Reflection of the day
This phrase, so often repeated, so easily misinterpreted. You see, when we hear this, we tend to think of it as a call for individuality, a demand to assert ourselves against the world. We picture the 'self' as a singular, fixed entity, an object we are meant to find, to shape, to claim as our own. But this is where the confusion begins, for the 'self' is not something we simply define or create through willpower. It is an image, a soul's image, that emerges from the depths of the psyche.
To be yourself is not to conform to the shallow demands of modern identity politics or to follow some neatly packaged version of selfhood. No, the true self is not an identity you construct; it is an unfolding, a becoming. It is the soul's unique call, the image that quietly gestates within you, waiting to be revealed, not through external pressure, but through your deepest engagement with the unconscious, with your dreams, with the symbols and motifs that whisper in the dark.
To be yourself, then, is not to strive for an idealized version of who you think you should be. It is to listen deeply, to the voices, the fragments of dreams, the forgotten stories that reside within you. To be yourself means to become familiar with the images that inhabit your soul, to accept their complexity, and to follow them without knowing where they will lead.
The task is not to find yourself in the sense of grasping a fixed identity, but to become yourself, slowly, incrementally, and with a sense of reverence for the mystery that you are. The true self is not an achievement but a process, an unfolding that is never quite complete. It's an ongoing conversation between the conscious and the unconscious, where both guide each other.
So, when you hear 'be yourself,' do not think of a simplistic call to express your ego. Think instead of the deeper, older task: to listen to the soul's image, to recognize the patterns that have always been part of you but are often hidden in the shadows of your awareness. The 'self' you need to be is not simply the person you are now, but the person that is quietly calling you from within, waiting for you to respond, not with certainty, but with curiosity and trust in the path that is uniquely yours.
