The analysis of the self involves an assessment of the fundamental understanding of one’s reality and existence. Philosophers from the onset of a wild hunt for the truth have grappled with questions about the society’s composition (Ciaunica and Aikaterini 180). The search proceeds to understand why the world is the way it is and why there is a continuous transition in perception. People are obsessed with finding themselves, as demonstrated by Oprah’s TV show which inspired countless souls on the journey of self-discovery (Moss 17). We do not find ourselves; instead, we make ourselves because a person’s identity is continually evolving.
The idea is rather flawed; the search for oneself is as assuming that it is waiting for someone at some point in life or after a given encounter. There is no ‘real’ self somewhere waiting to be found, and it is merely a fatalism. The implied perception is that if indeed there were a ‘true’ self, it must be preordained and static (Ciaunica and Aikaterini 182). One would conclude that it is, therefore, the goal of human life. As such, an individual is born with the sole purpose of struggling throughout their entire lives trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle and someday find who they are. Essentially, destiny is embedded in the quest toward self-discovery and is in control instead of a particular person. Consequently, the conclusion is that humans are not complete until this goal is achieved.
The ideology that we make ourselves holds because humans are continually evolving. The self that one can be searching for is daily transforming based on the environment and life encounters which shapes perception. Each moment an individual is experimenting and experiencing new modes of living in a continuous growth phase. The proof of this dogma can be seen in the diminishing tastes in old age. The things which a person once had an intimate interest in slowly become useless and irrelevant. Conversely, some of the things which did not matter much in youth can become inseparable in one’s life. As such, the desire to find oneself does not come from preordained destiny, and one merely lives while being shaped by life itself.
However, there is a counter-argument to the notion of creating the self instead of finding oneself. The analogy used to demonstrate this is drawn from the concepts of visualization. (Ciaunica and Aikaterini 183). For instance, to create a house’s blueprint, an architect must first create a series of images in the mind before translating them into paper. Similarly, one cannot create themselves without undertaking the self-discovery journey. Despite this process taking a lifetime, it is worth every effort, and life becomes meaningful with an understanding of who a person is. However, it is somehow related to spirituality, a fascinating adventure relating to the metaphysical. It generates awareness and relation to a first-person observation of reality which is philosophically significant.
Both the self and emotions are connected in the trait they share, the need for advancement. While identity-unearthing is indispensable for most emotional processes, it is imperative to recognize that everyone is continually evolving. Therefore, the exploration would be a lifelong quest that is unending whose results are indeterminable. People can keep track of their transformation without putting it as a destiny’s course and live through moments. Consequently, the focus should be on the growth process in developing and advancing the self through life’s experiences.
Works Cited
Ciaunica, Anna, and Aikaterini Fotopoulou. “The Touched Self: Psychological and Philosophical Perspectives on Proximal Intersubjectivity and the Self.” Embodiment, Eaction, and Culture Investigating the Constitution of the Shared World (2017): 173-192.
Moss, Caroline. Work It, Girl: Oprah Winfrey: Inspiring Biographies for Aspiring Girl Bosses. Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2019.