But often it seems to
me, as an unknown factor and sometimes a complex concept to apprehend.
What is Ego? was my
question, and I was startled with the vivid flavour of responses I received.
a) Ego is I, it creates my icon
b) Ego is my
emotional energy
c) Its ME becoming
bigger than MYSELF
d) Ego is ‘Aham'
(Sanskrit)
e) Its my
consciousness
f) Ego is the one who
helps me in giving my identity.
g) Ego is my shield
h) It's a
physiological and a psychological tie
i) It is my
reflection/shadow
k) EGO…. Ahhh! It
just needs to GO… from I
l) Its my best pal,
it follows me all the time, I am lost in its absence.
m) Ego is still a
stranger for me
n) Ego is an enemy
within, it curbs my growth.
o) Ego is our ideas,
persona & it represents oneself.
My thought process
crisscrossed all these notions. Each reflection can be contemplated with innate
concepts.
Yet it seems to be a complex constitution.
In a common dialect
one approaches to say Ego as ‘pride about oneself'. Physical body, mind,
intellectuality, emotions, possessiveness towards ‘me' and my things. Conceit
of ‘I' ness and awareness about oneself.
A spiritual concept
of ego is that, a dark circle surrounds a bright soul which eventually adds
negativity and pulls the flow of grace from almighty.
But, for a moment I
am still inquisitive to know about the ingredients of that dark circle. It's a
subtle picture in my mind.
I some times think
that ego is that part which wants to create an impression of ourselves. It is a
fear of creating& retaining that image. It is insecurity which does not
want to get disclosed. Ego is also an apprehension towards failure when it is
settled in a cosy zone. Ego is happy with appreciation. Ego strives for being
called perfect and wants to be called as perfectionist. Ego is false humility
and a deep rooted thought that gets satisfied with being called as superior.
Ego does not want to seek help. Ego is also being with feeling of all in
control with the sole reason being ‘I'. My thought flow just kept streaming
like a current which encouraged to excavate more on cognitive perspective of
E…G…O.
The most fascinating
part of our cognitive mind has three distinct states.
Id, Ego & Super ego - Sigmund Freud's structural model
of our psychic functionalities.
Id – Intrinsic drives
– A "Pleasure Principle" coerce. The steer is just basic impulses of
momentary need. It does all that which is required at that moment of time. It
displays with no mask. So, it seems to be selfish that strives for immediate
satisfaction.
Ego- works on reality
principle. It is the organised part of our personality structure. It provides
logical reasoning for intrinsic drives. It justifies providing sense to the
world around us. Being conscious is within ego, but all actions of ego need not
have to be conscious.
Super-ego is a jury.
A judge who lives within us. Super ego
is driven by those principles plus a layer of positivity and negativity on it.
If your action is favourable to your ego, if it results with right remarks, it
gives you a proud feeling. Once when the impression is set, it thrives to keep
up the standards always by judging right versus wrong, true versus false. On
the contrary if your deed is not acceptable to your ego, it leaves a bitter
feeling of guilt and inferiority.
After realising
different genres of ego, I can employ right term in the right event instead of
a generic idiom E…G….O.
But I am certainly convinced that EGO is not "Edging
God Out". We neither can corner ourselves from reality, nor can we edge a
life within ourselves.
It is Emotions in
motion which aligns itself with sensibleness and pragmatism. Whether we call
these emotions to be residing in mind or heart, it is the spirit of verve and
vivacity.
It is actually
alluring to know that there are even defence mechanisms in ego, which I will
explore very soon and share my learning's. The thirst of exploring never fades,
as the information keeps impending. I will investigate what phase of ego is
this!!!
Author : Pratima Jagadeesh
She is a HR Professional and works in a MNC at Bangalore.
Her topics of interest are psychology and metaphysics. She is also involved
with Counselling and works for few NGO's.
