ABSTRACT
One of the anthropological threats of modern civilization is the alienation of personality and experiencing. Experiencing turns into a product or a mechanism of manipulation, a self-contained reality detached from the individual. The opposite tendency is the cultivation of a non-experiencing personality: managerialism of one’s life, the rationalistic construction of successful destiny without listening to the mystery of being that unfolds from deep experiencing. Personality and experiencing are central, interrelated categories for person-centred and experiential psychotherapies. The fundamental question: who is the subject, the author of the experiencing? Experiencing is the inner work of the individual. Therefore a transition from considering experiencing as “a process” to experiencing as “an individual’s activity” is necessary. In Vygotsky’s cultural-activity psychology, a concept of experiencing is being developed, which makes dialectical unity of personality and experiencing possible due to key principles: (a) experiencing is seen as the inner activity of the personality; (b) experiencing is a multilevel process that includes voluntary and involuntary components; (c) experiencing has a dialogical nature, always has an author and addressee; (d) experiencing is mediated by cultural means; (e) experiencing is a creative act aimed at generating meaning. In the work of experiencing, a person must solve three problems: to gain courage to experience, creativity to express and wisdom to find meaning.
