When relationship with self
Becomes mere convenience,
An empty shell forms,
No real core.
Our true self fades,
Lost in the fog.
We lose our compass,
We lose our guiding star’s light.
Floating alone,
In a big formless sea,
We drift through time,
Chained and confused.
Each moment blends
Into the next,
As we wander blind
Through days and space.
In this hazy trip,
Where who we are
Is in exile,
We find ourselves lost
In anonymous days.
The Fog of Self-Estrangement
Isn’t it striking how we can sometimes lose touch with our deepest selves? This piece really captures that sense of disconnection and drift that can happen when we neglect our inner world.
The idea of relationship with self becoming “mere convenience” reminds me of what psychologist Carl Rogers said: “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” When we stop truly engaging with ourselves, we lose that potential for growth.
When the poem speaks of losing our “guiding star’s light,” it echoes what philosopher Søren Kierkegaard meant when he wrote about “despair.” He saw it as a sickness of the spirit, a loss of self. As he put it, “The most common form of despair is not being who you are.”
This image of floating alone in a “big formless sea” also brings to mind what existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre called “nausea” – that feeling of disorientation when faced with the apparent meaninglessness of existence. It’s as if we’ve lost our anchor in the world. As Sartre states in “Nausea,” “Every existing thing is born without reason, prolongs itself out of weakness, and dies by chance.”
The blending of moments, wandering blind through time, reflects what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi termed the opposite of “flow.” Instead of being fully engaged in life, we’re disconnected, barely aware of our experiences.
Furthermore, the emphasis on the loss of identity (“Where who we are / Is in exile”) resonates with Sartre’s ideas about the fluid nature of self and the constant struggle for authentic existence. In “Existentialism Is a Humanism,” Sartre argues, “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself.” This idea is reflected in the poem’s suggestion that without a genuine connection to self, one becomes lost in “anonymous days.”
So what does all this mean? Maybe it’s about recognizing the importance of staying connected to our true selves. It’s about understanding that our relationship with ourselves is the foundation for all our other relationships and experiences.
Remember, every moment of self-reflection, every effort to reconnect with your core self, is a step out of the fog. As philosopher Martin Heidegger said, “Everyone is the other, and no one is himself.” The challenge is to find ourselves amidst the anonymity.
So if you feel lost in the haze of “anonymous days,” consider: How can you reconnect with your true self? Because isn’t that what gives life its richness and meaning? This ability to know ourselves, to be guided by our inner light. Your authentic self is waiting to be rediscovered. How will you reach out to it today?