Discovering ourselves is beautiful. The why of an inner journey.
Q: Better to ignore what happens inside of us or to turn to others to discover it? Why not try instead to understand it firsthand, starting a beautiful inner journey? Wouldn’t it be better and more interesting to discover your inner world than to discover new things outside with occasional voyages?
Ignoring does not solve problems, and on the contrary, risks aggravating them. Turning to others to discover (or rediscover) yourself would be a good idea if others could understand what happens within you. To understand this, you are the most entitled.
Who studies the interior of ourselves?
In a historical period in which we have maximum freedom and great opportunities to develop all aspects of human knowledge, we limit ourselves, replacing this way the limits set by institutions or by lack of resources.
If we look outside ourselves, we think we must drastically limit our field of research; we think human knowledge has become so extensive and deep that we can only get a knowledge of a tiny sector.
If we want to find out something about ourselves, we must rely on a specialist; the interior of ourselves, which was once a matter for philosophers, has become a major interest of psychologists and psychiatrists—and has become a specialized field. The moral is that we no longer look neither inward nor outward. We just read; we have many books, newspapers, magazines, TV broadcasts and videotapes that describe what’s inside and what’s outside of us.
The experience of others?
We no longer come to the world to have our experience, but to learn the experience of others. A solid understanding of a tiny slice of knowledge enables us to compete with others and fit into society; within the limits of this slice, we still have some right to research. Is it enough?
This kind of research can have great value to society, but less value to ourselves. Where is the solution? Many find it in joining a person who searches for them; they become followers of sects whose leader has sought for all that interiority or meaning of life that only “experts” should seek. Someone refuses to rely on others’ experience and, not being able to do their own, they fall into defeatism, drugs, existential boredom. And here comes the dilemma: is it better to join the chorus of the followers of some established doctrine, or live apart from society?
There is a third solution, which exists since the dawn of time.
Discovering yourself. An introspective tourism.
“The great philosophical systems of antiquity, and all the great religions, recommend Self-knowledge. It is not only our right; it is also our primary requirement—this need is just as important as the discovery of the world around.
As adults, recovering the sense of discovery of the surrounding world, which we had as children, can make our lives much more interesting. Starting out on an inner journey to discover ourselves and understand emotions is fascinating. We often like to spend our holidays as tourists in other countries, but the inner world is no less fascinating than the external one; have we ever considered that we can spend our vacations much closer to home—dedicate them, in fact, to discovering ourselves?
In the distant past, tourism barely existed, and the exploration of the world was a task for explorers and researchers, who would then describe their journeys for others; people would read these accounts and dream. Later, we found we could travel and explore for ourselves, and discover for ourselves things that the explorers could not tell us. Meeting different people, even in places not too far from home, is more satisfying to us than reading the journals of Stanley or Livingstone…”
Self-knowledge as a beautiful inner journey. Searching within ourselves.
“Similarly, in the future, an exploration to discover our inner world may become more fascinating to us than reading any psychoanalytic texts.
The Spanish poet Ramón Jiménez has summarized thus this predilection to research, both outside and within us:
‘Don’t let a day go by without catching its secret,
big or short.
Let your awake life be a daily discovery.’ [1] [2] [3]…”
“No one will ever be able to perceive as I do the fragrance of the perfume of a rose. (Aurora Mazzoldi, 2019)”
Individual paths and inner path
When you are eager to explore a geographical area without having enough experience, you can turn to a travel agency or a guide. They should then find a path that corresponds as much as possible to your desires and possibilities.
An inner guide should be able to adapt the path and its difficulties to your ever-changing exigencies. This guide should find for you the most suitable path, advising and encouraging you when there are obstacles to overcome, and clarify your doubts. Is there some question about his existence? Well, “such Sage, such Master exists; he is close, indeed present in each one of us: he is the higher Self, the spiritual Self. To get to him, a journey is necessary, but a journey into our internal worlds.” Roberto Assagioli – Lo Sviluppo Transpersonale
All of us have had some contact with a non-rational intelligence while discovering ourselves. Occasionally, we “felt” we had to decide, and the decision was the right one, despite all the evidence. Did you ever save yourself from a dangerous situation thanks to “instinct”? Did you ever “perceive” something in a person, and this led you to be cautious about him? These “intuitions” we often feel are messages of our inner Master.
[1] “No dejes ir un día, —sin cojerle un secreto, grande o breve. — Sea tu vida alerta — descubrimiento cotidiano.” Juan Ramón Jiménez, Eternità, Pietra e Cielo, edited by Francesco Tentori Montalto, Edizioni Accademia, Milan 1974, 78–79.
[2] Luis Pisoni and Aurora Mazzoldi, The Power of Targeted Choices, Amazon, 2020, 76-79.
[3] Luis Pisoni, L’esigenza di Sapere, Formazione e Ricerca, Project Learning, 1997, 20-22.