Projection

Psychological projection is a theory in which humans defend themselves by denying certain traits and characteristics that exist within them and can then only see those traits in others.

This is something that I believe I have been guilty of and recently ended up on the end of someone else’s serious projections to the point it was quite disturbing and upsetting. I really can see how it causes so many problems at work, home life and friendships . I wonder how many wars have started because of this.

When we rest our minds in denial and complacency we often find ourselves projecting outwards. However our minds can be our best friends but also very sneaky. Even if there is a high degree of personal awareness, our blind spots are there. It can often be heightened at times of pain and defensiveness. We often can’t look inwards as the implications to this might require change and action with a high personal cost of some kind.

I always try and catch myself when I hear myself judging or simply reacting in a defensive way to someone. It doesn’t always work as we are all guilty of wilful blindness but that’s okay, we must never forget to be kind to ourselves.

The people who seem to be the most susceptible to creating an energy of projection are those of us with low emotional intelligence, i.e. a poor ability to reflect and low self-awareness. Therefore the old adages from the gates of Delphi “know thy self “ seem bang on once more.

Taking Responsibility for our actions

In hindsight, with regard to myself, I can now see that where ever there was/is drama in my life there is often projection from one side or another. Lives without drama are much more peaceful and healthier don’t you think?

If we can treat ourselves compassionately and non-judgementally, this will be something we can offer to others naturally. If we can take personal responsibility for our actions, thoughts and where we find ourselves in life then perhaps projection will be kept to the minimum. If we see repeated patterns in others and how they treat us, it will be normally something about us and not them we need to see.

With this in mind, we are all work in progress and the above is important to have in our awareness but let’s not get too hooked on it and go out there and enjoy being human… the good bits and bad!

Tags: defensiveness, emotional intelligence, personal responsibility, projection