In my practice I see so many people who come to see me in dismay when they faced a part of themselves that they didn’t know existed. Just like a kaleidoscope, when handled and moved in different directions, different shapes and colors appear. Shapes and colors that were not there before, but somehow, they emerged.
So it has occurred to me, after interacting with so many people over many years, that there are countless parts in us that emerge when something or someone “shakes us”. In those situations a dormant, latent part awakens and becomes more prominent.
The famed Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote many essays on the collective unconscious. We dream dreams that belong to the universe, to multiple generations. Messages secretly hidden which are waiting to be deciphered and integrated into our life.
We’ve all seen stories of those who “rose to the occasion” when placed under unusual or unexpected circumstances. Perhaps all the archetypes live in us, in a state of hibernation, waiting to come to the surface when needed: The mother, the warrior, the wise man, the fool, the creator, the hero, the magician, to mention some.
When one of these archetypes awaken, the kaleidoscope changes: we now see a different side of it, one that we didn’t know it was there. I am many fragments of a woman; we are many fragments perhaps of humankind. Sometimes I’ll express it in my voice, in my gestures, in the way I present myself, the way I dress and the accessories I choose to carry.
I am a psychotherapist-knowledgeable, warm, empathetic. I open the door with one solid movement, I hold it for my patients. I have a steady and warm voice; sometimes I am funny, and we laugh. As I do so, of part of the kaleidoscope is the one that shines the most. The other pieces have become smaller, making rule for that one that needs a different sparkle.
I am also a mother. When I act in that role towards my children, different pieces of my kaleidoscope shine differently.
Every interaction I have throughout the day shakes the kaleidoscope in a particular way. The pieces re-accommodate constantly.
How many pieces of us are there really? I don’t think this is something we should ponder much. I believe the question is how to integrate and reconcile these different pieces? Find out how best to explore and integrate the parts into a whole.
Carl Jung talked about the concept of individuation as the end goal of existence. The sum of all the pieces makes a whole. Integrating the idea that we are a “human kaleidoscope” might give us a sense of completeness. In each piece there is a nucleus to be explored, to be dissected and understood as a vital part of our self.