Flying Dutchman Syndrome is the Pact You Make to Play Out Projections Like Theater

A nautical look at the impact of the parent-child bond on your sense of self + strategies for docking the ship

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

If you’d like to experience unbounded psychological freedom and the capacity to enjoy the present free of limitations from the past, reflect on whether you have flying Dutchman syndrome.

The flying Dutchman is a legend about a cursed ship with a ghost captain doomed to sail the oceans, forever unable to port. However, every seven years the captain’s curse is lifted. He gets six months on shore. If, during this period, the captain finds a woman who loves him enough to die for him, he gets unhooked from the curse. If he fails, he’s back at sea.

If you’re a member of the human race, you too have a vessel you’re trying to dock. The difference between living on land and forever sailing the seas depends on whether you’ve successfully withdrawn the projections you’ve cloaked onto your parents or children. If you don’t, you’re risking a smoke screen of misapprehension between yourself and everyone you interact with.

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