Psychology
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Possible Selves: the person you hope to be, fear becoming, and are
There’s a gap in your perception. And the reality is, you likely exist somewhere between who you hope to be, who you fear you are, and who you actually are. We’re all like this—to some degree. Psychologists call these our possible selves: who we hope to become, who we fear becoming, and the other versions of us we carry around in our heads (Markus & Nurius, 1986). If noticed, we can use them to our advantage. But the best news? None of them is absolute. And none of them is entirely real. Possible selves, three main versions At one end, there’s the person you hope to be. This is who…
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Distance running with my selves
Lace up your best long distance running shoes Now that it’s spring, I’m running outside. I love running. It’s my favorite. When I was a kid, my favorite sport was soccer because it covered the most ground. At the time, running felt like flying. It was otherworldly. In a sprint, I could move beyond myself. Today, my sense of “self” and moving beyond it are quite different. Running is less about flying and more about ghostbusting (another childhood favorite). Yet while I’d like to think, “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts,” sometimes, sadly, I run with them. The fact is, humans are multidimensional. So multidimensional that from a Dynamic Systems…
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Dream interpretation – why I record, consider, and analyze my dreams
What I think I know about dreams (so far) For the past five years, I’ve been exploring dreams. In fact, I saw a Jungian Psychoanalyst before and after my mom’s death. Perhaps it was intuition. On some level, my body knew that a major life event was occurring. For those who don’t know, Jungian Therapy, like Freudian analysis, includes analyzing dreams. If dream interpretation sounds a little out there, that’s because it is; why we dream is ultimately unknown. Nonetheless, I remain faithful to dreams, recording them, considering them, and then, perhaps most of all, analyzing them to the best of my ability. I do this because dreams offer a window…
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The October past personas project
Awkward Sam-ily Photos: October past personas A lot has happened in 2023. My daughter was born. My mom and dog died. Outside of my personal sphere, I also witnessed many other entrances and exits with friends, family, and former college classmates. In total, a significant year of death and (re) birth. And what a time to acknowledge this: October, the month of Halloween – a time of disguises, the living dead, and changing personas. In October, we’re given license to be someone else. But if adding a dash of makeup and a dark outfit is all one needs to be someone else, it makes me wonder – how solid was…
