Donald Trump represents the most self-centered part of all of us in the extreme. He is like a cartoon character who is constantly telling himself a story about his motives, actions and reactions. He represents the darkest, most devious side of humanity. He gives us a chance to see how we each tell ourselves stories that are not true to defend ourselves from seeing our true motives.
For most of us this is dramatically less extreme, but it is helpful to identify the parts of ourselves that are not totally honest, privately and with others. At first glance it’s easy to dismiss this. We all need to look more deeply. I see that I can be more annoyed, aggressive, and superior than I let myself know, especially in the moment. It can be inspiring to review interactions we have with people to learn where our hearts are not open, where we don’t tell the truth, where we leave out our aggression, and the ways we hide. Most of us have the tendency to compartmentalize more than we realize. May we take the time to see what we are hiding from.
I disagree that, in the end, Trump will not be able to compartmentalize the “violent intrusion” into presidential psychology. He will almost for sure feel that he is being falsely victimized as he suffers from a sense of immunity from all negative reflections. He is easily able to believe the source of false motives, actions and misconduct all comes from the outside. May we each use this as a teaching for how we introspect and guide our friends, kids and loved ones to do the same.
Photo credit: William Taylor and George Kent take an oath before testifying at the House impeachment hearing. | Jim Lo Scalzo/Getty Images (Politico)