Perhaps because my personal psychological development involved becoming conscious of my own feelings, the word "feel" has come to have a special value for me. In particular, I learned to identify and experience both sensations, such as those associated with being physically tired and hungry, and such emotions as sadness, love, anger, and pleasure. Therefore, out of my extensive inner explorations, the meaning of "feel" became most clearly applied to sensations and emotions. Consequently, my ears pricked up when I became aware of other uses of the word, especially in sentences or clauses that begin with, "I feel like ..." and "It feels like ...." I soon realized that these phrases seem to be a part of everyday conversation, yet their meaning differs significantly from the word "feel" that is familiar to me. I was moved to analyze what they mean, hoping that I might gain some constructive understanding of them. This essay summarizes some of that work.

Before getting into the meat of this discussion, note that the phrases "I feel like ..." and "It feels like ..." will be considered equivalent and interchangeable, and they will simply be referred to as "feels like." Some people might prefer to say, "feels as though" or "feels as if," but those are also "feels like" equivalents. In addition, "I feel" statements that imply "like" or "as though" also fall into this same category. These "I feel" statements are usually followed by a subjective pronoun: I, you, he, she, it, or they. (See parenthetical remarks in the list below.)

Here is a very small sample of some fairly common "feels like" type of statements:

• It feels (or I feel) like you're angry. (I feel you're angry.)
• It feels like you mean that you didn't want to do it. (I feel you didn't want ....)
• It feels like it's going to rain. (I feel it is going to rain.)
• When you criticize me, it feels like you're putting me down. (I feel you are ....)
• When you pay attention, it feels like you respect me. (... I feel you respect me.)
• I feel (It feels) like I've lost my best friend. (I feel I have lost my best friend)
• It feels like I should go. (I feel I should go.)

As another prelude to analyzing "feels like" comments, I would like to introduce the cast of characters that play an essential part in the discussion. These are identifiable parts of our personalities that C.G. Jung has called archetypes or complexes. As autonomously functioning "sub-personalities," archetypes exist in all humans from birth and are like organs of the psyche (think "mind"), much as the liver, lungs, heart, and skin are organs of the body. They can be thought of as the dramatis personae in the human drama of life. Archetypes exist within the unconscious as vague, energy-filled patterns or blueprints. As we grow, image-forms emerge into consciousness, derived from our life experiences. The archetypes/complexes/players relevant to this essay are as follows:

• The playful, enthusiastic, naïve Child and the frightened, victimized Child.
• The nurturing, caring "positive" Mother and the destructive "negative" Mother or Witch.
• The supportive, guiding "positive" Father and the attacking "negative" Father or Critic.
• The Witness, which observes utterly objectively and unreflectively, without emotion, judgment, or involvement of any kind.
• The Soul, which connects us to life, God, nature, and the universe and is associated with beauty.
• The Hero, which courageously and unfalteringly strives to manifest the Soul's longing and inner wholeness.
• The Self, an image of one's wholeness. Its energy moves us to seek its manifestation through becoming aware of all its components.
• The Creator (not God, but an aspect of the Self), which brings existing elements together to produce a new result that is unlearned and novel.
• The "positive" Evaluator (Evaluator+), which draws conclusions based on carefully gathered evidence and the "negative" Evaluator (Evaluator-), which draws seemingly random conclusions. (It may be that the Evaluator corresponds to what Carl Jung called the "animus," a masculine component in the personality.)
• The Interpreter, which creates meaning out of our experiences. (This may be another name for or function of the Evaluator.)

For me, the development of consciousness has meant striving to be as aware as possible of inner experiences and to be as precise as possible in the selection of words to express what I want to convey. I am not always successful, but I try. My assumption is that if we remain alert to how we express ourselves, that effort might give more clarity to our communications, and consequently will tend to minimize confusion and misunderstandings.

In the context of this discussion, we might ask, "What precisely do we mean when we use the word 'feel?'" The word often refers to affects or the inner experience and bodily manifestations of emotions. There appears to be a finite number of human emotions that we might feel; here is a list of the ones that stand out for me: anger, anxiety, attraction, awe, depression, embarrassment, excitement, fear, glee, gratitude, guilt, hate/abhorrence, humiliation, indifference, insecurity, invulnerability, joy, love/affection, peacefulness, pleasure, repulsion, resentment, sadness, satisfaction, security, shame, surprise, vengefulness, and vulnerability.

