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"Only the pot knows how hot the fire is"

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  I learnt about this saying at a relatively unripe stage of my development, which is when I was doing my primary education. I do not reckon I truly understood what this meant in totality at that stage of my life. I wasn’t too keen on establishing a relationship between my encounters and proverbial wisdom back then. Not a lot of events had occurred that could coherently relate to it. It is a well thought out saying, implying that only the person experiencing a situation has true and literal knowledge of how challenging and difficult the situation is.  Thinking about it now, a sense of enhanced understanding has been provoked through my subsequent encounters to present day. A lot of things happen in our lives and every so often there is a social tendency of sharing these occurrences with others. This is done as a means to seek some relief and bonding. My realization with such action is that not always do the people we share our predicaments with understand what it is that is truly manif
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To be one with the rhythm of integration.

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Most things are made of different parts. Until these parts come together and become whole, there isn’t really an emergence of oneness. To become and feel whole as an individual, I think there is a need for the different parts of our lives and selves to integrate. There must be some rhythm, that all these parts dance to that unites them to function as one. Therein lies the importance of integration in our lives. Something about being whole takes away the chaos of a disastrous life. Existing with multiple aspects of yourself scattered in different directions is no good. There is a need to bring together all the different parts of our brain, the parts that make up who we are. This is what integration entails.   Integration appears in various areas of our daily lives, demonstrating how we blend different aspects of ourselves and our experiences to create a balance. For instance, achieving a work-life balance by setting boundaries between professional responsibilities and personal time, ens
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What does it truly mean to be happy?

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 Happiness is a concept that has intrigued philosophers, psychologists, and thinkers for centuries. But what does it truly mean to be happy? Is it merely the presence of pleasure and the absence of pain, or is it something deeper and more enduring? I've developed a significant fixation over this term, the burden of my namesake. My pursuit is to explore the many philosophical viewpoints on happiness and how these perspectives manifest in our lives, influencing our mindset and state of being. Hedonism: The Pursuit of Pleasure Hedonism postulates that pleasure and the avoidance of pain are the ultimate goals in life. Ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus suggested that true pleasure comes from simple living, intellectual pursuits, and deep friendships. In our modern lives, this could translate to simply enjoying cup of tea, engaging in stimulating conversations, or enjoying a walk in nature. Hedonism promotes indulgence, with its essence lying in appreciating the small, joyful moments th
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Unpacking Personality: The superego

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  My two previous posts sought to analyse two crucial components of Freud’s model of personality; the id and the ego. In retrospect, the id represents our most primal urges and drives while the ego is a reasoning component for the id’s intended actions. The third and final constituent of personality in Freudian psychoanalysis is the superego. The moral compass. The superego is said to be the portion of our personality that is shaped by the values and standards instilled by parents, family and the society. This is brought about by an increasing interaction with the world, creating a framework of understanding and dissemination of what is regarded  as right and wrong. From this foundation arises some morality in decision making, acknowledging that there are certain expectations in behaviour and general mannerisms which are accepted by society.  We may have different comprehensions of what the conscience is. A mechanism rooted in our psyche that makes us feel guilty when we’ve done someth
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Unpacking personality: The ego

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It  is  quite evident that there is some form of awareness that accompani es  our ability to make decisions. To be able to advocate for yourself as a reasonable person, there must be some base consciousness that directly influences your decision making process. This constituency of our personality that allows us to analyse reality and make sound decisions is regarded by Freud as the ego. The ego is the second of three elements of our personality.   Unlike the id which I discussed previously   the ego is conscious, meaning it is in a state of awareness and responds to physical surroundings. Now, we’re all familiar with  the  little term “ego”. Everybody has subjective experience of it’s existence. We all know of the existence of some common sense. The phenomenon of having common sense is derived off the assumption that one has good judgement and is able to make decisions in a practical and sensible manner. That is what the ego is, common sense. The ego is a sense of reasoning that strik
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Unpacking personality: The id

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Personality development I saw it fit that I explore and understand this concept because personality is a fundamental basis of the self. Scrutinizing how this phenomenon arises and evolves could be a great step towards understanding myself and others more. An interesting theory about how we develop our personality is rooted in the existence of a region of psychic energy in the brain that seeks pleasure and instant gratification. Sigmund Freud proposed in his theories of Psychosexual and Personality development that this unconscious psychic state controls our urges. He conceptualized this part of the brain as the id. The id as mentioned above, is a primitive constituent of personality. It is described as primitive because of the nature of it’s functioning. The id is said to represent our primal instincts and drives such as hunger, thirst and sexual impulses which are all fundamental to our survival as humans. The id acts beyond our control and influences our behaviour to act such that th
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Self-knowledge is a Quest

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  The journey you take with intent to know yourself might just be the most complex one of them all. I say this because of the absence of a linear progression of the activities that affect pysche and build personality. As more events occur that subject my perception to different emotions and reactions, self-observation has allowed me to recognize behavioural patterns which I can attribute to my character. In the same sphere of observation a new discovery of my character lurks. The usual recognition of patterns in my behaviour is an affirmation for the person I can boldly say I am.  For example, when I say I am a confident person it is a mental progression and build up of observations of the way I have reacted in situations that have summoned my confidence and it showed up. I mentioned earlier that this is not linear. An instance that would require me to show up confident could arise and I act in contrast. Now, in that moment of my reluctance a contradiction of what I have established my
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