The name ‘Sigmund Freud’ brings with it antagonistic thoughts in my mind, was he a sexist pig or pioneering psychoanalyst?
I was going to enter a poetry competition recently about his findings on ‘civilisation and it discontents’. But something stopped me in my tracks. It was the opinions of others around me when I told them of my plans. I went to the Sigmund Freud Museum in London, listened to his theories, saw his thinking chair, saw his daughter’s room. I went into the gift shop and saw mugs, and fridge magnets, tea towels and aprons. Were they all dressing up someone who needed to be un-masked, I thought? Or is there truly room for celebration for his psychoanalytic work?
Below you will see the start of my poems I was going to enter, you can read two alternative endings on the beginning of my thoughts and feelings towards him. Perhaps I was wrong not to enter the poetry competition. But whether I agree with his theories or not, I felt like my poetry was not yet ready to explore his person. I still don’t know if he is famous or infamous, all I know is he is thought-provoking and I will need to do further research before I can form a true opinion of my own.
I’ve read articles such from physchology today and the Huffington Post, dichotomous reads.
My question is, who was Sigmund Freud, really?
A Civilisation of Discontent
I laugh in hysteria,
daydreaming about se……
x-rays of my inner emotions.
There’s this constant commotion of chaos.
I get lost.
In Life.
Yet, still, I don’t want to lose my life.
Civilisation has me in a choke-hold.
The kiss of death imminent.
Yet in this moment I am reborn.
The vice grip of society loosens as I sense the sweat trickle down my neck.
My anxieties become my strengths.
You ask me for what brings this discontentment?
I lament, and answer softly.
Because I am a human in disagreement.
For I do not agree that rape is an innate desire within me,
I do not agree that by killing another human being,
it would infact pacify me.
*Oedipus Complex *Penis Envy * Hysteria
A Civilisation of Discontent
I laugh in hysteria,
daydreaming about se……
x-rays of my inner emotions.
There’s this constant commotion of chaos.
I get lost.
In Life.
Yet, still, I don’t want to lose my life.
Civilisation has me in a choke-hold.
The kiss of death imminent.
Yet in this moment I am reborn.
The vice grip of society loosens as I sense the sweat trickle down my neck.
My anxieties become my strengths.
My mind has morphed,
And I feel no more,
Pain.
My walls have come down,
I embody now,
A reversed resistance to change.
*Defeating Resistance To Change * Development *Defence Mechanisms
**Please note I have gave different sides, because I take no side. So don’t bash me and say I’m a hater! Just a discusser! My poems are based off of opinion not fact. I’m neither for or against Freud, just offering alternative viewpoints to his studies through poetry.
What are your thoughts on Sigmund Freud?
The Neon Squid 