I’m convinced that the Self isn’t a thing. There is no entity, or measurable, directly observable object, called “the Self”.
Some say the Self is an illusion, but I was always impressed by the philosopher, Mary Midgely’s response to that…..which was to ask if the Self is an illusion who, or what, is having this illusion? I’m not convinced that the Self is an illusion.
Some say the Self is multiple, that there is a “community of selves”, or that the Self is multidimensional. Different dimensions, or aspects, of the Self are activated and expressed in different relationships, and different contexts. I’m convinced that the Self is multiple.
Some say the Self is a narrative, a story. I’ve got a lot of time for that idea. I’m pretty sure we weave together the events and experiences of our lives into our personal story both to make sense of life, but also to have a sense of Self, a sense of identity.
But that isn’t enough.
There’s more to who I am than my story. There’s my body. There’s my unconscious and subconscious reality, all the breathing and heart beating, and organ and cell and tissue function that is vital to me but of which I normally have zero awareness so can’t weave into a story.
I’m convinced of a Life Principle, a Life Force, or a “Vital Force”, not as an entity, not as an object, not as something “outside” of the body and the Self, but as something manifest AS the body and the Self and probably more besides….
There’s a red thread runs through life…..the thread of the Self as more than a construct, a narrative, an illusion, a force…..isn’t it just wonderful to experience that, to savour that, to enjoy that, to get to know that?
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