Comments on: Forking Paths https://unwinnable.com/2012/04/27/forking-paths/ Stories about Culture Thu, 30 Nov 2017 22:53:19 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Andrew https://unwinnable.com/2012/04/27/forking-paths/#comment-35082 Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:49:51 +0000 https://unwinnable.com/?p=29890#comment-35082 I recently watched The Power of Myth and there was a bit about how everyone has this "Shadow Person." At first, I thought it sounded like a load of hooey, something a strip mall fortune teller that's using a repurposed bowling ball to divine bullshits o'plenty, but after some further unfurling of this Shadow Person theory, it became clear that it's something I do myself with just about everyone I encounter. If we don't like someone and make a snap judgment about them, it's because we're seeing something in that person we don't like about ourselves by way of projecting. But I'm with you, I lost roughly a hundred pounds in the last couple of years and every time I see a guy miserably sweating outside a GameStop smoking a cigarette, pleading to those on high to scrape through the day without some asshole calling him fat, I get a bit of the old "Jesus, that's me. That WAS me. That, in a many great ways, is STILL me."

But then again, the fat guy in the trench coat, fedora and bookbag is pretty much the zeitgeist of our generation. Sad but true.

]]> By: Davey Wreden https://unwinnable.com/2012/04/27/forking-paths/#comment-34969 Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:30:21 +0000 https://unwinnable.com/?p=29890#comment-34969 I had a friend once who I despised being around because he reminded me of the worse of my own tendencies, he was this walking reminder of every insecurity I had and what I didn't want people to see in me. I thought he was another version of me. It was only after a certain point I realized that actually he wasn't me, that the difference between the two of us was far greater and more complex than the question mark in your pic at the top of the article. But everyone sees what they want to see, and for a while all I saw was the overlapping insecurities. Thinking that he and I were the same person was keeping me from putting those insecurities in the past and becoming whoever I wanted to be. (damn that sounds cheesy) Plus, it acts as a kind of crutch, if I think that this other person and I are the same it implies a sort of biological predisposition to that kind of behavior. If I thought that no one else was like me, I'd have no excuse for doing exactly what I personally want.

Like you said, the biggest question is, are you happy? You are not that guy and there are a thousand reasons why. If he's happy or sad it's for an uncountable number of reasons that have nothing to do with your life. Interestingly if you got to know him better you'd probably find that out, but the distance makes for better snap judgements. I personally find it just takes repetition, noticing my pattern of projecting my insecurities onto others, and every time I do it reminding myself of the Truth.

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