I’m wading through psychoanalytic literature searching for tidbits to include in my memoir. It only seemed fair to share a provocative bit here:
“In our dreams,” Anna Freud (Sigmund’s daughter) said, “we can have our eggs cooked exactly as we want them, but we can’t eat them.”
She continues:
“In reality, we can eat our eggs because they are not cooked exactly as we want them.”
Here’s how I tried to make sense of this:
I went for a seemingly perfect walk on Tuesday – neither my leg nor my left foot hurt which was a cause for celebration. It was 78 degrees and the path was beautiful. I felt full of gratitude. It was like a dream come true.
In reality: Nature gifted me with three very large annoying bites on my neck and collarbone that itch and are very distracting.
Take away- Nothing is perfect. Do you agree? Can you give me an example of how your dreams and reality are different? Are you able to be happy with less than perfection?
CLUE: Set the timer for 15 minutes and stretch your body slowly while enjoying the fact that you have a body. Tell me how it goes.
Image: Picture from a glorious bouquet a few weeks ago.
8 comments
Nicky! THANK YOU for this!! I LOVE Anna Freud's quote! Of course our reality is never what we dream! Here's the up side, though: Sometimes reality sends us an egg dish we never could have imagined–even in our wildest dreams. Sometimes it's delicious! Other times, it's doesn't taste as good–but it's exactly what we needed to grow.
Have a great week!
XO
THANK YOU for your comment! Your wisdom that our reality is never what we dream is something I am still learning so I didn't understand Anna's quote as rapidly as you did. I am impressed.
Your thought that reality gives us what we need to grow is so true. I grinned when you said sometimes it doesn't taste good! How true.
Thank you for reading and commenting – much appreciated.
This reminds me of the plot that has been used in various stories and movies where the genie grants three wishes and the results always turn out differently than the wisher planned. Usually in the stories there is some kind of moral lesson to be learned but I think the experience of things turning out different is a matter of our own expanding consciousness and the way we fit into the greater consciousness of the world.
Thanks Scott – I love your free association to the Anna Freud quote though I am not sure that I understand it entirely – which makes some kind of sense to me as free associations usually need to be mined for their wisdom. Sort of like searching for the moral lesson.
I think your book, The Aware Athlete, attempts to expand our consciousness by suggesting the importance of intention and potential. I'm sensing a connection though not able to verbalize yet. Thanks for making me think!
I appreciate your reading and commenting!
Hi Nicky – After I read your blog, I went outside to enjoy some warm sunshine. It looked beautiful from inside, and the deck was warm and at first the sun felt nice. Then a cold wind blew, so I wasn't warm anymore. Between wind gusts, I could get warmed up……but then the bugs would bother me. So, I could either have warmth and bugs or a cold wind with no bugs. It still felt good just being able to be outdoors without heavy clothes on…and just seeing the sun helps my mood. So nothing is perfect, but it can still be great!
Hi Nanette –
What a great example of what Anna Freud was talking about!
Finding the "great" in the imperfect is a challenge but you did it!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I like thinking that you were thinking about what I wrote and then put it into reality.
Thank you for this, Nicky. It has had me reflecting. In my dreams I am almost always unaffected by the stroke, that is to say I have perfect balance. Sometimes when I get up I try to will myself to be balanced, but the waking reality is otherwise.
John,
Thank you for this poignant message. I love your term "waking reality." When I attended your workshop last December in New Zealand, you taught me to connect with the waking reality of Nature. I will always be grateful to you for that experience.
Sending gratitude and love to you and Maggie,
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