Category Archives: Self-Knowledge

Using Projections to Gain Self-Knowledge

A pro­jec­tion hap­pens any­time some­one uncon­scious­ly places their own beliefs, desires, con­clu­sions or expe­ri­ences onto anoth­er per­son or group of peo­ple. In its pos­i­tive form, it may help us empathize with oth­ers, as we use our expe­ri­ence to imag­ine their real­i­ties. Unfor­tu­nate­ly, pro­jec­tion has a dark­er side and becomes less pos­i­tive when it serves as […]

March 15, 2023 – 1:50 pm | By Dan Oestreich | Posted in Conflict, Consciousness, Journey of Unlearning, Self-Knowledge, Truth | Comments (0)

Defensiveness is the Problem of Our Time

At a deep lev­el, self-reflec­­tion can be a bridge across trou­bled waters, a way to lib­er­ate our­selves from that most dam­ag­ing dis­ease to which lead­ers are prone – which is defen­sive­ness.  Defen­sive­ness is the instinct to pro­tect who and what we are.  While it is impor­tant to be able to defend one­self from unfair attacks, false nar­ra­tives, and […]

March 7, 2023 – 2:41 pm | By Dan Oestreich | Posted in Choices, Love, Openness, Self-Knowledge | Comments (0)

We Are Enough

Not long ago a client strug­gling with his con­di­tion­ing asked a telling ques­tion: “If I can’t be sure that the mes­sages I’m send­ing myself are true, how on earth can I trust my own judg­ment?” The con­di­tion­ing he bat­tled had to do with his con­stant wor­ries that he was mak­ing too many mis­takes in his […]

January 4, 2023 – 2:31 pm | By Dan Oestreich | Posted in Choices, Consciousness, Fate and Destiny, Journey of Unlearning, Self-Knowledge, Trust | Comments (2)

On Saying What You Mean

Some­times when a per­son becomes ill, their skin becomes sen­si­tive. Mere­ly brush­ing the hair on an arm becomes painful. Some­thing like that seems to be hap­pen­ing in orga­ni­za­tions right now., sen­si­tive skin being a metaphor for a painful hes­i­ta­tion to talk in a mean­ing­ful way to oth­ers.  Will keeps his video feed off on almost […]

October 21, 2022 – 6:32 pm | By Dan Oestreich | Posted in Healing, Self-Knowledge | Comments (4)