Id, Ego, and Superego are concepts created by Sigmund Freud to explain the functioning of the human mind, considering conscious and unconscious aspects. Freud divided the mind into three integrated “parts” that act together and which, according to him, influence and coordinate human behavior.
The Id is governed by the “pleasure principle”. It is intimately and deeply linked to the libido and is responsible for actions resulting from impulses considered innate. The Id is located in the unconscious zone of the mind and therefore is unaware of the conscious “reality”, acting only from instinctive stimuli, which is attributed to it the characteristic of amorality.
The Superego is the inhibitor of impulses, because it acts in a way opposite to the Id. Considered the engine of morality, the superego follows the “principle of duty” and judges the individual’s intentions, always based on the cultural heritage learned in the environment and on the values and rules of conduct imposed. The superego is, therefore, the moral and social component of personality.
The Ego is the conscious part of the mind, being responsible for functions such as perception, memory, feelings, and thoughts.
It is governed by the reality principle, being the main influence in the interaction between subject and external environment. The ego is what we call our self, it is what is accessed and, for many, is the result of the constant internal struggle between the id and the superego, a struggle fought every day throughout our lives.
And here we are in this complex relationship with ourselves, or rather, with our ego. Some psychoanalysts say that we relate all the time to ourselves and to what it projects onto us in the world and in people — and not actually with them. Following this line of reasoning, we are the result of what our ego believes to be and this, most of the time, does not correspond at all to what others see about us, precisely because they are also fighting daily battles with themselves.
If “Narcissus thinks ugly what is not a mirror”, what will happen to us when the mirror reflects the present that is no longer so beautiful, shiny, and ideal?
What remains when our self is invaded by a tsunami called reality and forces us to leave aside our noise and our internal mistakes, to accept that really what remains, every day, is to look into the abyss of our insecure existence and repeat the mantra that I have shared with my readers for years: LET US FOCUS ON OUR INSIGNIFICANCE?
The ego, often reflects the way we relate to money, to physical appearance or to intellectual capacity.
There are those who imagine themselves devoid of “self” when faced with monetary loss, aging, or even with the realization that their intellectual aptitude is nothing more than a mere detail in the life of one of the six billion “specimens of the human species” that inhabit this planet.
You are nothing and you will not reach any peace if you insist on relating only to your ego as you relate to the money you may or may not have, nor to the physical image that represents you today, nor much less if you play the moody intellectual.
Our fights are internal, our importance exists for ourselves and perhaps in part for a few who surround us. Our ego is what we can access while our id wages a real world war, every day, with our superego and what remains of each battle is what we can access.
Almost everything that makes us suffer and hurts our ego is nothing more than a mistake and/or a misinterpretation of what we think we perceive, understand and take as truth. Those who suffer, suffer almost always from the conclusions they draw about what they believe to be — which, in most cases, if not all, is not.
Free are those who allow their egos (their self) to breathe every day after the end of each internal battle.
Happy are those who have stopped caring about the audience they imagine is there watching, when everyone just goes their own way.
Serene are those who know that each day is a miracle and that tomorrow is nothing more than uncertainty.
And heroes are those who manage to relate in the midst of all this.
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© 2024 Lost in My Soul
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Light and Love from my Soul to Yours! 🤍
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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From The Good Men Project on Medium
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Photo credit: Created to Lost in My Soul by Filipa Kinomoto with Midjourney
