The Dirty Glass Metaphor: Dirt Is Part Of The Change Process

The rhetorical figures are a great help to understand the complex reality that surrounds us. Hyperboles, anaphora, comparisons or allegories. All of them useful and illustrative. In this case, it is the turn of a metaphor, which will undoubtedly make us reflect: the metaphor of the dirty glass.

Before proceeding to unravel it, we ask you a question that you may never have asked yourself. How can it be that some psychologists defend that to “clean” ourselves inside we have to be “dirty” for a while? We will tell you!

Clean the glass

Imagine that having a clean and totally transparent glass was crucial for you. Imagine also that now it was not in this state, but, on the contrary, it was dirty. You would like to clean it, remove that dirt. However, something really curious happens during this cleaning process.

At the moment in which we pour water to clean it, the glass can give us the feeling of being even dirtier than at the beginning. The water becomes cloudy and can project the idea of ​​staining the glass even more.

However, after washing it, the glass is perfectly clean and transparent. Therefore, the sequence of the dirty glass metaphor is: dirt, more dirt and cleanliness. Have you ever stopped to think about it?

Dirt is part of the process of change

It is a real paradox as, in order to get a clean glass, sometimes you have to get more dirt during the cleaning process. But that dirt is necessary and has a lot of value ; deep down it already existed, what you have done is make it visible in order to end it.

In fact, this dirty glass metaphor is very helpful in explaining the process of change. A transformation understood as a stage that sometimes generates a lot of confusion, doubts, tension and uncertainty. That is, it provokes feelings and emotions that “muddy” us and that bring up a lot of “dirt”. But that, in the end, they end up leaving if we do the process well.

Step 1: identify the dirt

As in cleaning the home itself, the first step is the most difficult. When we decide to clean the glass, it is that we have previously appreciated its dirtiness. Following the parallelism with our own process of change, it would be time to take a look inside ourselves. That is, immerse ourselves in ourselves and value what we have inside that is hurting us.

What “stains” us, what is “making us dirty” and what does not allow us to be calm and “clean”. It requires observation and reflection. Once we are clear about what we want to clean inside, it is time to get going. Let’s go to spinning!

Step 2: cleaning process

Once we are aware that we have “dirt” inside us, in the form of fears, fears, emotions, situations or thoughts that consume us and hinder us from day to day, it is time to say goodbye. The cleaning of the dirty glass metaphor begins. This process is usually not quick and sometimes not easy. When we are faced with emotional elements that have been stuck inside us for a long time, the task of getting rid of them will test our will.

This process of reflection, of introspection, of being aware of, is usually full of uncertainty. At times, we see everything black, we find ourselves contaminated, dirty, stained … But, oddly enough, it is a good sign! We are rubbing and removing what we have embedded. That is, the cleaning product is doing its job.

Despite the fact that during that time, it seems that the problems even get bigger, they are insurmountable and they will haunt us forever, that is not happening. We are removing the remains of dirt from the walls of our glass, in order to make them go away.

Step 3: Rinse

Once we have our problems floating in the warm water, it’s time to rinse them off. And for this, it is necessary to assess how to “clarify” them so that they do not return. Each rinsing process is equally unique and exclusive to each person. Some people need to pour all of the water down the drain in one go and fast. Others, on the contrary, may prefer to do it little by little and more slowly.

To finish this reflection on the metaphor of the dirty glass, it may be very convenient that during this cleaning process you seek the help of a professional. The therapist can be a very valuable partner in this most unpleasant task, especially with the more encrusted dirt.