Post by KitKatPurrpurr on Apr 10, 2017 16:14:00 GMT -8
(Reposted from TG)
I was talking with my therapist today, and he told me he wanted to talk about the jaguar part of me. I've brought up my Therianthropy before many times, so this isn't new to him. He asked me a little bit about it in terms of what parts of me are jaguar and what parts are human, like aspects of my personality and whatnot. Then he told me that jaguars not only have specific attributes to themselves (like how they are independent, fierce, etc), but of course also have their own personalities for interacting with other jaguars.
Then he said that since I'm both a human and a jaguar, I could sort of mentally visualize parts of myself as a human or a jaguar. The human part of me is the part that wants to interact with others, knows when to back off, or what have you, and the jaguar part of me knows when to take charge and do something, or fight through something that is hard. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but they're both me. Essentially, what kind of individual is that part of me? Me as jaguar would be fierce enough to survive in the wild and would keep to myself, and me as a human seeks companionship and knows when things need to be done. It's less imposing an ideal we have onto an animal and more "what is this animal like in the wild?" For Otherkin, I'm assuming you'd have to know what your kintype is like.
He suggested I use this visualization to help me when I'm dealing with something I find hard to do, like getting through a hard day of work, or going to an event I don't want to go to, or even just getting through a phone call I'm anxious about making. And I quite like this sort of exercise, because I'm not having to rely on an outside force to motivate me. I simply have to communicate with those parts of myself and call upon them to give me the strength when I need them (since I'm working on internal motivation with him as a part of my coping process with depression).
I pointed out that the jaguar I visualize is still me, just like if he were to visualize those two parts of himself, they would both be him but as a human (because he doesn't identify as nonhuman). Eventually he said there may be a part of me that I visualize that is both together, as well as the other parts of me that perhaps are separate from the basic versions of those two images, but that we'd work on that in the future.
So I figured I would extend this exercise to all of you. Maybe when you're struggling with your internal motivation or whatnot, visualize the part of you that is human and the part of you that isn't, and when you need the strength of one of those parts because it's where the other has weaknesses, call upon it. Focus on what the strengths are of each part of you and channel it when you need it. And utilize your nonhuman side for this you, since it's still you.
I was talking with my therapist today, and he told me he wanted to talk about the jaguar part of me. I've brought up my Therianthropy before many times, so this isn't new to him. He asked me a little bit about it in terms of what parts of me are jaguar and what parts are human, like aspects of my personality and whatnot. Then he told me that jaguars not only have specific attributes to themselves (like how they are independent, fierce, etc), but of course also have their own personalities for interacting with other jaguars.
Then he said that since I'm both a human and a jaguar, I could sort of mentally visualize parts of myself as a human or a jaguar. The human part of me is the part that wants to interact with others, knows when to back off, or what have you, and the jaguar part of me knows when to take charge and do something, or fight through something that is hard. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but they're both me. Essentially, what kind of individual is that part of me? Me as jaguar would be fierce enough to survive in the wild and would keep to myself, and me as a human seeks companionship and knows when things need to be done. It's less imposing an ideal we have onto an animal and more "what is this animal like in the wild?" For Otherkin, I'm assuming you'd have to know what your kintype is like.
He suggested I use this visualization to help me when I'm dealing with something I find hard to do, like getting through a hard day of work, or going to an event I don't want to go to, or even just getting through a phone call I'm anxious about making. And I quite like this sort of exercise, because I'm not having to rely on an outside force to motivate me. I simply have to communicate with those parts of myself and call upon them to give me the strength when I need them (since I'm working on internal motivation with him as a part of my coping process with depression).
I pointed out that the jaguar I visualize is still me, just like if he were to visualize those two parts of himself, they would both be him but as a human (because he doesn't identify as nonhuman). Eventually he said there may be a part of me that I visualize that is both together, as well as the other parts of me that perhaps are separate from the basic versions of those two images, but that we'd work on that in the future.
So I figured I would extend this exercise to all of you. Maybe when you're struggling with your internal motivation or whatnot, visualize the part of you that is human and the part of you that isn't, and when you need the strength of one of those parts because it's where the other has weaknesses, call upon it. Focus on what the strengths are of each part of you and channel it when you need it. And utilize your nonhuman side for this you, since it's still you.
