Affection, Values and the Self

Our sole passing emotional state should not be the only pivoting point to make important decisions, specially when things that matter to us are at stake. As delusive instances, desire and fear, for example, deceive us into believing things can be controlled or won’t change. But to discern between motivating values and affection or emotion is quite a fuzzy problem. A problem we must face as we draw meaning by building ideals and assigning value to things and relations.

That is why it may come easier to try to comprehend others before we decide to look at ourselves, it is the need to create meaning, not from scratch. Actually, it’s quite hard not to interpret people’s actions. Furthermore, it’s impossible to do so without projecting our mental schemes. The issue is that in such picture, the thin line between what we regard as responsive emotion and proactive motivation for others, may vanish.

We may end up implicitly assuming others have a much more cohesive itinerary between values and conduct than us, as if they had the perfect congruence we strive to develop. Generally, though, these assumptions and this focus in otherness is still part of our soundness effort. It may look as if sense crumbles apart when we abandon such intent but, as much as we attend which are the ideals we accept, we pursue or deserve our interest, we must also take into account what impedes our own self from embracing other aspects of reality as well.

Picture by Ben MᶜLeod