Get Unstuck
Introduction
The Greeks recognized mysterious, often mutually contradictory forces from Olympus, that we now call the "Unconscious." We shall call these unconscious forces "goddesses." Meet the motivating goddesses who rule us: Surviva, Passia, Quiessa.
Who keeps us alive?
Surviva oversees our physical functions, bringing on all bodily feelings that signal essential survival needs (i.e., shelter, clothing, hunger, thirst). She also oversees emotions, such as fear, anxiety, shame, guilt, pride, greed, competitiveness, gluttony, covetousness, envy, jealousy, defensiveness, and arrogance. Surviva fills out need for communication from others, such as protection, tenderness, and safety. We receive communication from Surviva in the form of requests, support, transactions, wishes, and efforts for power and control (of self or others). Surviva keeps us alive. She wants us to be safe and to stay alive! She cares for our bodily existence. Without Surviva, there would be no "me" with physical existence, and no "me" to communicate with other "selves" and to receive what we need.
Who is the least understood?
Passia brings on all tendencies that demand self-expression, self-determination, and freedom. She is passionately involved with a project (even obsessive), an impractical. Passia is idealistic, disdainful of conventionality, and sometimes ruthless. Passia gives us self-expression and inventions. She functions more on our inner stimuli than on communication with other people. She motivates us with total disregard for immediate potential consequences, for her goals are beyond those of individual survival. She cares for our spirit (as in the "high-spirited child"). Passia cares about the projects in which we are involved and is even willing to fight and to take risks to put through our ideas. Without Passia, life would have no meaning, no sense of existence, nothing worth living for, way for us to express our uniqueness which we can offer to the world. She represents all tendencies that may lead to discovery, invention, and procreation (physical or symbolic). She endangers individuals, getting them into trouble with their parents or challenging accepted social expectations. Passia's passionate intensity drives us more or less in seemingly useless directions. She is thought to be "useless." However, thanks to her, humanity has survived. Her curiosity and risk-taking lead to creativity and inventions. The following words describe Passia: curiosity, interest in exploration, playfulness, excitement, enthusiasm, idealism, risk-taking, hunger, sexual urges, adventure, experimentation, pleasure. Passia impacts posterity (not on present success), imagination, involvement with a project (even obsessively), impracticality. She is disdainful of conventionality, idealistic, and ruthless.
Who cares for our souls?
Quiessa represents peacefulness, letting go. She overviews all broad "other-worldly" spiritual needs, including the need for sleep and relaxation, relation to the entire universe outside daily concerns, or self-expression. The following words describe Quiessa: placidity, calmness, peacefulness, restfulness, "oceanic" feelings, meditative attitudes, broad philosophical views, withdrawal, morbidity, harmony with nature, interest in ecology, quietude, passivity, and a contemplative relationship to music and art. Without Quiessa, we would simply be workhorses, without the exquisite sense that we can soar beyond daily existence and be part of the whole celestial universe.
Activity: Identify Your Primary Motivations
Purpose
Following is an activity, based on Fanita English's inner motivation model, to identify your most and least dominant inner motivations.
Rationale
Learning about primary motivations can help you understand both yourself and others (i.e., those you care for and others on your caregiver team, those you work with and for, family members). With this knowledge, you can make optimal use of your time and energy as you move through career and caregiving.
Learning Objectives
- Identify your most and least dominant inner motivations.
- Become aware of how you use your time and energy.
- Learn how to balance your motivations to make effective career and caregiving decisions.
Materials
Pencil and paper
Participants
You can do this activity by yourself or with a partner.
Setting
Your choice
Time Required
30 minutes
Instructions
1. Number a paper from 1 - 9.
2. Write the names of nine people who have characteristics with which you identify.
3. Next to the person's name, write the main characteristic with which you identify.
4. Choose in which of the following inner motivational categories each characteristic falls:
(a) survival, (b) passion, (c ) quiescence (peacefulness, quietude).
5. Count up how many entries have been entered in each motivational category.
Assessment of Learning Objectives
- Which motivation is dominant in your life?
- Which motivation is least prevalent?
- Is any motivation lacking in your life?
- How can your most dominant motivator can help you make a career and caregiving decision?
- What motivation do you need to bring more into your life?
- What motivation do you need to moderate?
- How will this strengthen your decision-making ability?
Discussion
This is a good activity to do more than once. It can be used as a barometer to check out how you are balancing career, caregiving, and self-care.
*This activity is based on English, F. (1998). Videotape: The forces within us. International Transactional Analysis Association 436 14th Street, Ste 1301, Oakland, CA 94612. Email: ITAA@ITAA-net.org. Adapted for caregivers by Dr. Sally Gelardin.