Me, Myself and I: Musings on the Self

I’ve been thinking a lot about the Self today.

This is mostly because I spent my downtime at work working on my Level 2 Counselling Skills Certificate qualification, partly because I’ve started reading a book about Jungian archetypes and Tarot, and ultimately because I have a ton of thoughts I never knew I had.

I’m worried I’m not going to be able to make these thoughts coherent, but I have nothing else in my brain at the moment so this is today’s blog, I guess.

Over the last two days I’ve been learning about Carl Rogers’ Person-Centred Therapy and the interactions between Self-Image, Self-Worth, the Real-Self and the Ideal-Self (among other things).

To give you a quick breakdown (which I’ve had to re-write several times now because this is kind of complex): if your Real-Self and Self-Image are pretty close to each other (i.e. you’re not deluding yourself), and your Self-Image and your Ideal-Self overlap pretty well (i.e. the way you see yourself now is in alignment with where you want to be in the future) then your Self-Worth will be pretty high and you’ll be on the way to self-actualization (i.e. living your best life - pretty much).

My Ideal-Self is currently this pretty kitty.

Meanwhile on Planet Jung, I’m reading about the archetypes we encounter in the world and in ourselves: The Magician, The Fool, The Hermit, The Lover…

Add to these my personal exploration of Internal Family Systems Theory (where your Core Self is surrounded by Exiles, Managers and Firefighters - personifications of behaviours and beliefs created to keep you safe) and I’m not surprised that I’m feeling a little…existential.

I’ve restarted this paragraph about five times and I can’t put my thoughts into words. Useful.

I guess what I want to say is all of these things are interesting. All of these theories and perspectives are potentially useful. At the same time, they’re not perfect. For example, what does a Self-Actualized individual mean in the context of collective struggle, political upheaval or climate catastrophe? Are the Universal Archetypes of Jung a product of his Collective Unconscious or of cultural colonisation and globalisation?

Which one is right for my journey of inner-healing (cue the sound of a singing bowl and panpipes)? I don’t think that’s the most useful question. A better question, in my opinion, is this:

What are the best tools for me right now, in this moment, for this challenge?

Learning about the interaction between Self-Image and the Ideal-Self has made me think about how they could be more aligned for me. Exploring my own Internal Family System has helped me identify repeating patterns and understand their origin on a deeper level. As for the archetypes? Maybe tapping into my inner Fool will help me be less anxious about uncertainty. Who knows!

I think the tools I need right now, in this moment, are the ones that will help me get to know myself again. Which is hard, right? It can be difficult to sit with yourself, warts and all. Maybe that’s why I couldn’t write about anything else today.

Maybe, subconsciously, I knew I needed a reminder that I’m worth getting to know.