Emotions have concomitant experiences in the body, such as tension (or a tightness), calm, relaxation, an aching, weakness, "warm fuzzies," clamminess, heart pounding, pain, butterflies, or a gnawing. These bodily reactions are also referred to as feelings, and can be sensed in one or more of various locations, such as the head, neck, throat, heart, solar plexus, stomach, gut, genitals, or just about anywhere else in the body. These physical feelings go along with and sometimes identify emotional feelings. For example, clammy hands and butterflies in the stomach usually accompany fear while an overall calmness often accompanies pleasure and peacefulness.

It is an emotional experience to which one refers when asking, "WHAT do you feel?" However, we use feel to express our physical conditions when we reply to the often-asked question, "HOW do you feel?" "I feel well, thank you" or "I feel crummy," or 'I feel better than yesterday," are some vague responses to that question. More revealing and substantial responses might be, "I feel frightened; my guts feel tense, my hands are (feel) clammy, and I have (feel) a kind of gnawing in my stomach." Or "I feel deeply satisfied; I feel relaxed, calm, and a sense of inner peace throughout my whole body." These refer to inner sensations. Outer sensations are another area to which feeling may refer. For example, we might run our fingers over sandpaper and say, "It feels gritty and rough," or, on being exposed to the rays of the sun, we say, "I feel hot." We rarely, if ever, respond, "I feel like I'm sad," "I feel like I'm well," "The sandpaper feels like it's gritty and rough," or "It feels like I'm hot."

When we refer to emotions or sensations in the body, feel is a direct experience - not interpreted or intuited. It is an indisputable, idiosyncratic fact of awareness.

The primary effort of this essay is to help clarify what one is communicating by "feels like" comments when they refer to intuition, thoughts, beliefs, opinions, and convictions (designated as the acronym, ITBOC).

"Feels like ..." is utterly different from what we physically or emotionally feel. It seems evident that none of the comments in the list of "feels like" statements at the beginning of this essay refer to emotions or bodily sensations. Consequently, I set about to determine if those comments could be translated in such a way as to express their meanings more precisely. To do so, I must project myself into the role of a person who might make those statements. As a single, representative example, the "feels like" statement, "I feel like you're angry" can be translated into any of the following statements: "I intuit (or suspect or have a hunch) that you're angry," "I think (or believe) you're angry," or "It is my opinion (or conviction) that you're angry."

Since "feel" may substitute for "intuit," "think," "believe," "opine," or "have the conviction that" (ITBOC), communication involving the word "feel" can sometimes get very muddied. To add to the confusion, the substitute words can also often be substituted for each other. For example, when "feels like" means intuit/suspect, and the translation is, "I suspect that you're angry," that professed intuition might more accurately mean, "I think (or believe) you're angry."

Assuming that a multitude of autonomous inner complexes or archetypes operate within us and can be personified (see list of complexes above under Dramatis Personae), then we can often identify where the experience of "feels like" originates. "It feels (or I feel) like you're angry" can be translated to mean, "Based on perceptions of what appears to be familiar kinds of behaviors, my inner Interpreter has come to the conclusion (opinion or belief) that you must be angry." But on what basis did the Interpreter arrive at that conclusion? In general, if an evaluation of past, repeated experiences has led to a hunch, we tend to feel an inner peace in arriving at the intuition, "It seems as if (feels like) you're angry." There is no tension when we have a suspicion, because a hunch rests upon probabilities; by its very nature, an intuition, hunch, or suspicion does not rest on a pillar of certainty. If the other person denies being angry, we simply accept it and go on with life, and there is no tension.

When "feels like" is experienced as "That's the way it IS, by golly!" then we are in the grip of the inner Evaluator-, which assumes a certainty and accuracy of its conclusions. Identified with the vulnerable inner Child, we are prepared to perceive/project anger onto others. Then we may hear certain words or expressions - perhaps said in a louder than normal voice - or see certain facial expressions. The inner Evaluator- interprets those observations as indicative of anger. Consequently, affects arise based on the "certain" knowledge (brought to us by the Evaluator) that the person is angry. Affects giving rise to "feels like" derive from the gullible inner Child who either feels gleeful and self-satisfied at having caused the anger or s/he may feel frightened and humiliated. The inner Critic may add his two cents, "And you, you miserable failure, should not have done what you did to arouse that anger!" And the Witch might add sarcastically, "So, what's new? You certainly deserve it!" The Child would then feel guilt and shame as well as fear and humiliation. So the interpretation of "I feel like you're angry" might reflect this process: "I observe [actually, the Evaluator- observes] expressions from you that I associate with anger. That makes me feel terrible: guilty, shameful, humiliated, and frightened that you will hurt or abandon me. Since all those feelings are in me, you must be angry." Ergo, "It feels like you're angry."

