Making the Essential Enjoyable & Easy
Making Monday
I've heard it said that how we feel on Mondays is one of the clearest indicators of life satisfaction. Here is a quick thought on how to make Monday—and every day—work better...
The Mess of Identity
Our inner architecture includes levels of organization that range from the concrete and physical to the abstract and energetic.
I previously wrote about how we get stuck when these levels lack alignment regarding what they want or how they try to get it.
As teacher of radical inquiry J. Krishnamurti put it, “Our consciousness is in perpetual conflict, and rather messy.”
Rather messy. That rings true to me—if a bit quaint.
Identity is a level of organization that gets especially tangled. In my own work, I've found 3 major elements of Identity:
Roles—our functional personas, such as Parent, Child, Friend, Lover, Teacher, Student, Boss, Employee, Team Member, Bystander, and so on. These describe how we are related to others through outward personal and social relationship.
Archetypes—our internal universal personas, such as Sage, Explorer, Ruler, Creator, Caregiver, Hero, Mystic, Child (Magical, Wounded, Innocent), Rebel, Trickster, Saboteur, Jester, Avenger. This is the “cast of characters” we carry around. It's the 10,000-sided jewel described in some Eastern traditions, and the pantheon of gods from the Greeks.
Avatar—our aspect connecting directly to the Divine, to our deepest mission, purpose, and reason for being. It is often best embodied and communicated through a universal image or elemental symbol.
So in addition to all these elements of Identity and their conflicting needs and methods…
We add the disparities between how we see ourselves, how others see us, and what we hide from ourselves…
And it all gets—well, rather messy.
A way to begin untangling the mess is to become aware of what I call “pronoun abuse.”
Rather than speaking in terms of what “I” want and “I” need, we can start thinking in terms of what “part of me” wants and “part of me” needs.
We can learn to articulate these wants and needs more clearly and precisely, tracing them to their specific internal owner.
This simple mindset shift opens a dialogue between our conscious, choosing self and our many conflicted parts.
And getting all our parts to show up in the room with space to be heard is the beginning of peace and cooperation among them.
When all our parts start pulling in the same direction, the speed of transformation and movement toward what we most deeply desire is astounding.
Together, let's end the fight to change…
Delmar
