17. Seeing Yourself in the Other: Why Projection Is a Map, Not a Mistake

Season #2

This week, we travel into the emotionally charged and often misunderstood terrain of projection—not as pathology, but as portal. Whether it stings or seduces, projection reveals the unlived, unseen, and often unclaimed parts of ourselves. Through story, psychoanalytic insight, and symbolic reflection, Marrissa invites you to stop seeing projection as a flaw, and start seeing it as a guidepost. Because what if your biggest emotional reactions… weren’t obstacles, but oracles?

Themes Explored

  • What projection actually is (beyond the clinical frame)

  • How to read projection as a symbolic message

  • A story of unmet needs, inner exiles, and reclaiming the self

  • The way leaders become projection screens—and how to stay sovereign

  • Why emotional triggers are mirrors, not mistakes

  • How symbolic intelligence helps us live with more clarity and coherence

Reflective Invitations

  • “What part of myself have I not made room for?”

  • “What power am I locating in them that might already live in me?”

  • “Is this reaction about them—or a rerun of an older story?”

  • “Where have I exiled something in me and tried to meet it in someone else?”

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Journal Prompt for the Week
"What am I seeing in the other that might be a messenger for something unlived in me?"

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