It seems, therefore, that "feels like" can arise out of a need to avoid feelings, such as guilt, shame, and fear. Whatever our needs or desires, they govern how we perceive and what we project onto the world. They determine the ITBOCs brought to us by the inner Evaluator and Interpreter. For example, if we are raised by needy, immature parents, so that our survival and feelings of being loved depended on our parenting our own parents, we grow up with an inner Interpreter who is likely to interpret others' behavior as requiring that we take care of them. Identified with the inner Child, we undertake the caretaking responsibility out of a need to be loved and not rejected or abandoned. So, someone who appears frustrated or disturbed can arouse the Interpreter to make a familiar interpretation: "It feels like you're angry and in need of my help." The "feels like" in this case arises from a projection of disturbed frustration and the fantasied image of our being liked and treated well < >if we take care of the person's anger. It may also include fear of loss, insecurity, or abandonment if we do not take care of the person.

It would appear, then, that "feels like" rests on an intricate concurrent combination of inputs: from the inner Interpreter and/or Evaluator, from images aroused by the interpretation or evaluation, and from feelings associated with the images - both preceding and derived from those images.

To reiterate, we sense emotional and physical feelings directly. Consequently, they are, by my definition, idiosyncratic "facts" of our experience. "Feels like" experiences however, are not "facts." Rather, they represent interpretations and evaluations of perceptions. The perception of an inner voice that says, "It feels like John is angry with you" is undoubtedly a fact of experience. But it is not necessarily a "fact" that John IS angry with you. A more obvious example would be the written comment, "The moon is purple." Our reading the statement is a direct perception like feeling sad or having a headache. But it is not necessarily - or not at all - a fact that the moon IS purple. As we have seen, within our minds resides an Interpreter of our experiences, and if we do not question interpretations, we can seem like naïve, gullible children believing whatever we are told. When I was a child, I recall one of the neighborhood children, who I suspect wanted to get rid of me, tell me, "Go home; your mother wants you." So, I went home "feeling like" my mother wanted me. That is, the inner Evaluator- simply created the opinion or idea that my mother was waiting for me, and I accepted that as "fact." The inner image of my mother, angry and rejecting, felt horrible: frightening and potentially painful from anticipated punishment. My "feels like" arose out of the sense of certainty that what the inner Evaluator- was telling me was true plus the emotions that would likely ensue from the "fact" that my mother wants me and I'm not there. As it turned out, of course, my mother was not looking for me; the "feels like" experience was entirely generated within me.

The comment, "It feels like it's going to rain" probably expresses an intuition or hunch arising from the inner Evaluator+ when it is based on previous experience, knowledge about atmospheric conditions that lead to rain, and/or some other factual bases. For example, some people with arthritis have physical sensations - even pain - before rain. The Swiss react almost universally with many physical and psychological symptoms during the foehn, which is an atmospheric condition before rain. "Feels like," in this case, substitutes in shorthand form for "My head aches and I am irritable; in the past, when I have had these symptoms, the weatherman has usually reported that the atmospheric pressure is high and a storm is imminent. Based on all that data, it's probably going to rain soon." An intuition from the inner Evaluator+, involving the Interpreter as well, probably also accounts for the comment, "It feels like I should go," if one has been at a dinner party, all the other guests have left and hosts are cleaning up and turning off lights or are falling asleep. (People with certain psychological disorders, such as certain schizophrenias, autism, or Asperger's Disease, are unable to recognize such blatant hints in others' behavior.)

Intuition may not be the only source of these comments. Desires that are unacceptable to the frightened inner Child can also govern what we "feel like" when we are identified with that Child (i.e., when the Child is dominating the personality). For example, we may prefer to stay home rather than go to an outdoor barbeque party we had agreed to attend at an earlier date. Seeking an excuse, we look up and see clouds in the sky, and an inner protective complex (a caring Mother or smothering Mother?) in conjunction with the inner Evaluator- says, "It feels like it's going to rain, so it makes no sense to go." The first clause can be an unsubstantiated conclusion from the Evaluator-, and the second appears to come from a combination of the protective Mother and the Interpreter. Take another example: we are at a gathering and deep down would really like to end the visit. However, we are identified with the fearful Child and victimized by the negative Father, which puts us in the prison of having to be nice. Consequently, we cannot acknowledge the desire to leave, not even to ourselves, because we have been convinced it's "wrong" and especially fear that others will feel rejected if we go. Instead, therefore, we project (i.e., we unwittingly see in others what is unacknowledged in ourselves). What we believe we see is that others want us to leave, and we say or think, "It feels like I should go." It is a false ITBOC (minus the intuition) based on an inner, concocted drama about which we are totally unaware.

