Ego
The center of conscious identity: the “I” that chooses, narrates, and navigates day-to-day life.
The ego is not vanity; it is the functional self that orients, decides, and holds boundaries. It can be rigid, inflated, or fragile—but its task is to mediate between outer demands and inner truth.
Jungian writing often contrasts ego with the Self: the ego manages the present; the Self names the larger pattern of wholeness toward which life tends.