“Simplifying Self”

by Dr. Susan Nettleton

Amid all the advantages of modern life, many people silently long for simplicity. How can we simplify our lives, taking advantage of the ease of technology without all the pressures and stresses of our complex society? The answer may lie in first simplifying the self. Psychology has given us much knowledge of human identity, relationships, and functioning, but in many ways that knowledge has only served to confuse us. When we are able, even briefly, to disengage our sense of who we are from who we have been told to be, our sense of what we need from what we have been told we need, our sense of what we want from what we have been told to want, we can make an incredible discovery. It really isn't hard to be.