How Self-Reflection Brought Me New Insights About Myself
By Joanna Zuno 6/20/2022
By no means am I a spiritual person. But I do a lot of self-reflecting. I don't go to places to meditate, but I do ponder. As a 33-year-old, I tend to find ways to find out about myself in the unlikeliest of places to achieve new insights. Here are some things I've done that got me to know myself better as a person.
I Reflect On What Brings Me Joy and Happiness
It's going to sound weird, but now and often, I ask myself "what do I like," and "what makes me happy." These are questions that kids often ask themselves, but we tend to forget these questions when we're adults and even find them ridiculous. However, these basic questions help us circumnavigate if we are truly being ourselves or liking things based on what our social groups like. Even asking these questions to ourselves will bring us back to Earth from the mediocrity that is perceived as the best expectation in life. I realized that I am happier from the simplistic nature of everyday things and am more attuned to being calm around nature. Others expect me to like materialistic things more, but when I buy something, I don't feel much joy, but I do feel it when I buy experiences and pursue knowledge like going on trips or museums.
I Ask My Family and Friends Who I Am
I do not look for evaluation, but I want to know what others see of me. When I talk to friends, I've always asked about their overall impression of me and compared it to now. Sometimes I'll take deeper routes to my conversation in a philosophical turn and would be surprised to hear the answer.
I Reflect With Myself and the World
We see things on television and social media, and we can have an overall primal response to them. With what's going on in the world and how I put myself in the philosopher position, I reassess my choices and how and why I was brought to that conclusion. Self-evaluating your personal line of thinking brings you closer to being human, in which you are assessing deep down the dual and complex nature that is simply YOU. Are you more attuned to aggression over pacifism? Are you more about protest to action? What can you reflect on about yourself that got you on the road to making the choices with external conflicts that go around you? Sometimes, playing the philosopher helps you examine your internal conflicts and puts you on a path of making yourself better.
We at Vialchemy hope this spiritual intake has gotten you on a path to self-reflection. Please look at our archives and find more articles related to self-reflection and insights! We hope you also take part in any forums in the future on how these reads have shapen you!