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75th Birthday Testament Strephon Kaplan-Williams

This is written on my 75th birthday, early morning and 7:30 AM, Malden, The Netherlands.

Today marks the time point of living 75 years doing mostly good work in the world bringing in dreamwork more into the world and building on my dreamwork ancestors like Jung and other Jungians, and also building on all the discoveries I have made in working with training and dream groups since 1977 when I founded the Jungian-Senoi Dreamwork Institute in Berkeley, California.

• My basic principle to live by that I had chosen before receiving the diagnosis of possible lung cancer was to live without ambition or striving but to respond as I could to those requests of value that come my way.

It’s a responding attitude rather than a striving attitude.

I gave up playing tennis which is mostly aggressive game playing. It became too much to try and win games by beating other players. Men my age were still playing to win, to beat me and other players. This seemed lonely for them to have this as a goal in their wisdom years. I played tennis for the skills, the fight, the winning, the focus, the exercise. Now I would find other ways to exercise and do quiet, non-aggressive things.

In business I asked everybody who has anything to do with me to settle with me and not base too much on the past but build a foundation for the future to move forward in life.

This means transferring the knowledge and good will to the ‘people of the future, and ‘people of the past,’ like myself, giving it all up so others can take over, for better and for minimal worse, helping humanity as I have tried to do.

Now the cancer diagnosis accelerates the process, sharpens the focus, shows more sharply that choices must be made, and that the end of life must be included in people’s timelines regarding me.

• “Time waits for no person.”

This 75th birthday is also a time to acknowledge users, friends, colleagues, companions, support people, leadership, and all it has taken to get this far.

Serenity is also a key principle to practice. Yes, fighting if part of many change processes, but let us emphasize instead the principle and practice of serenity, whatever that means to you.

Now I await the day …

Strephon Kaplan-Williams

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