Argentine psychoanalyst: External voices obscure our true desires, effort brightens life
Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.
At a glance
Interview
Sources not specified
Context piece
- Argentine psychoanalyst Gabriel Rolón discussed how external pressures and others' desires can obscure an individual's true aspirations.
- Rolón explained that societal expectations and parental mandates often interfere with self-discovery, leading to anguish and guilt.
- He emphasized that personal effort and continuous learning are key to a more vibrant life and self-understanding, allowing individuals to align their goals with their inner desires.
Argentine psychoanalyst and writer Gabriel Rolón believes that external pressures and the desires of others significantly hinder individuals from understanding and pursuing their own aspirations. During an interview with Luis Novaresio on LN+, Rolón, author of "La felicidad," detailed the psychological mechanisms that create a disconnect between a person and their will.
It's not easy to know what you desire. It's not easy. Because so many things get in the way between desire and oneself. The first thing that gets in the way are the desires of others. Those are the voices. Those are the mandates, what was expected of us.
"It's not easy to know what you desire. It's not easy. Because so many things get in the way between desire and oneself. The first thing that gets in the way are the desires of others. Those are the voices. Those are the mandates, what was expected of us," Rolón stated. He observed that people often live under the weight of external discourses, becoming "eccentric to ourselves." He stressed that personal effort is the ultimate engine for transforming reality, making life "much brighter and much more attractive when one makes an effort."
We are so permeated by the opinions of others that we become eccentric to ourselves.
Rolón elaborated on how parental and societal voices, which shape us from birth, frequently obstruct our true desires. These external mandates and criticisms can cause individuals to feel alienated from their own center, experiencing anguish, disappointment, and guilt when they perceive they are failing to meet others' expectations. This internal conflict, he explained, directly interferes with one's ability to connect with their own desires.
Life becomes much brighter and much more attractive when one makes an effort.
The process of self-knowledge, according to Rolón, involves distinguishing genuine longings from the impositions of one's environment. He noted that individuals often discover their current goals reflect what their inner circle expected, rather than an internal drive. "We all have to take responsibility for something that is expected of us. Nobody arrives in this world naively, without something that precedes them. If you're lucky, a good wish," he remarked. He also cautioned against parents projecting their unfulfilled desires onto their children, urging them to allow their children the space to discover their own paths.
All those external voices that told us how we should be, whom we should love, whether we should study or not study, whether we would be happy or useless. All those voices that were constructing us and accompanying us from the day we were born, very often get in the way between our desire and us.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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