John Steinbeck preferred coasts to mountains, but the opposite is true of Joshua Powell, the artist-author of an artful new book, The Pacific Crest Trail: A Visual Compendium. Quoted in a February 20, 2021 Spokesman-Review profile by Stephanie Hammett, the Washington State resident said that he picked up a copy of Steinbeck’s 1945 novel Cannery Row while staying overnight with friends in Belton, California (pop. 22) in 2012. He kept the copy his hosts gave him in his knapsack, working his way along the 2,653-mile Pacific Crest Trail—and having an unexpected experience of discovery. “’I would pull it out and read it from time to time, maybe 10 minutes before going to sleep, but it ended up having a huge effect on my experience,’” Powell told Hammett, who added that Powell “started seeing connections between his hike and the plot surrounding the character of Doc in Cannery Row, an early thru-hiker of sorts himself.” John Steinbeck continues to sustain the young artist-author. “’That was kind of shocking to me, that this book I just randomly happened to find, by a very famous writer, actually had this direct connection to what I was doing,’ he said, explaining how he went from casually reading Cannery Row to tracking down every bit of Steinbeck he could find.”
Photo of Joshua Powell by Laura Goff courtesy of the Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review.
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A Jungian would likely conclude the appearance of the book in the life of Mr. Powell “a meaningful coincidence” or synchronicity. It is not uncommon for a book dropping to one’s feet from a shelf in a book store that is directly related to a person’s personal struggle, circumstance, or challenge. And I believe this experience of Mr. Powell is exactly what happened.
“The suspicion that this must be a case of meaningful coincidence, i.e., an acausal connection, is very natural. I must own that this run of events made a considerable impression on me. It seemed to me to have a certain numinous quality. 10 In such circumstances we are inclined to say, “That cannot be mere chance,” without knowing what exactly we are saying.”
Jung, C. G.. Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle. (From Vol. 8. of the Collected Works of C. G. Jung)
I’ve posted dozens of examples of Jungian wisdom on this site to be met with silence from an evidently highly educated population. The quotes are certainly NOT based on new ideas but they do fly directly into the face of ego defended occidental hierarchical structured academia.
‘Personally I do not understand how one could read Steinbeck/Ricketts and not become curious about their expanded, holistically scoped conclusions. It completely baffles me except for the ego driven “not invented here” among academic hierarchy.
Just think how reading Steinbeck/Ricketts could be a significantly expanded and useful experience if it were based on expanded philosophical foundation.
Questions, challenges, outright threats welcomed.
Wesley Stillwagon
Electronic Technician and Jungian
Clinton, North Carolina, USA
Thank you so much for highlighting my book and experience with Steinbeck on the PCT! So glad I stumbled upon that copy of Cannery Row and rekindled my interest in Steinbeck. And thanks for all the great content you share on this site. Best Wishes, Josh Powell