A discussion with a colleague during a business meeting last week made me think of the following: Do we realise to what extent "self" is not respected, in dealing with people who are employed by organisations (big and small). Self in this instance is assumed to be an employable entity who want to contribute to the success of the organisation and will be comfortable in recieving payment from what is left over after the "shareholders" and "executives" have taken what is rightfully "owed" to them. It does make one think of the sense of control which employees espire to or not. Has it become fasionable for modern day employees to agree on spending time at the organisation and to be paid for adhering to such agreement? Has it become similarly fasionable to follow instructions and get support from management, because they speak the same "language"? Is the relationship between self and other of such kind within the organisational setting that the two mirror each other for the benefit of the company or themselves? Taken into account the growing number of people who take time out with social scientists and psychologists, reflecting on their inner experiences, in an attempt to understand the way in which such experiences may relate to their day-to- day workplace enagements, one wonders: What is the state of self?

Has the many definitions of self and the multiple operating contexts generated levels of experience and understanding that we may not be able to deal with right now? My sense is that we need to take time out to step sideways and reflect on what the diferent realities are which the "self" has become.