The Inner Self: The Joy of Discovering Who We Really Are

by Hugh Mackay

Overview

'How can I get in touch with this real self, underlying all my surface behaviour? How can I become myself?' Carl Rogers, US psychotherapistThe Inner Self is a book about the ways we hide from the truth about ourselves and the psychological freedom we enjoy when we finally face that most searching question of all: 'Who am I, really?'Hugh Mackay explores our 'top 20' hiding places - from addiction to materialism, nostalgia to victimhood. He explains how it is our fear of love's demands that drive us into hiding. He argues that love is our highest ideal, the richest source of life's meaning and purpose, and the key to our emotional security, personal serenity and confidence.Yet Mackay exposes the great paradox of human nature, that while love brings out our best, we don't always want our best brought forward.Powerfully written and drawing on a lifetime of research, The Inner Self is a work of extraordinary insight by one of Australia's most respected psychologists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781760787745
Publisher:	Pan Macmillan Australia
Publication date:	12/15/2020
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.17(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Hugh Mackay is a social researcher and bestselling author of 21 books, including What Makes Us Tick, The Good Life and Australia Reimagined. He has had a 60-year career in social research, and was a weekly newspaper columnist for over 25 years. Hugh is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and the Royal Society of NSW. In recognition of his pioneering work in social research, he has been awarded honorary doctorates by Charles Sturt, Macquarie, NSW, Western Sydney and Wollongong universities. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2015.

Table of Contents

Preface xi

1 What is this thing called 'the self'? 1

2 Why we hide from ourselves 35

3 Our top 20 hiding places 53

Addiction 55

Ambition 71

Anxiety 78

Arrogance 86

Busyness 96

Complacency/Certainty 104

Fantasy 112

Fatalism 122

'Forgetting' 131

Guilt and Shame 142

Happiness (pursuit of) 152

Information technology 159

Masks and Labels 172

Materialism 185

Nostalgia 192

Perfectionism 199

Projection 207

Religion and Science 217

Victimhood 226

Work 237

4 Soul-searching 249

5 Out of hiding 273

Appendix: 'We can only learn to love by loving' 289

References 293

Text acknowledgements 300

Acknowledgements 301

Index 303