The Privatized Self

We take the measure of ourselves and come up wanting. We give thought to starting therapy, trying antidepressant medication, taking a mindfulness class, keeping a journal, reading the latest book on self-improvment, joining a gym, booking a massage, and– if all else fails– mama needing a new pair of shoes.

Such initiatives are meant to help us function more productively as willing and (dis)contented members of society, while diverting our attention from what has gone missing in the way of structural/relational support. And so, we file out of professional offices with 10 min to spare at the end of the 50-min hour, our heads swimming with information about the limitations of our“operating systems” as a result of arrested development, internal conflicts, chemical imbalances, and newly minted diagnostic labels.

Instead of perceiving our woes within broad fields of power, we are objectified and left to consider the consequences of our own faulty thinking, genetic pre-dispositions, and flawed neural circuitry. And dare we think we have tamed our unruly impulses, there is always the pesky child within to reason with.