Experiment: Projection as Creating Intention

In psychology, projection is generally defined as the attribution of unconscious impulses or conflicts onto other people or objects. This is seen as a negative aspect of the shadow, a sign that we have not integrated something and that we need to reclaim our projections.

This is the Wikipedia definition:

In psychology, psychological projection (or projection bias) is a defense mechanism in which one attributes ("projects") to others, one’s own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions. Projection reduces anxiety by allowing the expression of the unwanted subconscious impulses/desires without letting the ego recognize them.

Clearly this is something all of us do in one way or another. Many of us who are on any kind of spiritual path recognize the need to reclaim and own our projections. I have no problem with any of this.

BUT, and you knew there was going to be a but, I've been toying with the idea that projection need not be a totally negative thing, and that it need not be fully unconscious. Freud always looked at things from a pathological point of view, and since projection (in the modern sense) is his baby, it has been narrowly defined as a negative trait.

But what if projection was a neutral term that could mean either unconscious and pathological shadow material was being projected or that, conversely, unconscious but healthy needs, desires, or intentions (which may also be seen as shadow material) were being projected? The Jungians, more so than the Freudians, have realized that not all that is shadow is negative -- we also relegate to shadow healthy parts of the psyche that have been repressed or otherwise forced out of consciousness.

What if we tried to access those positive elements in the shadow? What if we were to try to create conscious projections, or at least semi-conscious? What if we could "shape" our projections into intentions?

This is the experiment I have been conducting: I want to try to create daydreams, which are by nature only semi-conscious and are, to a degree, somewhat like dreams, derived from the unconscious mind. In creating these daydreams, or at least trying to shape them, I want to generate intentions for my life -- loose guidelines for where I want to go or what I want to manifest. I guess you could call this a form of visualization.

I've talked before about how I am not much for planning my future, so this is all kind of new to me, even though it isn't really planning in the traditional sense.

Yesterday's poem (Daydream) came out of one of these attempts at creating intention (and no, to those who have asked, I am not seeing anyone -- it was just a poem). Other efforts have focused on generating more writing opportunities and on becoming more compassionate, but they didn't have the visuals that make a decent poem.

I don't know if any of this will produce results. And even if it did, how can I quantify that into something rational?

Further, am I just reinventing the wheel?


Image source: Reclaiming the Shadows

Tags: projection, intentions, unconscious, shadow, manifestation, Daydreams