What exactly is the "ego"?
in Spirituality ·
me
just an unknown variable,
a vessel holding
absolutely nothing
sitting on a dusty shelf
knocked over
on my end
the air is gone,
hollow
and dry.
just waiting
for someone
to grab me
and pour something in
that actually makes sense,
something that can be
recognized
and given a name;
something with a clear label
so
I can finally be understood
and tucked away in a specific
spot.
I could finally be placed
right there
among all the other bottles.
I’d finally look like
I actually belong. Ruth McLean
I’ve always been more of a poetry person than a philosophy buff🙂
But looking at this (and honestly, everything else), the "self" is always defined by its connections—it's like trying to study a single cell completely isolated from the rest of the body.
The "self" really needs to be analyzed through context and relationships.
A pure, isolated "self" just doesn't make any sense. It's just like a biological cell: we can map out every tiny detail, but once you pull it out of its environment, it loses its entire purpose.
Since I already posted this poem: it’s fascinating how any individual, whether human or animal, feels this profound sense of being lost or disconnected if they don't have a place within their community. Everything depends on that context. And let's face it, none of us live outside of a context.
The "self" is essentially a relationship.
That so-called strong, walled-off "ego" usually struggles to build those connections, which is why it suffers so much (no matter how self-satisfied those egoists try to act).
The "self" is actually the soul.
And the soul isn't some pale, flickering silhouette floating out in the void somewhere.
The soul is about connection.
The most fundamental relationship any soul has is the bond between the "self" and the Source.
But man, that's a whole different conversation...
By the way, our sense of "self" is shaped so heavily by how we were raised during early childhood.
But again, that's a topic for another day!🙂
just an unknown variable,
a vessel holding
absolutely nothing
sitting on a dusty shelf
knocked over
on my end
the air is gone,
hollow
and dry.
just waiting
for someone
to grab me
and pour something in
that actually makes sense,
something that can be
recognized
and given a name;
something with a clear label
so
I can finally be understood
and tucked away in a specific
spot.
I could finally be placed
right there
among all the other bottles.
I’d finally look like
I actually belong. Ruth McLean
I’ve always been more of a poetry person than a philosophy buff🙂
But looking at this (and honestly, everything else), the "self" is always defined by its connections—it's like trying to study a single cell completely isolated from the rest of the body.
The "self" really needs to be analyzed through context and relationships.
A pure, isolated "self" just doesn't make any sense. It's just like a biological cell: we can map out every tiny detail, but once you pull it out of its environment, it loses its entire purpose.
Since I already posted this poem: it’s fascinating how any individual, whether human or animal, feels this profound sense of being lost or disconnected if they don't have a place within their community. Everything depends on that context. And let's face it, none of us live outside of a context.
The "self" is essentially a relationship.
That so-called strong, walled-off "ego" usually struggles to build those connections, which is why it suffers so much (no matter how self-satisfied those egoists try to act).
The "self" is actually the soul.
And the soul isn't some pale, flickering silhouette floating out in the void somewhere.
The soul is about connection.
The most fundamental relationship any soul has is the bond between the "self" and the Source.
But man, that's a whole different conversation...
By the way, our sense of "self" is shaped so heavily by how we were raised during early childhood.
But again, that's a topic for another day!🙂
