Page 210 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

a dmi ni st ering sacr e d nu rs i ng a ct s
1. Inclusion. The need for identity, attention, and association with
others; the need to belong; the struggle about whether one is
“in” or “out,” alone or together, private or public. Inclusion can
be associated with the original psychological notions of introver-
sion or extroversion in different characteristics of people.
2. Control. The need for autonomy; the power to influence author-
ity. Control also refers to decision-making processes between
people. The dynamic is between controlling others or being con-
trolled by others. It includes issues of dominance: top-bottom,
dependent-independent.
3. Affection. The need for intimate, emotional relationships
between and among others. These dynamics represent tension
between intimacy versus isolation, whether one is close to or dis-
tant from and with other humans. Affection includes feelings of
love, tenderness, acceptance, trust, warmth, and so forth; it also
represents the ability to constructively handle opposite feelings,
such as anger, hate, sadness, guilt, and related emotions.
These three interpersonal needs are manifest in the ancient
energetic systems described by Myss (1966). She points out that the
spiritual challenge of our energetic being is to learn to interact con-
sciously with others, to form unions with people who can support
our development and release relationships that handicap our growth.
Within the energetic model, Myss introduces the laws of magne-
tism within the context of relationships: “[T]hese laws mean that
we generate patterns of energy that attract people who are opposite
us in some way; who have something to teach us. Nothing is ran-
dom; prior to every relationship we have ever formed, we opened the
door with energy that we were generating. . . . The more conscious
we become, the more consciously we can utilize the energy” (Myss
1996:132).
Myss says that in every relationship there is a primary conflict of
faith and choice: relationships generate conflict and conflict gener-
ates choice. We break free when we learn to transcend the dualism
between others and ourselves (we are all connected at the human spirit
level) and transcend the dualism between God and ourselves. Myss
(1996:135) reminds us that as long as we focus on trying to control

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