If your life is a Bollywood movie, which role do you connect with the most today?
Hero or heroine (Heroix)
Villain
Comedian
Other
This was a locogram (a psychodrama technique) I offered to a group I was working with recently. One participant chose the role of a villain. She shared that this was what everyone in the family and office called her because she was dedicated, did not cut corners, was a taskmaster too perhaps and a disciplinarian.
I asked her, “OK. That’s what they think of you. What do you think about yourself?”
She laughed, and said, “I accept this title. I guess I am a villain.”
As I thought further, I wondered if the same virtues that made her a villain in one environment would have made her a hero in another. Was this role her own perception or something that became hers after being slotted into it often enough?
It isn’t uncommon to believe something about ourselves that comes from stories created by others about us. For example, when enough people say, “Something’s wrong with you,” you can come to believe that something is indeed wrong with you. You may never question the environment you are in, whether it is a nourishing or draining system for you.
Various such experiences have strengthened my belief and dedication to inner work. I believe it is crucial to growth.
Whether we believe in psychological or psychotherapeutic work, we should, whenever we get a chance, maybe only as an experiment, relook at our beliefs, behaviours, and perceptions from an unbiased lens.
The view can surprise and shake us! And there starts the transformation.