Me, myself, and Id.

I was in town today with a friend. It was a gorgeously hot, sunny day and we were out exploring the old town. Despite finding the perfect place to sunbathe, on a small hill over looking the Trossachs National Park and Stirling Castle, I was restless and couldn't settle. Why? Because all I could think about was the fact that I desperately needed a wee.

I resented that because I was around "civilisation", it inadvertantly meant that I could not just whip down my trousers and go there and then (as I would happily be able to do if I were out doing fieldwork in my remote study forests). No. Instead, we are constrained to having to go and find a toilet - which can take a lifetime (as it felt it did today). During which time I couldn't even converse, let alone think of anything more mentally challenging than looking for a "WC-->" sign. After eventually relieving myself, I was able to think about other things; notably, what am I going to have for lunch? Where will I find it? And how long will it be before I get to eat it? As you can tell, I really am one of life's great thinkers, with such profound depth...

But amongst these somewhat simplistic of thoughts, I had the realisation that so much of my days are filled with pandering around to my Id. Now, for those of you that don't know, according to Freud, the Id represents our primary process thinking — our most primitive need, gratification type thoughts. It is organized around basic instinctual urges of sexuality, aggression, and the desire for instant gratification or release. Basically the Id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation, or about the needs of anyone else, only its own satisfaction.

I am completely aware of how such basic urges dictate my days to me, so I generally am prepared to satisfy the Id whenever it rears its attention grabbing head (i.e. I am never far from a packed lunch box). But being caught short without a loo is one of the annoyances of modern living. And possibly why I don't really like living in urban environments. I wonder how many people living and working in cities at any one time are unable to function correctly because of the simple need to pee... although I doubt that the Office of National Statistics has much info on that one.

Of course, according to Maslow, its not just these basic urges we have to satisfy in our day to day lives, but a pyramidal hierarchy of needs. Only when the lower levels of this pyramid are fulfilled, and maintained with regularity, will we ever reach a state of "self-actualistaion". This is described as the instinctual need of a human to make the most of their unique abilities; "A musician must make music, the artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be." ...Erm, hang on...hold that thought...but...

*runs off in search of loo*