I really have to pee. And as I sit here, tormented by my need to urinate, I thought about a relevant psychological theory I learned about in college. In my personality theory class, we studied Maslow and his theory of self-actualization. He theorized that we had a pyramid that was comprised of human being's basic needs leading all the way to self-actualization. At the bottom of this pyramid lies a foundation built with, hunger, need to relieve oneself, breathing, basic survival mechanisms. As you move up the pyramid more semantic ideas begin to emerge, the need for love, friendship, family. Maslow believes that if each level of the pyramid is fulfilled you reach the peak, or what he referred to as self-actualization. Self-actualization resembles a sense of being at peace with everything. The achievement is by no means permanent though, and only appears in sporadic intervals. At this moment I have to pee, so fuck self-acualization. I have a better chance of getting struck by lightening while I'm on the toilet at a fancy holiday inn than I do of self-actualizing myself.
I'm gonna pee.
