Psychoanalysis 101:

Psychoanalytic insight can enrich your understanding of yourself and human behavior. I think that the most valuable quality humans have is the ability to think- to imagine, to experience, to wonder, to perceive, and to understand. We need to have a mindful awareness of the world, and an open and fresh perspective on life. This allows us to "choose" how we live, and gives us the ability to live as a true individual. People must learn to self-examine their lives in order to understand true happiness in life.

Flower in the Crannied Wall -By Alfred Loyd Tennyson is a very short poem that has had a very large impact on me.

"Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of the crannies,

I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,

Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, all in all,

I should know what God and man is."

Here is a mere little flower taken out of it's proper place. The traveler is trying to understand the depths of this creature, but in order to do so, he must understand it from its roots and all. He plucks, touches, and ponders; he questions and observes. His desire to know all about the flower continues to perplex him, but realizes that after picking it root and all there are elements to the flower beyond his or any one's understanding. To fully understand yourself or others, you must look at what is underneath the outer beauty. It is the things that we don't always show others, that make us the person that we really are. It takes a lot to really open up and share your most painful and most personal things with another person, but if someone really loves you, they will love your imperfections and flaws because those things make you who you are. Our mind is the root of who we are, and it can be impossible to comprehend as a whole. We may never understand ourselves (or others) fully- if we could, we would be omnipotence and godlike; therefore, in order to grow, we must continue to pluck, ponder, analyze, and experience as much of the world as we can.

This poem emphasizes the importance of the psychoanalytic framework, which stresses the importance of understanding (1) that we are all different and unique in many ways, (2) that there are many factors outside of our awareness that influence our thoughts and actions, (3) that the past plays a significant role on the present, and (4) that throughout our entire lives, we are always engaged in this process of development.