From narrative therapist Michael White:
- We know the truth about you.
- You’re troubled because you’re repressed.
- If you could truly be yourself, you’d be happy.
UPDATE: This means my Secret Happy Special Place Where No One Else Can Go is closed indefinitely.
#3 is especially pernicious. How can one be other than oneself? If a person is unhappy and seeks to be happy that, then that person must be open to changes that cannot be known beforehand.
And don’t get me started on how #3 ties into authenticity….
If a person is unhappy and seeks to be happy, then that person must be open to changes that cannot be known beforehand.
Changes that are, by definition, impossible. If you’re not already yourself, then who are you? Maybe the problem is that you are already yourself. But that wouldn’t square with America’s obsession with the gnostic myth of the orphic child. Sigh. We’re back to my Secret Happy Special Place again, aren’t we, Curtiss?
I wouldn’t get rid of that Secret Happy Special Place yet, Chutney. Being happy is a rare thing, and what is a lie to one person is truth to anouther.
It seems to me that “being your true self” is code for “dropping some baggage”.
I wouldn’t get rid of that Secret Happy Special Place yet, Chutney. Being happy is a rare thing, and what is a lie to one person is truth to anouther.
It seems to me that “being your true self” is code for “dropping some baggage”.