What is Self Actualization? Does conscious self and subconscious self make our soul?

Question

How come most of the talented, famous and recongnized faces everywhere from musicians to actors and scholars want to achieve Self Actualization? It seems to be their aim in life after they recieve everything from their fame and sucess all thriev to get to this higher self. What drives them towards this conscious quest.

Answer 1

I will speak in my own words, although the idea of Self Actualization probably has its roots in the idea of Individuation by Jung. As you know, people have the conscious self and the sunconscious self. The first one-third of life passes with no awareness of one's depths. One just grows and adapts to the world. But somewhere after thirty after a number of disquieting external events one suddenly notices that he/she is full of the urges and desires and impulses he/she had never suspected about. All these `dark' unknown forces constitute our Shadow. We usually notice its presence when it is reflected by other people. If someone irritates us especially much, there is a high chance we saw the reflection of our Shadow in the character and behavior of that irritating person. Or sometimes we fall in love with such a person. It is very hard to accept that we carry something as ugly (or as different, in case of 'in-love' scenario) as that in ourselves. The trick is, though, that all this darkness has to see the light. That is, we have no other way but to investigate our Shadow and live it. By Jung we cannot develop the Shadow qualities 100 percent, because they are unconscious and heavily suppressed, but letting them out up to a certain point makes a person harmonious and whole. The same refers to the two halves of the Soul - its feminine part, Anima, and its masculine part, Animus. As all of us carry both the feminine and the masculine in us, there is again an idea of wholeness underlying our psyche. The answer is thus simple and hard: know thyself. Do not oppress any part of yourself, accept whatever you have, let it out into the world, and you will gradually become a more and more wholesome personality. Most probably, it takes the lifetime. But it's worth it, because never ever again such a person as you are will be born and it's a shame to waste a soul by refusing to know and accept it in yourself.

Answer 2

This is quite the loaded question. I'll attempt to answer it in different parts. I'll address each one of your questions individually.

Self Actualization is one of those very elusive concepts that may or may not exist. Put in layman's terms, self-actualization is the fulfillment of various categories of personal needs. The well renowned humanist Abraham Maslow developed what he termed a "hierarchy of needs". Essentially, Maslow's hierarchy is a pyramid with different levels; once one level is satisfied, one moves up a level to satisfy different needs. The levels (from bottom to top) are as follows

1) Physiological needs (basic needs to maintain our bodies e.g food water, etc.

2) Security or Safety needs (a need to feel safe...self-explanatory)

3) Social needs (a need for friends, etc.)

4) Esteem needs (the need to feel successful and respected)

5) Self-Actualization needs (self-fulfillment)

Now obviously Maslow's hierarchy is highly subjective and not everyone subscribes to this humanistic theory. Nevertheless, most feel that it is a somewhat accurate means to explain the relationship between needs (real or perceived) and motivation.

As to your question of the composition of the soul, I fear I can throw nothing in your direction except for a couple of theories. Psychologically speaking, there is no concrete evidence supporting a strict diagram, if you will, of the human soul. Many behaviorists will argue that our present and future actions are, and will be, derived simply from the reinforcements of past behaviors. As a society, behaviorists may argue, we have been conditioned towards certain common goals: wealth, fame, respect, love, etc. Due to past behavior reinforcements, the individual prioritizes and values concepts differently. This difference, it could be argued, is our soul.

Freudians would argue exactly what you stated: the conscious self and the subconscious self compose our soul. In a nutshell anyhow.

My personal take on the situation, however, is to side more with the humanists. I believe that human beings are not simply products of their pasts, nor for that matter do I entirely assign human actions to the subconscious; I believe that there are unique traits intrinsic in every person. Sometimes they are developed, sometimes they are not. Humanist therapists often treat patients by accentuating the individuality of the patient; by soliciting the patient to self-identify, the patient is likely to feel enfranchised in a society - not because he or she is like everyone else, but because it dispels the notion that one is supposed to be the same as everyone else.

As to your final questions regarding the drive for self-actualization, it is human nature to wish to challenge one's self. There are fewer pleasures greater than the feeling of addressing an obstacle and meeting the challenge. Yet when all is said and done, many still have unresolved issues that leave them with a feeling of emptiness. Sometimes it is a metaphysical issue. When people question "why?" on a metaphysical level, it is then that a person begins to self-actualize and begins a lifelong quest to define that individually relative question.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I agree. Edit - i'm undecided if we are on the comparable song so i'm going to describe somewhat extra. It relies upon even in case your suggestions identifies your physique with the aid of fact the encasing of itself or whether it refers back to the actual physique as component of itself, or the two. at situations, i think that the actual physique is basically an encasing and it truly is processing advice particularly oblivious to what's happening exterior. different situations i think that the physique is an extension of the suggestions and reacts to thoughts and thoughts happening interior the suggestions. as an occasion - if somebody suffers emotionally from some variety of journey or concern then the physique has a tendency to react additionally by making use of turning out to be torpid or incapacitated in some way on the different hand, if the comparable concern happens, however the physique is able to being lively, the suggestions can not guard the given journey and has a tendency to close down or reason problems to areas of its encasing, giving the sensation of being torpid yet no longer unavoidably so. A observe of help ought to perk up the recipient particularly nicely. i'm sorry if that's perplexing. it truly is tough to place my answer into words.

Answer 4

Self actualization is being comfortable in your skin and in your universe. Recognized faces seek self actualization because they are thrust into the limelight and feel they MUST have achieved the perfect ENTIRE self. Often those in the limelight don't achieve self-actualization because they have so little time just to BE. When a person has sufficient opportunity to simply be in their skin and their universe, they are able to attune themselves to what they will do best. The limelighters don't have the time and the privacy to discover what their mission in life should be. In my own experiences, I have noticed that the people that have achieved self actualization are the folks who have the time to be quiet, unhurried and able to discover who they are meant to be. One of the happiest persons I ran across was a wonderful elderly African American gentleman living almost in poverty in a southern state. This gentleman found his contentment by being the local advisor among the population. His advice was sound and applicable to any situation in life. His people loved him and he loved himself. I found my best self in working with the disabled. I realized after trying numerous gigs with cancerous Corporate America that the disabled folks are truly angels on this earth!

Answer 5

Self Actualization is the intrinsic growth of what is already in the organism, or more accurately, of what the organism is

However, no one knows much about the soul. God never revealed much to mankind about the subject.