Quests & the «Damaged» Self

The «Equilibrium» Problem…
«Feeling Good» depends on adequate Self-esteem

It is not possible to operate the Feel Good Quests without a minimum of self-esteem.

If you have had a good-enough childhood and avoided traumatization (or recovered from it), self-esteem is not problematic. Until personal maturity is developed, self-esteem can easily be hurt e.g. by normal failure or ill-considered rejection, by well-deserved criticism or unfair disparagement. However, the hurt is usually temporary, because remedial action is taken to regain equilibrium. You either turn your mind to something enjoyable, or talk it over with supportive friends, or try again, or try something else.

Unfortunately, persistent low self-esteem may be associated with an unresponsive «feeling bad» state that interferes with normal functioning. The person wants to feel good: is desperate to feel good. However, a fundamental precondition for the Pleasure & Meaning Quests is simply lacking.
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...& Its Solution
«Knowing Clearly» can be mimicked by Belief

When self-esteem is damaged beyond easy repair, and this is not uncommon, equilibrium cannot be developed using Feel Good Quests, however, well they might otherwise suit the person. The Quests in the knowing clearly quadrant do, however, provide a solution because they only require belief.

  • While Enlightenment requires self-awareness, simply asserting beliefs about oneself is easy. With a little more effort you can understand, learn, repeat and apply a sophisticated doctrine about «the self».
  • Spirituality is possibly easier because the self is dismissed and protected via maximum detachment. So whether the spiritual experiences are genuine or not becomes irrelevant from your personal perspective and in social terms.

Belief is something that can be privately managed and maintained against others as a powerful shield against hurt and fearful reality. Belief works best when it is part of a doctrine, and when that doctrine is shared either by many others, or by a small group that also provides reinforcement and social support.

The «Immersion» Problem…
«Entangled Activity» requires Imagination

It is not possible to allow immersion and find your way successfully while «working in-flow» without recourse to the imagination. As well as counter-intuitive leaps, there must be tolerance for the mysterious emergence of thoughts, or the absence of thought. Dependence on the imagination is naturally far greater in supreme-courage creation where a person becomes utterly entangled in a drawn out and tumultuous process.

Failure or distrust of the imagination is a feature of rigid personality structures developed to keep traumatic experiences at bay. A free-roaming imagination is intolerable because it generates nightmares, paranoid anxieties and fears of going mad: all of which make immersion and entanglement intolerable.

...and Its Solution
«Discretionary Interaction» only needs Observation

Immersion in reality via observation is far more certain, safe and socially supported than using imagination. So the discretionary interaction Quests are unlikely to lead to confusion, disruption or disintegration in the ramifications of the real world.

  • Salvation does not target marginal cases of distress, but looks out for the worst and most blatant cases of social neglect and personal misfortune. For a damaged person, providing practical help creates an unequivocal sense of immersion.
  • Obedience involves observing and following given duties, rules and procedures whose completion is evidence of the right immersion in reality. Being under personal auspices, it is more controllable and straightforward than Salvation.

If in either Quest there has been a misjudgement, and reality suddenly becomes complicated and threatening, disconnection is possible and a new focus can be sought just by looking.

Originally posted:  27-Jul-2012.