Should You Starve the Ego and Feed the Soul?
Ego vs. Soul in a battle of spiritual ascent
Your id is the bad kid, your superego is the good kid, and your ego is the babysitter. It's important to have a babysitter that stands up to the kids because it's an endless game of tug of war.
The third-party mediator called your ego balances your angel vs. devil impulses and its big business.
But who chaperones the ego?
We’ll get to that later.
Psychology 101 as posited by Sigmund Freud: Ego = Reality. Id = Instincts. Superego = Morality.
People often misrepresent ego to mean something bad — his ego is way too big. But Freud declared a robust ego is essential for mental health.
Your ego balances the choppy waters of your desires whilst maintaining your morality and civilized role within society.
When you grow up, you're taught to feed the ego; the mediator knows best after all, right?
Absolutely. Until you realize it’s time to unlearn everything you know, everything the ego taught you.
That’s a fun day. Good times.
Wait, my ego mediator is good, fair, and just, right?
Indeed. But there’s a new mediator in town, and she’s cloaked in the guise of your soul. When the bells been rung, you can’t un-hear it.
The ego is not master in its own house.
— Sigmund Freud
The upgraded battle is ego vs. soul. This feels more complicated. It is.
You are free to remain at ego base camp, but therein lies a celestial itch. And it's growing. Don’t wanna scratch, no problem. But it’s an open invitation for a host of ugly uninvited guests starting with anxiety.
Now the ego looks like the “bad guy” everybody says it is. Yeah, he is, just not in the way you thought. The ego serves you well— until a point. He’s the starter pack mediator.
Your ego helps you balance good and bad. Thank you, ego.
But good and bad are not simply defined. Good people do bad things. Bad people do good things.
Hmphf.
So, what lies beyond the ego’s good vs. bad? Understanding you can expand your consciousness beyond “good and bad.”
What does that look like?
Your soul transmutes good or bad to reveal subconscious and conscious thoughts. They’re not good or bad, merely different planes of existence.
The question: Is it time to starve your ego?
The answer: You know the answer.
Starve the ego, feed the soul
Shifting sands, phoenix fires, purifying waters, whipping winds. All the elements come together to create your soul. It's your signature.
Your soul is the 4th element in the ego, id, superego equation. But it’s 3rd in the inner, outer world equation.
Welcome to the “other world” equation.
That’s deep. This is where things get tricky. Good, bad, ego, soul, consciousness, subconscious. It’s a lot to take in. These are complex concepts to deduce.
Even if we agree there is a universal consciousness, egos, souls, good and bad don't mean the same thing to everyone. We have no universal language for them. But that’s what makes it exciting to ponder!
Only you can know the reaches of your ego’s consciousness and bare the elements of your soul. It’s a thrilling journey; twists, turns, detours, and discoveries around every bend.
The question remains: Should you starve the ego and feed the soul?
How and when you purport to unfold is a process unique to you, like the lines on your hands and the swirls on your fingertips.
You have your own cosmic fingerprint to leave on Earth.
In all its tragedy and glory, life is a spectacular prism from which you emerge, experience, perceive, and translate in perfect linguistic order.
I leave you with a quote to noodle.
When the ego dies, the soul awakens.
— Mahatma Gandhi
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