Living In Two Worlds

Severance and Love: Living in Two Worlds

The television show Severance explores a world where employees at Lumon Industries undergo a procedure that splits their consciousness into two separate identities: one for work and one for personal life. This enforced separation creates a stark duality, trapping their (innie) selves in an endless cycle of labor while their (outie)selves remain unaware of their suffering. This division mirrors the way love can make a person feel as though they are living in two worlds ”one shaped by deep emotions and another governed by external responsibilities.

In Severance, the employees exist in two separate realities, unable to bridge the gap between them. Similarly, love creates a divide between the world as it was before and the new, emotionally charged reality it creates. When someone falls in love, their thoughts, priorities, and perceptions shift, sometimes making them feel disconnected from their previous self. Just as the (innie)in Severance longs for meaning and connection without fully understanding the outside world, a person in love may struggle to reconcile their heightened emotional state with the practical demands of daily life.

Both Severance and love challenge autonomy and self-control. The severed employees are at the mercy of a corporate system that dictates their dual existence, just as love can override logic and influence decisions in unexpected ways. Love, like severance, reshapes identity and behavior, often making people act in ways they never anticipated. A person in love may feel pulled between rationality and emotion, much like how the (outie)self in Severance controls the life of the (innie) without their knowledge.

Despite these similarities, the key difference lies in the nature of the division. Severance portrays separation as a form of control, an unnatural constraint on human freedom. Love, on the other hand, while creating a split reality, offers a sense of transcendence. It allows people to exist in two worlds at once, where emotional depth and practical life can intertwine. While severance isolates, love connects”bridging the gap between two versions of the self and offering a way to embrace both logic and emotion in a meaningful way.