We all know what it is like to truly be a different identity from ourselves, to float free of our “I-ness.” Unfortunately, the mindless path to selflessness is reactionary and negative (but as we’ll see, offers a unique learning experience).
I came up with this idea when I was Bored-at-work Harnish, a different non-entity than who I represent on my resume. Of course after 20 years of marriage, I’ve been Justin Mad-at-spouse more times than I will admit to my loving wife! These wholly formed identities are the products of being lost in thought, allowing ourselves to get caught up in an emotional narrative that is not present, but something we are holding onto nevertheless.
As promised, there are uses for this mindless disindentification from self. First, we can realize our error in becoming identified with any thought—an angry or otherwise emotional thought—or a mental model used to project a singular, unified, and identifiable self into a challenging world... and we can begin again with mindfulness of experience alone.
Also, we can wrap ourselves in the identity of loving kindness and compassion, projecting not only our good intentions, but also our heroic consciousness for use in the world of positive experience. This is not a self, but our best selflessness, just a projection of love onto the world. Ram Dass spoke of consciousness as loving awareness, both an action and a way of being: love your awareness and be love, embody it. Justin As-love, glad to meet you :).