How much do you know yourself?
A genuine question without a doubt.
"Seventy percent?" someone mumbles
"Ninety percent." another does shout.

I look at them in awe,
Trying to understand their glee.
Cause I feel like I don't know myself
Even a fifty percent of what's me.

"A fifty," I whisper in self doubt.
The teacher gives a slight smile,
And then on the board draws a table
Three lines making four squares awhile.

That's a window, the Johari window,
Her voice rings out loud and clear
As we stare at the figure in wonder,
Wondering we went wrong where.

"Even if we know ourselves fully,
It's only fifty percent of us that we know,
The rest of it is hidden from us,
As the 'Johari window' concept does show.

We are often unaware of
How others perceive us or
How we present ourselves to others,
Even how well we know ourselves for.

What happens in our life
Depends upon our own self-awareness,
And the awareness others have of us.
But that's no reason to take stress.

Twenty five percent of us is what others see,
And never ever will they tell,
But they'll talk behind our back,
And hold opinions where gossips sell.

The rest twenty five percent is unknown,
To us all for that matter,
And that's hidden in our subconscious,
Drawn out by hypnotism later.

Because that twenty percent houses,
Our worst fears and demons,
That we don't even know exists but
They visit our dreamland sermons.

Then comes the hidden self,
The ones only we know about us,
The ones that say we're transparent like glass
Are the worst liars thus.

How much you're open,
To how much you're repressed,
Actually shows us the percentage of you
That you know truely assessed.

The squares may look equal,
But those are not constant,
The percentage changes and fluctuates,
So that's the end of my rant.

Next time someone says,
They know you or themselves too much,
Show them the Johari Window
And walk away with a knowing smile such.

~~~~~~~~~

Luft and Ingham created this model because they believed that what happens in our life depends upon our own self-awareness, and the awareness others have of us. The premise behind the window is that there are certain things which we know, and things we do not know about ourselves. Similarly, there are certain things others know and do not know. Thus, at any given point of time in life, we may see our total being as we understand it and as others know about it in a true sense through the 4-paned Johari window.

In the explanatory diagram, all panes look equal but in reality that is not the case. The openness of each pane will vary depending on your own personal level of:

How well you know yourself?
How much you share about yourself with others?
How well others know you?