ABSTRACT
We have no choice but to identify with the image of our body, that is, to believe that the way we are perceived from the outside is who we are. This is the Imaginary illusion of being whole, a definite image that is contained in its contour.
In the Symbolic world, this “I” receives different names: someone’s father, someone’s child, someone’s sibling, someone’s friend. These are names we can move between, thus living a dynamic life – neither static as in the fixed Imaginary picture nor chaotic as in the Real sensations of the body. Cracks in the Imaginary-Symbolic representation make the Real appear, as traumatic and ecstatic. For humans, reality is an invention made of words and images, which is why treating people with words can make a real difference.
