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A child in a red shirt sits at a desk with a black and white cat. Sunlight and shadows create an intricate pattern through the window.

Psychoanalysis and the unconscious

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Three ways to get in touch with your Shadow self

Jung believed we all have a Shadow self. Facing up to it could help you live more fully and be more forgiving of others

by Ruth Williams

A double exposure image of a person using a smartphone overlaid with a bustling city street scene with cars and tall buildings.

Technology and media

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What I learned from sharing my private self with an AI journal

‘Quantified self’ apps analyse our physical and behavioural data. Now, AI journals want to access our emotional lives too

by Angela Chen

A display of various hats, including a red floral hat, a black hat with a coloured brim, a blue hat, and a beige lacy hat, shown on stand in a shop window. A blurred street with a bicycle is visible outside.

Identity

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You have multiple ‘social identities’ – here’s how to manage them

As social beings, our identities are bound up with different groups – here’s how to juggle all the various hats you wear

by Anna K Zinn

Sticky reminder notes are seen on a mirror and on various other items on top of a chest of drawers

The self

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What my mother’s sticky notes show about the nature of the self

Dementia accelerates a process we all experience, as our memories become increasingly externalised into the world around us

by Crispin Sartwell

A person with a black watch on his wrist is touching a realistic prosthetic hand resting on a white surface, with a dark shirt in the background.

Psychosis and schizophrenia

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Rubber hand illusions shed new light on our bodily sense of self

Testing the illusions on those who have entered altered states offers clues about the experience of being in control

by Shayla Love

An art installation with bright yellow-and-blue paintings by Vincent van Gogh projected onto walls and floors, with a person standing in the background.

The self

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Boost your self-understanding with a navigational approach

Physical and mental navigation involve overlapping brain processes, casting new light on the notion of an ‘inner journey’

by Nick Kabrél

A person in a witch hat observes a colourful, abstract painting featuring multiple characters, including a central nude figure, in a museum.

Beauty and aesthetics

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Why art seems more beautiful when you can see yourself in it

Research suggests that people find artworks more aesthetically pleasing when they’re personally relevant to them in some way

by Matt Huston

Hands sculpting a small, rough clay figure of a person’s head and torso against a blurred background.

The self

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When Nietzsche said ‘become who you are’, this is what he meant

Behind the philosopher’s cryptic phrase is an invocation to sculpt your ideal self out of the hard stone of your psyche

by Ryan A Bush

Painting of a woman leaning towards a man resting his head on a table cluttered with papers and books; a painting of horses racing hangs on the wall behind them.

Emotions

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Why is there such a thing as ‘true love’ but not ‘true grump’?

What makes an emotion feel true? And how is that connected to your true self? New insights on old philosophical puzzles

by Shayla Love

Five people wait to cross by Victoria’s Secret posters; some use their phones, while others look around.

Body dysmorphic disorder

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Body neutrality gives me the freedom not to love my body

How body neutrality, not body positivity, allowed me to acknowledge the fraught relationship between myself and my body

by Payal Dhar

Painting of large trees with exposed roots in a verdant forest, a wooden fence and a distant cabin partially obscured by foliage in the background.

Imagination

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Aphantasia can be a gift to philosophers and critics like me

Aphantasia veils the past and the future from the mind’s eye. That can be a gift to philosophers like Derek Parfit and me

by Mette Leonard Høeg

Woman with long dark hair sitting at a desk, using a typewriter. Art of a smiling face in the background.

Memoir

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Learn the art of journaling and archive your life

Journaling is an art and a daily practice that allows you to write your life and find your way, one sentence at a time

by Sarah Boon