Projection: The Blind Spot
- Jerry Clark
- Aug 29, 2025
- 2 min read
A while back, I was in the grocery store, standing in line with just a few items. The customer ahead of me was chatting away with the checker, laughing, telling stories, and digging through their wallet, while I stood there stewing. My mind raced: Don’t they realize people are waiting? How inconsiderate!
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Later that day, it hit me. I’ve done the same thing. I’ve lingered in conversation, enjoyed catching up, and probably delayed someone else who was in a hurry. The truth I didn’t want to face in myself, I was quick to judge in someone else. Passing judgment, I realized, is often the hidden clue that I might be projecting. I see in others what I can’t, or don’t want to, see in myself.
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That’s projection. Freud described it as a defense mechanism: when I don’t want to acknowledge a feeling or flaw in myself, I unconsciously assign it to others. Carl Jung went further, teaching that we project parts of our “shadow,” those unrecognized pieces of ourselves, onto the world. What I can’t accept in me, I’ll likely see and dislike in you.
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Projection is a major blind spot in relationships. Because it feels so real, I convince myself the problem is “out there.” Yet much of what irritates me in others is often something I don’t want to see in myself.
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Here’s the challenge: when I catch myself projecting, I can stay blind and blame, or I can pause and ask, what part of me am I seeing in them? That single question can turn a blind spot into a gold mine of self-awareness.
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Projection is the mirror I least want to look into. But when I do, I build a better me. I become less controlled by hidden judgments and more able to connect with others and myself honestly.
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Watch for the blind spots.
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Think you’ve got it all figured out? 🤔 Your blind spots might have other plans. Dive into Blind Spots in Relationships and find out what you don’t know you don’t know. 💡 Get your copy today. 📚http://tinyurl.com/yc3usfsp
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