Carl Jung first wrote about the phenomenon of the two halves of life. During the first half of life, a person develops confidence in his or her identity (ego), shaping it through life’s experiences and desire for success, need for belonging, importance and security. As a person grows spiritually, though, he may find that the conscious things that initially shape his first half of life no longer help him in a path to self-discovery. If he seeks growth, he begins to face the second half of life where he must look inward and beyond what he perceives as acceptable to others.

In the midst of these random summer games, I grew up alongside my siblings and neighbors. We played until it grew dark, or until we were called inside for dinner or to watch The Muppet Show. We did not pay attention to the passing of time. It might have been the closest experience of kairos that we ever knew. Kairos is a Greek word philosopher Paul Tillich (1886-1965) explained as “God’s time.” Also referred to as “deep time,” kairos meant we lived in the present moment, unrelated to the past or the future. It allowed us the freedom to be our true selves. Then, I did not have any concept of myself as an individual, except for wanting to grow taller. My true self, or who I really am as God created me to be, expressed herself without hesitation, naturally and unconsciously when I was very young. Then, as I grew up, my true self was harder to find.