The Wisdom of Eric

Inner Voices and duality of life experience

Once I related how I had a feeling that an acquaintance was ‘using’ me which led to a discussion on the idea of self.  Eric noticed that I seemed to talk about my experience using different voices.  I considered this and realised that these voices were aspects of my sense of self – be strong, anti-authoritarian, judging, yet compassionate and caring.

With the strong and judgement voices I felt my father.  I  noticed how the voices are hierarchical and interlinked – for example, I see someone who is perhaps

obese, and I judge them.  I judge because there is something in their struggle which is within me, with my battle to maintain my weight and I find it intolerable. But: I recognise it is also because I care for them.  I feel they do not deserve to carry such a burden.  In the case of my acquaintance, he commented that he could not turn things around for himself, and I judged him weak for not making the effort, yet at the same time, I felt heartbroken for him, as I really wanted to help.

There are so many dualities in life and when this awareness hit us, we can realise the very thing we don’t like in others, is the very thing that we are  frightened of facing in ourselves. The good news is that we can become aware of it, and use it to constantly remind ourselves of our authentic selves.  The part of us that comes from love and compassion. Encouraging us to keep working hard to hold the tension between our sense of self and sense of otherness. Not easy I know, and I am still afraid of others seeing my authentic light.

Being true to myself, enables others to reflect on their experience of me, so that their inner world becomes my inner world and vice versa.  I realise that I have a choice to be a person of compassion and love. Or not.

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