more than this, that she was involved in a week of very negative circumstances and emotional encounters. [...] She stayed home from work, and that situation culminated in the loss of her job.

She had wanted to leave her job for another one but was afraid of taking the step, so she created circumstances in which the decision was seemingly taken out of her hands; it would appear as if she were the victim of unfeeling co-workers, jealous and misunderstanding, and a boss who would not stand up for her.

[...] I’m in line for a great job… walk with other women thinking how amazed Rob will be if I take it or get it… and that it would be good for me to mix with people for a change. [...]

[...] If we ever meet we could ask you a lot of questions, but we have learned it’s tough to do much of a job by letter, so we’ll content ourselves with what’s been said above.

[...] It was her first job; she had to get working papers and a Social Security number. [...] That fall she continued on the job after school hours, and on an occasional Saturday.

[...] I even had trouble figuring out the cost of ounces of candy when I had that job in the five-and-dime store. [...]