Dallas Bragg walks through four layers of self: the outer persona you show the world, the reactive self that chases validation or escape, your authentic emotional body underneath, and the true soul self that stays constant. Learning which layer is active helps you build freedom from chemical dependency.
All right, you want to know how to begin teeny recovery? You feel like an outsider looking into your life, don't you? As if someone else is making decisions while you are at the whim of this other entity. This is because you are operating from an outward layer of your true natural self. Your true soul self is the one who's observing this life. So here are the layers of yourself, and as you listen, I want you to try to discern which one is more active in your daily life. The outer persona. This is the face you show the world, shaped by society, family, and trauma. For many of us in the gay community, this includes both our pre-coming-out personas and the new mask we've adopted after. Then there's the reactive self. This is the part that automatically responds to triggers, seeks validation, pleasure, and escape. This is often where Tina finds her foothold, promising instant access to a more desirable state of being. Those strong emotions. The authentic emotional body beneath the reactions lies your true emotional landscape, the raw, unfiltered feelings that your personas are trying to protect or hide. Then there's the true soul self. This is your essential nature, the unchanging awareness. That witnesses all experience. This self is not defined by sexuality, trauma, or achievement. It simply is. So once you begin practicing awareness, you can begin to ascertain which layer is more active and deliberately grant more voice to the true soul self when you can, the one who was born into this world without a chemical dependency. Now slowly feel your authenticity grow.
