Retiring the Old Tags

Metaphorical Narrative

Imagine walking through a dusty costume shop. Racks of animal masks and servant uniforms hang around you. Each mask has a tag: horse of burden, goat of blame, donkey of ridicule. Without noticing, ego keeps pulling one from the rack and pressing it onto your face, convinced it fits the scene you’re in. But today you pause. You lift the mask away and see it for what it is — just a tag from an old play. The stage is gone. The show is over. You don’t need the role.

Core Insight

Ego often uses environment, time of day, or tiny cues to re-activate old identity tags. A certain room, a time on the clock, or a memory in the body is enough to trigger: “Here you are the horse again.” This works like a conditioned reflex — an ancient shortcut to save thinking. But the tag isn’t the truth; it’s just a leftover imprint.

The reset comes from breaking the automatic link. By naming the tag and declaring it retired, you interrupt the false association. Then by anchoring in the present with a small physical cue, you install a new truth: you are free to show up as yourself, not as an inherited role.

Saturday Experiment

1. When you feel yourself slipping into an old role (horse, goat, servant), pause and whisper: “This tag is retired.”
2. Replace it with your chosen phrase: “I am here as I.”
3. Anchor it physically — stand tall, stretch, or simply look around to remind your body of the present.

Sunday Reflection

When reviewing your week, write in third person:

• Which “animal roles” or old tags showed up?
• How quickly did they get spotted?
• What happened when the tag was retired — did energy return, did presence grow?
• How does it feel to walk without masks, even in places that used to carry them?