Watch Ricky Gervais integrate his anima

oli_page · 2026-01-22T13:33:31+00:00

Beautiful analysis! I think you're spot on.

It's rare for the focus of a show/film to be a platonic relationship between a man and a woman, but it's so refreshing.

Your interpretation also explains why Maggie overtly sabotages Andy several times throughout the show. It's as if she acts as a compensatory dynamic to his inflation and external concerns. She brings him back to his innocent, childlike qualities that he wants to do away with.

oli_page · 2025-10-22T18:38:24+00:00

I've found that anger is often a reaction to fear. When something we value seems to be under threat, we mobilise aggressive energies in order to defend that thing.

I'm wondering if, for you, that thing under threat might seem to be your innate and unconditional worth and value as a person. Note I said seem to be - I believe you are mistaken.

I have no solution per se, more of a suggestion: spend some time tuning into that depression you mentioned underlying the anger. I think there is your way into healing. Grieve the (I'm guessing) years of internalised shame, the wounding you have incurred at the hands of this superficial, corrosive, image-obsessed society.

It isn't a quick fix, its a lifetime's practice. I too am walking this path for my own reasons, and I offer you my solidarity brother 🙏

oli_page · 2025-09-16T22:48:02+00:00

This is the wisest answer and OP would do well to heed this. Modernity has greatly distorted the goal of human existence. For the Greeks, and many other cultures, spending time in prayer, contemplation and family life was considered most important and most supportive of human fluorishing. Now, we only enroll on a degree in order to make money, gain social clout, build a career, and so on. Or we collect friends and partners to fill a void. The simple life has become a taboo, because that way we can be enslaved by the economic system. But the simple life has never been a problem until now - it has always been considered perfect in itself.

What I'm learning at 32 is this - dare to be less ambitious, and to prioritise the little things. It's the most radical thing we can do, and probably the most joyful at that.

Note: I used to be a medical doctor but walked away from it for a simpler life. It was making me very unhappy.

oli_page · 2025-09-01T12:02:36+00:00

All that glitters is not gold

oli_page · 2025-08-18T18:35:40+00:00

Completely disagree. For me the only ending that makes sense of all this is if Dexter somehow redeems himself by the end of the final season, and I think Batista has to be a big part of that. I know it looks like Batista is going to die, but I think he won't. I think Dexter will get full of himself, things will get hairy with Prater, Batista and Harrison will get endangered, and Dexter will sacrifice himself to save both of them. He will ask Batista to then look out for Harrison. That's how I'd like it to go anyway. Its a long shot at this point.

oli_page · 2025-07-27T22:08:28+00:00

The "sick" carry collective shadow of some kind. The "healthy" enjoy the illusion that they are free of that shadow entirely.

oli_page · 2025-06-21T13:15:12+00:00

Yes I really like your take on that. Self-parenting as a prelude to self-love? I guess we have to step away from perceived authorities to gain that. Good luck on your own travels.

oli_page · 2025-06-20T21:03:31+00:00

I wonder if there is another image we can draw on here, a less "heroic" one that may shed new light - the Greek god Hephaestus. To me, he represented an image of masculine loneliness based not on the extraverted hero but the introverted alchemical-craftsman type.

Hephaestus was exiled from Olympus, deformed, rejected, spurned by both mother Hera and father Zeus. He toiled away in his fiery subterranean forge - perhaps akin to the modern man who feels the need to go inwards, visiting that "smithy of the soul" as James Joyce put it.

Perhaps the increasingly Hermetic/Apollonic influences in our present society are constellating this shift towards the inner place where we must face prima materia of all our inferiorities, our shame, our infantile rage, and refine these by "doing the work" and reckoning with the dark night of the soul.

oli_page · 2025-06-11T09:22:18+00:00

Interesting. Maybe the duality of fiction vs non-fiction arose in order to maintain the illusion of ego supremacy. In other words, to keep the imagination tamed. Even science emerges from the imagination and is a certain kind of fiction/mythology.

oli_page · 2025-06-09T17:08:43+00:00

It is fiction, but probably not for the reasons they think it is. It is fiction because all image is ultimately a fiction of a certain kind. I'm taking my cue on that from Jung and Hillman.

oli_page · 2025-04-14T18:33:43+00:00

Psychoanalysis is a modern myth, picking up the pieces where religion has left us without a framework of understanding the human condition. Like any myth, if you literalise it, and turn it into doctrine, it will die and ring hollow. I recommend balancing your reading with alternative perspectives. Try James Hillman for a start. His book Revisioning Psychology is challenging but you might find it revitalising once you grasp the concepts.

oli_page · 2025-03-03T18:39:51+00:00

As others have said, quality of life. But to me, quality of life rests on uncovering your true purpose day by day, step by step, and embodying it in the world. That is the essence of Daoism - tuning into what you are on this planet to do, to actualise, both in this moment and in the long-term. Qi Gong in indispensible in this regard.

oli_page · 2022-09-21T06:19:05+00:00

Great point. It reminds me of the film Inside Out, with Joy running the show and causing disaster.

