Some sentences make me happy

By Vera | January 31, 2012

My school readings are so precious to me. They make me feel known and understood.

This morning I read about subjective omnipotence and objective reality. Subjective omnipotence is what a baby experiences: It has a need, cries, and then, as if by magic, the mother’s breast appears. The baby feels as if it is making the breast appear with its omnipotence: A wish makes things happen. Objective reality is when you grow up and realize that you depend on others’ wills to fulfill your needs. What happens in between these two forms of experience is the transitional experience.

My book Freud and Beyond says:

“The person who lives completely in objective reality is a false self without a subjective center, completely oriented toward the expectations of others, toward external stimuli.”

“In experience organized according to objective reality, the child feels she has to find the desired object out in the world; she is acutely aware of the separateness and distinctness of the object and her lack of control over it.”

“What is crucial in good-enough parenting with respect to transitional experience is that the parent does not challenge its ambiguity. The specialness of the teddy bear is accepted.”

After I read this, I felt good. I held on to my book like a treasure for it holds a truth that is helping to change my reality.