Dedoublement

I just finished reading “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield. Ms. Setterfield did her PhD. on Andre Gide and uses a lot of his ideas in her writing. One is dedoublement, which is the ability to split oneself in two–one “self” that interacts and feels the world they live in, the other to stand back and observe. The observer-self can analyze in a detached way what is happening around them. It reminded me of a technique advocated in Sarah Susanka’s book, “The not so big life,” of developing a “watcher.” Susanka says, “The watcher is your partner in seeing through the obstacles to the calmer, more contented you that you’ve always known was there.” I have found this much easier to do lately because of this blog. Everything I do now, I find myself taking a step back and thinking, “Could I blog this? What would I say about it?” It’s an interesting concept that helps one be more in control of emotions and situations and make more rational, positive decisions.

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