Carter who lived his entire life for others; in this case his family. He made every sacrifice to make ends meet. He apparently lived well. But in spite of his talents Carter couldn’t get too far because he always had to keep his family needs ahead of his personal aspirations. One day Carter discovered that he’s dying of cancer, got only a year to live, found himself in a hospital waiting for death to come.
Next to him in his hospital room was the very owner of the hospital – billionaire Mr Cole who started earning when he was 16 and rose from rags to riches; had 3 wives, many successful businesses, American presidents ate out of his palms. Cole always kept his needs ahead of other’s. Perhaps that’s the reason why none of his relationships lasted; leaving him cynical and alone. Angry, caustic and deeply sad, Cole had only 6 months to live.
In that hospital room, death staring at them, reminiscing the life gone by, one was crying over the cost of his victories, another over the futility of his sacrifices. As they were fading in the dark, in those last few days their destiny got them closer. They made a life transforming decision. To live it up before dying.
It interesting how sometimes people come together and their core essence completely transforms the other; almost unrecognizable to the original form; making both change in their core essence. Cole continues his shenanigans but that rubs off upon Carter who learns to put himself ahead of others and fulfil most of his wishes before dying. In the bargain, out of love for Cole, unable to see him sad and lonely, Carter challenges him to mend his relationship with the only person he really loved – his estranged daughter. Cole begins to feel complete. He feels a lot more happy and becomes kind and loving.
Cole and Carter were both incomplete, unhappy owing to what life threw at them and how they chose to respond. But when they came together they acted like catalysts to make each other whole and complete. We are all incomplete like them. We all look for catalysts to come and transform us.
At another level in this story, Cole and Carter present a polarity. Cole egoist, self aggrandizing and Carter self sacrificing, self deprecating. Cole an aggressor and Carter a harmonizer. Cole represents a Warrior archetype and Carter represents Healer. Behaviourally they have nothing in common but in terms of results both are unhappy and feel incomplete. Living a polarity is a tricky business. One gets stuck in a mould and the `other’ becomes unavailable. Love for others unavailable to Cole and love for self unavailable to Carter. Cole couldn’t be with others in a meaningful way, Carter couldn’t be available to self. Relationships and people unavailable to Cole while actualization, self respect, meaning unavailable to Carter. For them to feel complete and happy about life, they needed to embrace the other without losing the core essence. It is interesting to see how when they came together their core transformed and their life efficacy improved many fold.
This integration, argued Carl Jung, leads to transcendence. It happens when we dissolve the polarity, when we integrate the opposite, when we own the disowned. In short, transcendence comes from integrating the shadows.
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