Following on from the last post where I described different kinds of projection, this exercise is designed to assist in becoming aware of our prejudices and biases, likes and dislikes, etc.
And it is not as easy as it looks!
I recommend a bit of deep reflection and consider 1): what your values are and, 2): (a little trickier) what image that you want to portray to the world.
Try and be as honest as possible – once again – you may want the world to see it, or you may want no-one to see it. It’s up to you! If you want you can print out the page, or else just do it mentally.
And in characteristics or traits you can, obviously, put in a lot more if you want. If you really want to develop your self-awareness you will assign as much importance to the dislike as the like.
Someone you like and admire*: ___________________________
His/her traits and characteristics: ______________________________
Why are they attractive: ______________________________________
How close (1-10) are you to this person? __________________________
What would it be like to be with him/her for a week?
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Someone you never had much time for * ___________________________
His/her traits and characteristics: ______________________________
Why are they not attractive: ______________________________________
How close (1-10) are you to this person? __________________________
What would it be like to be with him/her for a week?
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* Could be a singer, celebrity, politician, actor, sportsperson or even a relative.
For example, I have great admiration for certain singers or songwriters. I have a lot of their albums, and I think their lyrics and music are very good. I project some of what I’d like to be myself onto such stars.
Also, their feelings about things (or, at least, what I interpret their feelings to be from their songs) match my own feelings about the same things – in a kind of symmetry.
Millions of others around the world experience the same symmetry – which is why they have so much success as artists.
There are other artists that I don’t really have much time for. They may be top-songwriters and artists in their own right with brilliant lyrics and melodies. But I probably don’t like them because even though I have nothing against them personally, they don’t really connect with me.
That is, I don’t have a strong feeling of symmetry with them or their melodies or lyrics.
There’s not much of me that I identify in them that I really want to be like. But they are also very famous, so obviously millions of other people do.
Think about the results – and write down what you found out about yourself.
As I said, the purpose of the exercise is self-awareness, nothing else.