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The World and I are within each other.

Maurice Merleau‐Ponty, The Phenomenology of Perception (1962)

The dividing lines between the sections of the Wheel are blurred or intentionally indistinct to denote the interconnectedness of human concerns or ‘givens’, the overlap of our ontic reactions and the interplay of our ontic reactions with the ontological givens that underpin them. Both the universal existential givens and our individual responses to these universal givens are incorporated into the Wheel of Existence so as to signify the interplay between the two.

Husserl (1977) coined the term ‘intentionality’ from his questioning of the Cartesian mind/body and subject/object dichotomy. In opposition to Descartes’s maxim I think, therefore I am, Husserl developed a theory that refutes the separation of our thinking self from being and advocates that our thoughts, body, emotions, and our connection to the external world, our environment, are always in relationship with each other and woven into the fabric of our existence. He argued that we are constantly interpreting and consequently constructing meaning out of every situation, every thought, every interaction from our own unique standpoint. He suggested, furthermore, that our understanding of everything is experienced in our consciousness in its entirety and is inextricably joined to our perceptions of them.

Simply put, if I am conscious, I am always aware of something. When I become aware of my anger, for example, I might also notice that my anger is directed towards something or someone (Husserl, 1977). If we take this further, I might become aware that my anger is pulsing through my body and memories may begin to arise of situations where I might have felt similarly. Simultaneously, sadness, fear or other emotions might emerge where a possible link to some particular sense of uncertainty might be felt as I begin to reflect on my lack of control and feeling of unease.

This interconnectedness amongst all things in our experience includes the interrelationship between the two philosophies of existentialism and phenomenology and, as the Wheel demonstrates, the relationship between ontological givens, ontic reactions, time, and self – and, indeed, the therapist’s resonance with client’s subjective experience. All of these interconnections will be explored more fully in Section 2.