The drama of the ugly duckling is that he does not know who he is. These words of a wise psychotherapist capture the essence of what a lot of people on earth suffer from. The questions "Who am I?" and "What is this all about?" are directly related. Like a brigantine sailing with a hole gaping in the bottom, it is absolutely impossible for man to live without these answers. At best, it will be misery and unsettlement, at worst, self-destruction and even suicide.
Even if you think you remember Hans Christian Andersen's wonderful tale from childhood, I strongly advise you to reread it now. I think it alone can replace tons of motivational youtube videos, TED Talks lectures and self-help books. Why? The brilliant Andersen succeeded in amazingly vivid, succinctly and realistically describing the archetypal path that many people, if not all, must go through.
History is silent as to how among the hatching duck eggs one strange egg suddenly turned up, but it is symbolic. After all, the child does not choose his family and environment, but, like orphan Dorothy, is thrown into the unfamiliar land of Oz by a hurricane. Characteristically, the parents, represented by the mother goose, have contradictory feelings toward the ugly duckling, both pity and shame for not conforming to the social template. And the rest of the inhabitants of the barnyard are glad, if not to change the bad boy, then at least to kick, peck and shower mockery on him. He could not lay eggs like a hen or purr like a cat, but yearned to dive and swim with pleasure, which, in the opinion of the know-it-alls, was a whim from idleness.
To find existential answers, the ugly duckling goes through a bunch of tests and is even willing to die. “I will fly to those royal birds,” he exclaimed, “and they will kill me, because I am so ugly, and dare to approach them; but it does not matter". What is this but a rite of initiation? The problem is that modern society has invented many useful technologies, but has carelessly brushed aside invaluable ancient rites. In the meantime, people's longing to discover their identity has not gone away, it just languishes in the depths of their souls.
I was lucky to meet kind people who taught me where and how to find these answers. I wish it had happened 30 years earlier, but I am still eternally grateful to fate. Now, as part of my business therapy, I often encounter entrepreneurs asking, "Who the hell am I?" even though it is not always so explicitly realized and said.
Yours sincerely,
-Alexander
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”Who are you and what do you do?"
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