Questions and Answers


Dancing with the Other: Q&A

What is “the Other”? – The Other is simply any group of people whom you see as fundamentally different than yourself. These are people  we see as “not like us,” perhaps because they belong to a different social identity group or because they represent an unrecognized shadow aspect of yourself..

How Can I Learn Who "the Other" is for me? – Examine your patterns of interaction and ask yourself what particular groups of people trigger you or rub you the wrong way. 

After I discover who "the Other" is for me, and I'm uncomfortable with what I find, what's my next move? Begin by reflecting on when, how and why you "othered"  that person or group of people.

What Does it Mean to "Dance with the Other?" This is a gradual, de-conditioning process that involves owning, accepting, and dancing with those parts in you that mirror the other and aren't separate from it. 

What Blocks Us From Doing This Naturally? What blocks us is our core belief that it is not in our interest to expand our sense of self beyond our tribal, them-versus-us way of being in the world. 

Why Should I Bother Doing This? By dissolving  limiting attitudes towards those unlike us, Dancing with the Other helps us dissolve limiting attitudes towards those unlike us, expands our sense of self, and helps us become true citizens of the world. 

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