In Freud's "Beyond the Pleasure Principle," he presents a speculative theory, contested by many psychologists.This theory does not contain much empirical support, but remains a phenomena all humans have felt, but can’t name. Freud terms it Thanatos, or the death drive.
There is a self destructive force within the psyche that works in stark opposition to what Freud calls the life instinct, or Eros. Eros seeks pleasure, procreation, and the preservation of life. It’s aim is to live on and to multiply. Freud introduced the death instinct to explain phenomena beyond the pleasure principle. This embodies subconscious tendencies to return to the peaceful state of death.
Why are humans involved in repetition compulsion (the tendency to repeat certain behaviors even if they are not pleasurable)? Why do people to re-experience trauma? Why are there aggressive proclivities toward suffering even when life is good? Why are so many actions rooted in self hate?
In the narrowness of my little life, Thanatos is acutely present. At it’s loudest, it’s the annihilation of the body. While driving, there’s a buried desire to crash. During plane turbulence, there’s a longing to free fall into death’s bosom. There are invitations for life to go up in flames as I stand in the fire until I’m reduced to ash. There’s a force resisting entropy and a force longing for entropy. Fortunately, the longing for entropy speaks more quietly.
This death instinct communicates in a subtler form, not solely the blatant urge to die. It speaks through self doubt. It is the missed opportunities from a lack of esteem. It is staying in an unfulfilling relationship or a soul draining job. It is taking the easy route, and avoiding the right but hard thing to do. Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art, would call Freud’s death instinct, resistance.
Resistance is found in all the little actions that deaden the spirit that buoys the body. Eros is innate aliveness channeled through creative acts, and resistance is the means to which aliveness is blocked. Resistance takes form in procrastination, self deception, self sabotage, and distraction.
How many dreams have been put on hold due to doom scrolling, chasing an elusive lover, doing drugs, drinking senselessly, or engaging in meaningless encounters? Call it resistance or label it the death instinct, there is an ever present antagonism to self fulfillment.
Innate gifts, unique talents, and creative pursuits demand labor. Talents die if they are not nurtured through right action. When neglected or dismissed, the creative genius or idea wanders off to someone else who will put it to good use.
Though the death instinct exists within all people, it can be fed or starved. It starves when there is devotion to the Self’s truest desire. This desire is the thing money and others cannot touch. It is what’s done when no one's watching. It is the idea that doesn’t allow sleep and produces insomniac wonder. It is the daydream at the office. It is the thing delayed and prolonged because it matters too much. It is scary because it demands all of our being.
Resistance feeds off fear. Living in eros diminishes fear. Commitment to one's craft and responding to inner joy, shifts resistance from background noise to muted. The goal is to silence the death drive as much as possible. Our life’s work is too important to listen to the noise.
The death instinct may hum in the backdrop of life’s stage, but eros is the music. We stumble until we can dance.
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