“Covering,” a word forged by the work of Sociologist Ervin Goffman and later refined by Kenji Yoshino, a Legal Scholar at New York University. It means in essence: “to downplay or hide one’s true identity, beliefs or characteristics to conform to the norms of society.”
I first heard this term when I was listening to a recent episode of the Hidden Brain podcast in which, the guest Kenji Yoshino, spoke about what happens when we try to pretend to be someone that we are not, in order to fit in. This topic is interesting to me, because the work that I have done for the last sixteen years is about uncovering one’s hidden strengths and challenges in order to step more fully into our authentic selves.
Ironically, my work primarily centers around the principles of The Nine Star Ki, a Japanese system of understanding our personal Ki or energy. A concept of energy that is imprinted on us the day we are born, and continues to influence us throughout our lives. Interestingly, Kenji is an American of Japanese decent, and I could not help but wonder if he was familiar with this system.
As Kenji explains, most of us hide an aspect of ourselves that we don’t think other people would understand or accept, so we cover in order to fit in. I can certainly relate to this. I have been happily married for over twenty years, and no one has every suspected that there is an age difference between me and my husband, but there is. At times, I have felt the need to hide the fact that I married later in life, I’m older than my husband and had my daughter in my mid forties. Mostly out of a fear that I would not be accepted, or worse, that it would affect the acceptance of my daughter or husband.
I am often asked why I am so passionate about the ancient art of Nine Star Ki (astrology), and it is specifically because I find it to be such a valuable and amazing tool that we can use throughout our lives to help us “uncover” and rebalance our sometimes forgotten inner energetic patters. Like a roadmap that has been imprinted with our unique energetic signature. And one that we can turn to, all through our lives to help navigate our path, better understand our gifts and challenges, achieve goals, or give us the potential for more harmonious relationships.
I have spent many years studying and practicing the Nine Star Ki, precisely because I have had struggles around showing up authentically more than once in my life. This ancient, simplistically refined and profoundly accurate system of understanding one’s personality is, in my opinion, sometimes more accurate than many of the personality assessment that I have taken over the years. Myers-Briggs and Strong included. Of course, I have a lot of regard for those assessments. They are very detailed and valid too, but Nine Star Ki is definitely my go to, over and over again. And it never disappoints.
Often, when I am listening to a podcast or reading an article where someone is discussing a topic I resonate with, such as with Kenji’s interview on Hidden Brain, I make a point of trying to discover their energetic patterns and the cycle of time they happen to be moving through. What I usually find is that their pattern almost always match with their life circumstance and/or purpose. Which to me is fascinating, because most, if not all, have no knowledge of the Nine Star Ki and are quite organically aligned with their inner design. This is encouraging, because it suggests that most of us are never really as far off course as we sometimes believe we are.
Kenji is no exception. As I listened to him tell his story, I began see his inner patterns weaving together. How his fear of judgement initially blocked him from being able to step into his own authenticity, and why it became so important for him to be a leading force in helping others recognize the ways in which they may be consciously or unconsciously covering too. Kenji has the potential to be very influential in his field of work and the ability to be a strong champion in guiding others to align with their own inner truths.
Because it’s not about covering what’s wrong with our stories, but instead uncovering what is right.
If you are interested in learning more about “covering” and Kenji Yoshino’s story I am including the link to the Hidden Brain podcast – Dropping The Mask – https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/dropping-the-mask/
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For more information about the Nine Star Ki, I highly recommend the book “Your Hidden Symmetry,” by Jean Haner.
Elemental Energies 