Finding thyself has been the occupation of the human mind since it became conscious but to find thyself we must first know what we refer to as self.
What do we really mean by self?
Is it our identity card?.... Yet those cards do not say much about us. Or it is our bodies and facial features.....But the later change so how can I still be me if I
constantly change? Self, for us, must be changeless so that we stay recognizable.
Philosophers varied in their opinions about this subject. On one hand, we have those who believed that the self is a metaphysical soul that transcends beyond the physical. On another hand, some assumed that it is a bundle of our perceptions.
Even psychologists seem to have an opinion too.
Some psychologists think that the self is our personality and this personality can fall into categories according to MBTI/BIG FIVE tests. This means that to find thyself we must take those personality tests. Yet those change as we age and react to different circumstances.
Other psychologists like Freud and Carl Jung believed in the idea of conscious and unconscious. So knowing thyself implies being conscious of the unconscious so that we can integrate our unconscious selves into the Self with big "S".
Why do we need to find ourselves?
Lacking self-knowledge, stable sense of our worth, makes us praise junkies, depressed for being undervalued and unoriginal by being slaves to what crowds love.
And no one on earth wants to be a slave and adherent to groupthink.
Therefore having self-knowledge means owning our selves and the power to independently consult our selves for what we truly worth and want.
How to find thyself?
The individuation process of Jung is very complicated so it requires a certain level of awareness before getting into it.
to get into that level of awareness let's start small
Steps:
- The first baby step is to know that no one is born with an innate capacity to know who they are.
- The second step is to start noticing our inner world in the external situations
- The third step is writing what is happening inside your mind.
- The fourth step is to look at our register and start paying attention to the pattern of emotions and thoughts than try to discover why we have them without judging our selves (Personality tests help us explain some of the feelings we have).
Rules:
- Looking at your self with radical humility and empathy.
- Persistence: knowing thyself is a journey.
- Don't be quick to judge: it takes time to truly acknowledge the reasons behind our behaviors.
- Don't run away from your inner confrontations.
To find our selves, we must lose our selves by taking the hero path and face the dragon within.
The steps that I have given won't reach you to the end of the path and the absolute knowledge of who you are.
What I've talked about are baby steps if you don't take them you will stumble in your adult steps.
Examples:
- You can't know if you are an introvert if you don't notice what you really feel during parties.
- You cant know the level of openness if you are not aware of your feelings during philosophical debates.
- You can't express your feelings to a psychologist if you don't know what your feelings are.
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