Carl Jung suggested that to help develop/sharpen our intuitions, we would do well to analyze them. Perhaps the most popular image, which offers a somewhat simplified illustration of intuition analysis, is Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. Dr. Watson repeatedly prods Holmes to reveal how he arrived at his so-called "deductions," and Holmes obliges, delineating each of the observations leading to his findings. Jung urged that we explore, like Sherlock Holmes -- as much as possible -- all the elements and interconnections utilized by the unconscious to arrive at the intuited perception. Currently, two television series offer Holmes-like characters in modern dress: the perceptive, obsessive-compulsive "Monk" and the primary detective in "Law and Order: Criminal Intent." In these cases, any "feels like" would derive from a highly sharpened, firmly grounded inner Evaluator+.

To analyze an intuition, thought, belief, opinion, or conviction (ITBOC), we can begin by asking the following questions:

1. From what complex is the ITBOC originating?
2. "On what bases -- i.e., from what experiences and from what informational data base -- does the ITBOC arise? In other words, what specific, definable, describable facts gave rise to the ITBOC, where "facts" are defined as one's unique, idiosyncratic experiences?
3. What percentage of your assets would you wager that the ITBOC is accurate, and why?

If the answer to the last question is not 100%, then the ITBOC is a hunch, not absolute certainty, and could be in error. There's nothing wrong with making a hunch! A problem arises only when we are not aware that the ITBOC has a probability of being inaccurate. It may be noted that for emotions or sensations, such as anger or a pain in the knee, the questions above have no meaning; the feeling simply IS - it is a fact of experience.

Governed by the Child archetype, we would not think to ask the three questions listed above. Instead, the Child automatically reacts emotionally, naively, and gullibly to the inner Interpreter, Evaluator, and inner Parents.

Perhaps you are wondering why so much emphasis is placed on the reactions of the inner Child. From my observations, it appears that we all must spend much of our adult life identifying with that archetype. But that seems quite reasonable. We all spend our most impactful, formative years as children. Massive amounts of memories and impressions flow steadily into our brains, and much trial and error effort must be used to process them and learn how to deal with them. It is not at all surprising to me that the inner Child plays such a prominent role throughout our lives.

To a great extent, the images formed within our minds of the inner Child evolves out of the way we are parented as well as the physical and genetic conditions that we must contend with as we grow from infancy to adolescence. Generally speaking, we have an image of the Child as enthusiastic, curious and playful and another that is frightened, victimized, and defensive. There may be others as well, but we'll stick with these for the time being. The Child wants what it wants NOW. It seeks acceptance and positive strokes. If the child has developed without adequate bonding and with inconsistent love, s/he is likely to be insecure and seek others who will provide positive strokes.

It is usually the Child part of us that reacts to interpretations or evaluations. Constructive and supportive ones help build an outer child's ego and positive self-esteem. Helpful guidance directs a child to focus on inner strengths that enable her/him to deal effectively with life issues. In an adult who is identified with the inner Child, both positive and negative evaluations are taken to be truth and lead to problems. For example, the evaluation from one's inner complex, "You can't do anything wrong," may lead to the Child's, "It feels like I can't do anything wrong!" The result of taking in that kind of inner evaluation can be smugness, inflation, and a false sense of superiority and power. In response to hurtful or negative interpretations or evaluations, the inner Child would be likely to respond defensively with any combination of resentment, fear, guilt, and anger. These feeling responses are the inner Child's reality. When we are identified with the Child, they are our conscious reality as well.

