Keith Croshaw - Freud for Beginners

Freud has always been an interesting character to me, he felt that he completely understood the human psyche, no questions asked. Freud developed the basic theory of the Id, the ego, and the superego, each one of these representing a level of consciousness, which is always active within the human mind. Freud’s concepts of conscious still thrive today even though they have taken on more simple names such as unconsciousness for example. Freud focused on much more of man’s primitive thoughts, especially those about sexuality. After much further studying though he found out that many of his patients that he was basing his ideas upon had been fabricating early sexual abuse. Anytime a psychologist is trying to create a theory on the human psyche it must be based truly on truth, and nobody tells purely the truth.

Freud’s take on art was very interesting; I feel that he defiantly hit it right on where art comes from within our minds. He felt that it came from our unconsciousness, almost like we dream our art, and these dreams became our identity as well. Many times when I am trying to come up with some sort of work I almost meditate and try to let my subconscious emerge, either that or try to let my inner Id come out and follow wherever it takes me, as long as it’s not dangerous. The repression is another aspect in Freud’s work that was interesting, since there is always something holding back our innermost desires from doing whatever we want. Freud’s theory that the Ego always represses the Id whenever it feels appropriate, and it is amazing sometimes to even feel that internal struggle going on inside your head without even thinking about what you are about to do.