Cool topic!

The interesting question that arises when reading this story is: who is the personality that both Max and Emily have speaking through the third person, the self that analyses and observes them? Is the observer the highest authority of the inner stage?

In my training at the time, we had this module of the inner stage on the syllabus and conducted an experiment by means of an imagined scenario. In it, we imagined a scene in which a decision was to be made regarding an encounter.

We had to become aware of the different voices that would enter our mental stage and try to make the decision. We were also to pay attention to those voices that were more in the background and in fact all participants were able to identify multiple voices and influences and in the end made the decision - if possible - taking into account all of them for the given moment.

The question remains open as to who is ultimately the person of authority, as the personalities here all blur into one another and it is impossible to nail it down absolutely.

What I have learned is that one can eventually let go of analysis and accept one's "own" decision, whatever it turns out to be. Trusting that you did the right thing in that particular place at that particular time. Doubts or regrets about decisions once made are then a renewed attempt to draw attention by means of insecure, aggressive, sad parts, because these remnants of doubt etc. want to be heard. The "indeterminate/determinate" authority gives all parts the space to express themselves and decides again. If it's too determinate it becomes one of the personalities. LOL

It is a bit like running after oneself. Where one is too tense or anxious, one does not catch up, but where one succeeds in surrendering, aggression and peacefulness unite and produce serenity. Until the next play on stage, because it never stops :)

Consciousness is always a curse and a blessing at the same time, isn't it? The person who suffers from this being aware of himself feels divided - as you say "ripped apart" - by the fact that he always seems torn between his individuality and the group dynamic. The phenomenon of the "self" and the "other" creates great confusion about where self ends and other begins. Countless reactions and emotions are conceivable, from the laughing fool to the aggressive oppressor and everything in between.

Homo = Schizo ;-)

I could not make it myself to take part in this contest. Bummer, I was almost done but the finishing touches are still missing. Next time.