The inner Interpreter formulates a positive (feel-good) interpretation of experiences in the comments, "I feel like you really care," "I feel (like I'm) very welcome in your house," and "When you pay attention, it feels like you respect me." Hearing these interpretations generally lead the inner Child (us, if we're identified with the Child) to experience pleasant emotions, such as joy, satisfaction, and love. The conclusion drawn by the inner critical Father of the Child's behavior is, "Now you're being a good girl/boy!" Such a seemingly "positive" evaluation is just as unconscious and growth hindering as one that causes hurtful feelings in the Child, because such evaluations keep us a prisoner of having to satisfy the parental requirements for our behavior. A statement such as "You make me feel (like I'm) welcome in your house" can mean, "You have treated me the way I want to be treated as a guest and friend, and that feels satisfying, pleasing, comfortable, unstressed, and joyful. I also feel grateful and warm-fuzzies all over." All of those feelings can come from a projection onto the hosts of the positive Parents who care for the inner Child, since the hosts could be treating their guests out of a traditional script and inwardly feel indifferent. It could also be true that the hosts enjoy the company of the visitor, but that does not necessarily follow just because the existence of the "feels like" experience in the guest.

Where we are tied to evaluations and interpretations, we are unable to hear the Soul's longing to fulfill our own personality's striving for wholeness: the promptings of the Self. You might ask, what is the value of evaluations and especially the hurtful Evaluator- and destructive interpretations? Answer: they provide the possibility of arousing the "positive" inner Parents as well as a rescuing effort by the Hero, so that we can examine our feeling responses and become aware of what is supportive and constructive in us, as well as our dark and denigrating parts. To reach a goal of inner peace, these explorations and examinations are essential.

Emerging out of this analysis is the conclusion that most "feels like" statements arise from our inner Child but come out of our adult mouths. That indicates an ego-identification with the Child; in other words, we function directly out of the Child archetypal energy. In the following discussion, "we" and "us" are used interchangeably with "the inner Child", as they have throughout much of this essay, implying that the ego is under the control, so to speak, of the Child.

Briefly, when the energy of any complex has possession of the ego, we function out of the characteristics of that complex; it is as if we ARE that complex. But for each of us, a complex is imaged with conscious characteristics that derive from our personal experiences. For example, one who has been raised to feel unworthy and incapable will likely develop an inner image of him/herself (the inner Child) as weak and inferior, and outwardly behave defensively, suspiciously, and victimized. That image may or may not be reflected in consciousness. For example, a shy, self-deprecating person often acts out of that image, while a bully defends him/herself against an awareness of it.

When a "feels like" statement arises out of guilt and/or shame experienced by the inner Child, then the statement is likely to have its origin in the inner Critic or Witch, respectively. By its very nature, the Critic (negative Father) puts us down for something we've done, we're doing, or we're planning to do. The archetypal Critic is often identifiable by the words he uses, such as

• should or ought to ("You should talk more.")
• shouldn't ("You shouldn't talk so much.")
• too ("You talk too much" or "Your speech is too long.")
• enough ("You don't talk enough.")
• right or wrong ("Your pronunciation is wrong.")
• always ("You always speak nonsense.")
• never ("You never say anything right.")

Identification with the inner Child leads to feelings of guilt when we experience chastisement, because the Child automatically assumes the evaluation that having done something "wrong" is a "fact." The reproof or admonishment ultimately comes from the inner Critic, even when the source appears to be from an outer authority. When it "feels like" someone is putting us down for something we did or are doing, it only "feels like" it because the deprecation is echoed by the inner Critic. If the positive inner Father were active, he would support our behavior. For example, if we made a mistake or acted without thinking, this Father might say, "Everyone makes mistakes. It's no big deal. Next time, you probably won't do it again. Listen, you've done so many things right! [He might list some of them.] Life is too short to hang on to mistakes; let's get on with it!" As a consequence, we would not likely "feel like" we did something so terribly wrong - we would not feel, or at least hang onto, guilt. The positive Mother would likely arise simultaneously to support our existence and help us feel worthwhile.

The Witch (negative Mother) generates shameful feelings, telling us there is something inherently wrong with us; she attacks not what we do but our very existence. It "feels like" we should not even have been born. That "feels like" experience can enter into most other negative "feels like" statements, such as "It feels like you don't like me." The hurt inner Child takes the deprecation as a truth, and feels shameful. Identified with the Child, we feel the shame and disgrace originating in that complex: we are convinced that we are "worthless" and inherently "inferior" and God's biggest mistake. Instead of words, the Witch uses attacks in the emotional realm, such as the sick fear some people feel when called upon to perform before an audience, deeply believing they are inferior to everyone else. The Critic implies or asserts that we are unable to act effectively or correctly, but the Witch sends the message that we are incapable because of an innate defectiveness of personhood. If activated in consciousness, the positive Mother would combat feelings of shame by focusing on the person's valuable qualities and capabilities. (And she would probably be joined by the positive Father's encouragement and praise for having accomplished some goals successfully.)

