Discovering ourselves

Discovering ourselves is beautiful; the why of an inner journey

(Estimated Reading Time: 3 min, 59 sec)

Q: Better to ignore what happens inside of us or to turn to others to discover it? Why not try instead to understand it firsthand, starting a beautiful inner journey? Wouldn’t it be better and more interesting to discover your inner world than to discover new things outside with occasional voyages?

Ignoring does not solve problems, and on the contrary, risks aggravating them. Turning to others to discover (or rediscover) yourself would be a good idea if others could understand what happens within you. To understand this, you are the most entitled.

Who studies the interior of ourselves?

In a historical period in which we have maximum freedom and great opportunities to develop all aspects of human knowledge, we limit ourselves, replacing this way the limits set by institutions or by lack of resources.

If we look outside ourselves, we think we must drastically limit our field of research; we think human knowledge has become so extensive and deep that we can only get a knowledge of a tiny sector.

If we want to find out something about ourselves, we must rely on a specialist; the interior of ourselves, which was once a matter for philosophers, has become a major interest of psychologists and psychiatrists — and has become a specialized field. The moral is that we no longer look neither inward nor outward. We just read; we have many books, newspapers, magazines, TV broadcasts and videotapes that describe what’s inside and what’s outside of us.

The experience of others

We no longer come to the world to have our experience, but to learn the experience of others. A solid understanding of a tiny slice of knowledge enables us to compete with others and fit into society; within the limits of this slice, we still have some right to research. Is it enough?

This kind of research can have great value to society, but less value to ourselves. Where is the solution? Many find it in joining a person who searches for them; they become followers of sects whose leader has sought for all that interiority or meaning of life that only “experts” should seek. Someone refuses to rely on others’ experience and, not being able to do their own, they fall into defeatism, drugs, existential boredom. And here comes the dilemma: is it better to join the chorus of the followers of some established doctrine, or live apart from society?

There is a third solution, which exists since the dawn of time.