"Whoever told you that you can't be your own soldier is wrong.Defend your own pyschological territory because in the end you are all you have..."
When I was a kid, I can vaguely remember that I was bullied by my classmates. I was too naive and innocent at those trying times that I forgot the reason why I was treated unfairly by the rest.Even as a child,I realized how painful it is to be looked down by others and how negative social treatment could affect my self-esteem. Though I have a few episodic fragments of my memories all I could remember was they were all pointing their fingers at me and cursed me to death.I dont even want to recall it because it was carved in the dark side of my mind.Today,I just realized that the reason why these thoughts are dismissed is because I forced myself to supress these unwanted memories and locked them away forever.
At those times,my defensive technique to escape from all those agonizing memories was through art. Yes I was angry and furious for being bullied but I also know that I can't pay back to those kids aggressively. I dont want to hurt them and I also dont want to be reprimanded by my teachers.
So instead of raging around like an angry bull I grabbed a black marker and I drew all the images inside my head.I can still vividly remember how it looked like drawing all sorts of stuff.From animals to people and from monsters to imaginary make believed characters. I filled our walls with all my drawings and I was happy.My parents were not mad at me for decorating our walls with my doodles since according to them I was just showing my talent. As a result, I created my own personal barrier that protects myself by diverting all my negative feelings into a productive work of art.
Sublimation : Your Ego Defense System
In science,sublimation is defined as a chemical process that turns solid into gas without undergoing it's liquid state.If we are going to analyze it thoroughly it's scientific definition may correlate with it's psychological meaning. Sublimation in psychology turns our negative emotions into it's constructive phase without directing our energies into our disruptive acts.My displacement of destructive emotions towards my bullies were diverted to a fruitful and worthwhile activity which is in the form of art.My childhood experience though traumatic is a perfect example of sublimation in action.I could fight back against them if I wanted to because I was verbally harassed and humiliated but I opted not to because I know it's not the right thing to do. I protected myself from potential danger by neglecting my bullies and by transferring all my negative energies into my doodles.
Leonardo da Vinci | Freud's Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Sublimation in his Works
He then realized that the painting was a representation of his childhood.He said in his essay that the artist's work may show symbolic meanings of a baby sucking his mothers breast. He then followed his assumptions that in Egyptian Mythology,Mut(An Egyptian Mother Goddess) was pictured out with a vulture's head.Freud interprets all of these as representations of infantile sexuality,overdependence,erotic desires of his mother to substitute him as his missing father.He used these interpretations to further emphasize his point on Leonardo sublimating his homosexuality into art.
Sublimation,Investing Negative Impulses into Socially Accepted Conducts
Reveal spoiler
There are numerous arguements that the works of artists are a sublimation of their failures in their personal lives. Collapse in their relationships,love issues,family affairs or even unwanted sexual desires... All of these are associated with their outstanding works. It's like saying that it wouldn't be exceptional if the artist's behind it did not have an emotional backstory. The negative energy they get from personal failures were a good diversion to their work of arts.
But we dont have to be Leonardo da Vinci just to benefit in sublimation's powerful defense mechanism. We can channel our individual struggles with our lives through creative processes.When life is choking us with it's complexities always remember that we have sublimation up in our sleeves. We can protect ourselves by diverting our aggressive emotions into accomplishing our ambitions in life.If you are being underestimated by others,prove to them that they are wrong. Instead of crying and getting stressed about it stand up and always do your best in everything that you do.
Invest your negative emotions into ways that are socially accepted by society. Through this you can eliminate these negative impulses. It would also help you in creating a better you,the best version of yourself as some may say. Always submit your negative emotional responses into something less harmful. Sublimation for me is the most advantageous type of defense mechanism since it can shape up people into their most progressive state. Other kinds of defense mechanism like denial,projection,repression,displacement all supresses our emotions and could result in anxiety and distress later on in our lives. Whichever way you are utilizing sublimation,do not be afraid of its outcomes because one thing is for sure... You are diverting a potential danger into something useful in life.
References:
1. Leonardo da Vinci a Memory from his childhood,1910 by Freud
2. Leonardo,Homosexuality and Sublimation
3.Sublimation in Psychology- Examples Freud's Theory of Sublimation
4.What is Sublimation in Psychology and How it Secretly Directs Your Life
5.Sublimation
6. The Joy Of Sublimation. Express Yourself:Creative Expression & Connection
7. Concept of Sublimation in Psychology of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung
8. Defense Mechanisms,Simply Psychology
9.Book Review:" Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of his Childhood" by Sigmund Freud
10. What was Sigmund Freud's analysis of the works of Leonardo da Vinci?
Giving you Love & Light on your Defense Mechanisms,
@sakura1012
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such a motivational piece.thank u
glad you liked it :)
hello @mryrse.rsrv ;)
hi @sakura1012 newbie here :)