The comment, "It feels (or I feel) like you're angry," can result in feelings of guilt or shame or both. Statements that more clearly put the source in the Critic or Witch are like these:

• "I feel like I've made you angry." (Possibly implying, "I'm a bad person and shouldn't have done that.")
• "It feels like I shouldn't have done that." (Possibly also implying, "I'm a bad person.")
• "It feels like I'm too late." (Possibly implying, "I'm a bad person and shouldn't have done that.")
• "I feel like I shouldn't have been born." (In addition to implying shame, is the speaker also taking responsibility for his/her birth?)
• "I feel like I'm the perpetrator of everyone's bad luck." (Possibly implying, "I'm a bad person and shouldn't have done that.")

The first three imply guilt and involve mainly the Critic, although, as indicated in the parentheses, shame might also be present. The fourth arises primarily from the Witch; if one also feels responsible for having been born, guilt may also enter in. In the last comment, the Interpreter grabs onto a perception and interprets that the speaker is the "perpetrator." The implication of guilt at causing "bad luck" comes from the Critic, and if the person feels shameful as well (like wanting to crawl into a hole and stay there because of a conviction of being worthless and wrong-for-this-world), that comes from the Witch.

Positive evaluations can be at least as insidious and a hindrance to growth as negative ones. Consider these comments:

• "I feel like I've made you happy." (Possibly also implying, "I'm a good person and did the right thing.")
• "I feel like I did what I was supposed to have done." (Possibly also implying, "I'm a good person.")
• "I feel like I'm the best person on this planet." (This sounds like hubris.)
• "I feel like you should want me around." (Possible hubris and possibly implying "I'm a good person and I always do the right thing.")

One can envision a child with thumbs under armpits hearing the inner Parents saying, "You're a great kid and you did just what you were supposed to do. You get a big reward for that!" But the Child is still striving to please the parents. As long as we identify with this aspect of the Child, we cannot connect with the Creator in ourselves, that which strikes out along untrodden paths to give expression to the Self.

I have tried to paint some pictures of how we might feel or "feel like," and thus react in our adult relationships, when our inner Child is under attack by the Critic and/or Witch and our ego's energy derives only from the Child archetype and the "negative" complexes. The one primary value to such one-sided connections with unconscious contents is, as mentioned earlier, the possibility of increased consciousness gained through our efforts to reduce the pain that can arise from the one-sidedness. Relief is possible, mainly through the arousal of the inner Hero that can free the Witness to observe what is going on. It is the Witness that directs the Hero's attention to "feels like" statements that imply the presence of the Evaluator-, and/or inner negative Parents. Perceiving the threat to the Child, the Hero sets about to rescue the victimized Child. He does so by embarking on the "Hero's Journey" into the unconscious to explore for supportive complexes, such as the positive inner Parents who nurture, guide, aid, comfort, encourage, and praise what we do and who we are. In fairy tales and myths, the hero usually ends up with the princess or a sought-after treasure or both. The treasure symbolizes that which balances out a one-sided attitude in consciousness.

A condition approaching wholeness exists when there is a balance of "positive" and "negative" complexes affecting us. That condition can be achieved if the inner Hero becomes activated to bring into consciousness "positive" energies to counterbalance the "negative" or vice versa. Consequently, we become able to perceive and understand the bases of the inner contributions to "feels like" experiences.

With effort and practice, a metaphorical space can be created that will enable the Hero -- which resides in each of us -- to bring into consciousness whatever "treasures" were gleaned from the Hero's Journey into the unconscious. The "treasures" have already been mentioned, but they deserve reiteration. Specifically, the Hero, when activated, can make us aware of the Witness and the supportive, positive parental complexes. We can then have the opportunity to identify with the Witness, enabling us to step back and observe how the Critic and Witch have been attacking the Child. We can also observe the Hero's accomplishments -- from his journey into the unconscious -- and experience the support and guidance of the positive Parents. That constructive approach helps the Child deal with the "negative" attacks, and it also frees the Creator to express the complexities that lie within us and make up the whole of what we are.

Once free, we can express our feeling experiences openly and freely without having to resort to unconscious pressures expressed in "feels like" comments that derive from those complexes that would keep us bound to the Child. It is my goal to feel love, awe, joy, and be free of pain as much as possible. What's yours?