I took another lawn-mowing photo. As usual, I mowed my neighbour’s lawns. I didn’t take a photo while in her backyard, mowing while nude. Once both back yards were done, I mowed both front lawns while wearing shorts. Well, all was fine or so I thought. My neighbour watched me mow her back lawn and commented to me wife about it. Discussion on what I did is being tabled until our return from Europe in June.
Anyone who claims to fully know themselves is likely less aware that those who admit to some confusion. We are complex beings What you see and get to know, for the most part, is the tip of an iceberg that floats in the sea. What is hidden from the ego, in the personal unconscious, is also “self.” We all have wondered, did I really do that, say that?
With this thought in mind, there is always something to discover about oneself. Usually, we learn from what others see and say about us. Rarely do we realise that we could learn even much more about ourselves by how we see and relate to others. Those whom we see in a positive light are usually mirroring positive things about ourselves about which we are unaware. Those whom we see in a negative light – anger, envy, annoyance, jealousy, fear, etc. – are mirroring inner aspects about ourselves that we aren’t ready to acknowledge. People such as myself in the fields of psychology, call these responses to others, “projections.”
We see naturists and nudists who seem much braver than ourselves, not realizing that within us lies the same hero or heroine. When we smile inwardly at naturist images, we are smiling at the same capability that lies within. We just don’t realise it. It takes work and a lot of reflection to take back our projections and “own” what we put onto others. We all project onto others, but we don’t all come to understand what we have done and to withdraw those projections. Why? Likely because one would then have to own the darkness within as well as the light. We would rather live with illusions (delusions) about who we are. We work hard a believing and trying to convince others about the persona we create for ourselves, telling them, “what you see is all there is.”