MASCULINE: Left brain: I am the left brain. I am a scientist. A mathematician. I love the familiar. I categorise. I am accurate. Linear. Analytical. Strategic. I am practical. Always in control. A master of words and language. Realistic. I calculate equations and play with numbers. I am order. I am logic. I know exactly who I am.

FEMININE: Right brand: I am the right brain. I am creativity. A free spirit. I am passion. Yearning. Sensuality. I am the sound of roaring laughter. I am taste. The feeling of sand beneath bare feat. I am movement. Vivid colors. I am the urge to paint on an empty canvas. I am boundless imagination. Art. Poetry. I sense. I feel. I am everything I wanted to be.

As you may recall from our discussion in this post I have a deep inquisition into gender roles. I have to admit, I like them, but I also want to understand them, be aware of how they are changing and make them work for me.

Often guys tell me that they think women don’t need men anymore ……. I understand what they mean when they say this, but I disagree. Perhaps physically and emotionally woman can potentially find “replacements”: vibrators, artificial insemination, friendships and careers which makes them more independent, meaning they don’t rely on men the same way they used to but in my opinion a woman still needs a man to experience that fullness of life and visa versa…. And perhaps it doesn’t have to be MAN & WOMAN, but more about that other PERSON. Not to complete each other, but to compliment each other. Without one, the other is always missing out on having that balance in life.

There is a beautiful Greek myth that goes like this:

Aristophanes offers a story dealing with human nature and the human condition. Human beings were once spherical, with eight limbs like an octopus, four arms and four legs, one head with two faces and four ears and two sets of genitals, male or female or both, so that there were any one of three kinds: male-male, male-female, and female-female. One day they offended the gods and to punish them Zeus cut them in half, scattering the two severed halves in opposite directions. Since that day, we are always searching for our other half. When a half meets its other half, each is overcome by Eros and each delights in being with the other. The reason for this is not, or at least not merely, a desire for sexual intercourse: on the contrary, the soul of each wishes for something it cannot put into words. Lovers desire to live a common life and die a common death, to become One again, in a complete and lasting union. The reason for this is our ancient nature: we were once a unified Whole. ‘Eros’ Aristophanes tells us, ‘Is the desire and pursuit of Wholeness’.

The Chinese also support these ideology with the concept of yin and yang:

The Taijitu and concept of the Zhou period reach into family and gender relations. Yin is female and yang is male. They fit together as two parts of a whole. The Taijitu is one of the oldest and best-known life symbols in the world, but few understand its full meaning. It represents one of the most fundamental and profound theories of ancient Taoist philosophy. At its heart are the two poles of existence, which are opposite but complementary. The light, white Yang moving up blends into the dark, black Yin moving down. Yin and Yang are dependent opposing forces that flow in a natural cycle, always seeking balance. Though they are opposing, they are not in opposition to one another. As part of the Tao, they are merely two aspects of a single reality. Each contains the seed of the other, which is why we see a black spot of Yin in the white Yang and vice versa. They do not merely replace each other but actually become each other through the constant flow of the universe.

Within these concepts, which are so much more than the every-day details of our lives, is the underlying current that we are energetically bound to one another. Chemically, emotionally and physically this plays itself out with the connections we create. Our brains are hardwired to find a complementing physiological DNA structure, another human who is compatible to each of our unique and individual traits including personality, beliefs, values etc, as well as the deeper constructs which make up our souls, our life essence. So even though I strongly dislike the concept of “You complete me”, because that would insinuate that an individual is not complete on their own, perhaps in some way it is true. I believe that much of our journey in life is to become complete and whole within ourselves before joining with another whole and complete half.

Image credit: by the creative minds from mercedes benz.