William Blake writes that "those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained." Desire is a complicated term, way overused in songwriting and lousy poetry. Freud would call desire many things: sexual and aggressive instincts, libido, pleasure principle--even thematic is unreleased desire. We think of desire as want, and it often comes out in material terms: I satisfy my desires with my cars, and my electronic stuff. But does it mean sex to us--really? If someone is desirable, does that mean we want to fuck them? Hell yes, but we won't admit it. A lot of guys I think need to get shit-loaded drunk before they will even go near a girl. Many females wear this revealing clothing. To a nineteen year old male, a woman with a perfect body is too scary for words. Maybe that is why so many young guys have affairs with older women; they are more approachable, they don't play games and they are dying for sex. Many older women have husbands who have forgotten how to fuck; maybe they are divorced, maybe they never got married.
Blake wants us to live our lives to their greatest capacity. If we don't go after what we want, then we must not have wanted it in the first place. We let other things get in the way. I think it is fear. We self-sabotage ourselves with bad choices from chemical addiction to working meaningless jobs. You must choose what you love. But money becomes more important, and it isn't greed, it is the fear of being without in this grasping society.
In many ways, Blake preceded Freud's writings in his concern about unacted desire: it is our only sin in his view. Some people tend to take that statement literally, and constantly fight the meaning--what if we all pursued our desires? The world would be a chaotic mess. But if everyone went after their greatest wants, conflict would desist because everyone would be satisfied. The world would be in harmony. Freud would never agree because he doesn't think we have the capacity to make ourselves happy; our aggressive instincts will constantly fight with the norms that our collective superego has determined for our consistency in civilization. So there you go: another dream down the toilet and another person about to explode on the world. I think we are doomed. Don't you?
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