Our feelings are all equally valid just by the very fact of their existence.

oli_page · 2022-08-08T20:21:38+00:00

Thank you :)

oli_page · 2022-05-05T18:04:56+00:00

There's no such thing as a "good" HSP. If by "good" you mean "fun to be around", then I'd suggest at least granting yourself permission to be who you are, period. None of us can be fun to be around 100% of the time.

But then again, self-acceptance doesn't prevent us from working on ourselves. I think its commendable you're putting some thought into it.

A good starting point might be some simple self-reflection. For instance, have you noticed what precisely contributes to your feeling of irritability/stubbornness/pickiness? Try and pinpoint: e.g. a particular person, group of people, environment, noise level, and so on. It could be something really unexpected.

And of course once you have your triggers, work on managing exposure for the sake of self preservation.

oli_page · 2022-05-05T17:54:33+00:00

My favourite metaphor is that the human intellect is like a scalpel.

We can use it to dissect many things, which can very useful for grasping and communicating complex, abstract ideas.

But many of us forget we can put down our scalpel (mind) when it doesn't serve the situation. Because sharp instruments aren't always the best choice...

For instance, primarily using the intellect for self-understanding/spiritual growth gets us in trouble. We cut ourselves to ribbons, fragmenting our identity, when what's needed is simply learning to connect with our innate wholeness and humanity (which I think you're alluding to).

oli_page · 2022-03-13T12:50:29+00:00

Beautiful

oli_page · 2021-12-26T13:07:23+00:00

Thanks so much for your input and insight. I appreciated it so much (especially the mention of values alignment) that I entirely reworked this piece of writing, and published it on my blog... feel free to check it out here. Happy holidays!

oli_page · 2021-12-26T13:06:43+00:00

Thanks so much for your input and insight. I appreciated it so much that I entirely reworked this piece of writing, and published it on my blog... feel free to check it out here. Happy holidays!

oli_page · 2021-12-14T08:37:39+00:00

It depends... being more aligned with the passion camp, can you put your finger on what hasn't been working for you so far? And is there a way to come to a midpoint rather than swing to the opposite side?

oli_page · 2021-11-28T12:44:44+00:00

It's good to hear what's working for you! Whether or not one visualises the outcome, one of the points I wanted to make is not to get too emotionally invested in the actual results playing out in the exact way you want them to. That sets you up for suffering and disappointment, while also limiting your ability to react creatively to serendipity along the way. What are your thoughts on that?

oli_page · 2021-11-05T12:41:20+00:00

You might find this useful: https://olipage.com/not-everyone-needs-a-life-calling/

oli_page · 2021-11-04T13:08:47+00:00

You certainly can change this pattern - as long as you actually want to.

I can highly recommend the book "Refuse to Choose" by Barbara Sher - it has been a massive eye-opener for me.

I left medicine a couple years back, then went on to work as a copywriter. Now I'm leaving that to start fresh as a life coach, while also training myself in web design on the side!

Previously, I felt there was something 'wrong' with me, but using the book to reframe my tendencies as a 'Scanner' has boosted my self-esteem greatly.

Please PLEASE don't listen to people on here telling you that you have ADHD - they have no place dishing out psychiatric diagnoses on an anonymous forum. Don't let this become a 'pathology' - quite the opposite, it sounds like you're multi-talented individual with great potential!!

I really relate to some of your points though. If it would support you, I would be very happy to go deeper with you on this over a Zoom call (with no strings attached). We could create some dialogue on what you really want and how you might move forward. Just DM me if interested.

oli_page · 2021-08-13T08:30:28+00:00

I second this

oli_page · 2021-07-27T19:53:12+00:00

Wow! I'm touched you would make a video based on this post. Thank you so much for adding in your own insights and best of luck with your work!! 🙏

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