The other side – 54 to 55…

Here’s the other side, the other half of the painting which is really two paintings – the me that is me, and the me that is me but not me.

That other me that, whilst I know he is there, doesn’t surface often. This is the me that keeps all those ‘F’ for forget filing cabinets firmly closed, feral me, flight/fight me, my deep subconscious me, the me that knows everything, the me that is really in control. Calculating, protective, stand back from the flames me, ancient, collective, past-present-future me. The me that has gone and the me that is yet to come. The real me. The one that makes my dreams, the one that walks my dreams.

He’s not a mirror image, no attics for him. He’s part, a big part, but an individual in his own right, full of his own hopes and dreams and needs. Sometimes I can feel him with me, sometimes he is me.

I’m not afraid of him, anymore than he’s afraid of me. We live side-by-side; I his shadow, he my shadow. We don’t fight much. We simply live in duo – I feed him and he keeps me safe. He isn’t another personality, he’s integral to my personality – an influencer, a control, an escape mechanism, almost a friend.

We all have one, that other, your other, a subconscious other. Best not ignore yours.