Leaving Wonderland and Egosyntonic Life
Egosyntonism and egosyntonic refer to living in accordance with what is acceptable to the ego. The ego syntonic life is an imprisoned life, though this is the life most of us think of as normal existence. We are imprisoned within our preferences, positions, attitudes, beliefs, convictions, worldview, self-image, ego ideal and the limited range of our nervous system and emotional depth.
M. Scott Peck wrote a popular book a while back – The Road Less Traveled. The road less traveled is the path we must take to free our consciousness from ego structure and ego identity which set the parameters for egosyntonic living.
Human vulnerability is a key ingredient for leaving the egosyntonic life behind. Human vulnerability is challenging for everyone. It can be tricky for egos with a bent toward victim identification or emotional sentimentality as we may mistakenly take these states which contain feelings of vulnerability to be the transformative human vulnerability we are referring to which they are not.
Anti-egosyntonic (egodystonic) vulnerability will challenge our self-image and range of comfort. We will feel anxious. Our minds and bodies may go into hyper-drive until we return to familiar ground or ego structure and identity begin to dissolve.
Those of us that drive can very easily highlight our comfort range by simply driving slower than we usually do or faster. For many simply obeying the speed limit would be enough to send them through the roof. Political beliefs are another fun way to discover just how conditioned we are.
The ego life involves a lot of fantasizing about our version of the “Wonderful Life” – based on our ego or spiritual ideal. Leaving wonderland and the ego syntonic life for reality is the road less traveled.
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