We have a perceived self, an ideal self, a self others see, a real self that maybe sometimes we don't see/don't show or even don't know ......
The ? 'Who am I' is a great one to consider, if you're really willing to explore and examine yourself and your perceptions about yourself and the masks you might wear (and why you wear them) very honestly, deeply....
Squiggle is a mother, caregiver, teacher, etc - are those
who you
are or are those roles that are a part of your life and a part of your identity, but not the sum or even the most important part of who you are? Who would you be, if the knowledge of having those roles was taken from you ..... say you lost your memory ..... who are you underneath, without, or besides those roles?
Of course, I say, I am a mother.....that role in great part defines me, my identity, my life......but that role doesn't define my personality or my character, does it? (rather, I think my personality/character might define how I perform that role, perhaps....)
So, isn't who we really
are at the core of us more about our personality, our character, our hearts than it is just about our roles in society or in our family?
And I have learned to ask myself, am I really being who I really am right now ..... or am I putting on a mask that looks more presentable or matches more who I think I ought to be?
T2 said to me once about my conservative, conventional appearance - that's how you
think you ought to appear to match what you think others think you should be and to save yourself from facing judgment of your real self. But, she said, you are NOT conservative, you're just inhibited! So, I present myself in a conservative manner, but that is not who I really am .... that's not my authentic self. However, I always really
did think I was conservative ..... lo and behold, how interesting to discover AND to accept that my conservatism is more a product of the environment/expectations I grew up in, and that I have presented the more conservative parts of me in an effort to conform to that. So I said, it's just a mask then and not really me? But she said, it
is still a part of you ..... but instead of being the main player in my identity, who I am, it is actually a more minor player.
So, I've been getting to know my own self, who I am ..... wearing the conservative mask less, allowing the authentic expression of who I really
am to emerge .... I am unconventional and that is
OK! And so what if that doesn't match others expectations (like in my conservative church) of who I should be/be striving to be. I
can be spiritual at the same time as being unconventional and liberal and not truly having rigid convictions, but a more flexible tolerance.
So anyway, who are you underneath the masks you might wear, underneath your appearance, underneath even the perceptions you have of yourself, underneath inhibitions you might have or efforts to conform to others (or your own) expectations?
Sorry this is long - but as you know, brevity in writing is not who I really am (even if I actually do try to practice brevity of speech and am more successful at that)