An important point to make is that the "in between" state between our "programmed/given" identity and our "authentic" self is very messy and hard and discouraging but not hopeless. If you can acknowledge and accept that, then it can keep you going. Just as a butterfly MUST struggle to emerge from it's chrysalis in order to build the muscles to fly, so too must we struggle to develop (or unmask) our authentic self.
This is so interesting! When I was a child I remember thinking for myself ”why am I me?” I wondered about why I had been placed in this family, in this country, in this time and so on. And now thinking about all the masks and programming that has been applied on to that child after that... Waking up feels so real!
"The mask that tells you, “you are you”, or “this is you”. Your identity. One which has been crafted subtly and precisely by the world around you. While convincing you that you created it, that you own it, that it is yours, that it is you."
I had a curious dream two nights ago in which I was a dresser* of souls, helping them on and off with their identities. I was aware that some wear their identities tightly, others more loosely, and that this is key at the moment of death.
From the perspective of your blog, the "dresser" is the role of one who gives and helps "put on" this false identity...society and the world around you. Probably not just one role, but many. My own perspective is that we have an ego identitification (and more than one - e.g. The Queen, the public role, and Elizabeth Windsor, the person), which we tend to identify with, and which can change over time. And that they are in a sense a joint creation between the individual and the collective. I am also aware of something beyond the ego, and that maybe after death we "let go of" or "take off" these limited ego identities/ play characters, and can start to identify with something greater.
I would be interested in your or anyone else's view on this. Identity is such a fascinating phenomenon, and I find the idea of someone helping another on and off with their different identities (like in the theatre) humorous, because like Shakespeare, I do think that "All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts..."
*A dresser is someone who works in a theatre and helps the actors and actresses to dress.
What a wonderful dream and so well related to this post. Your thoughts on co-creating the identity are interesting, I think the degree to which each individual participates must vary greatly, where some people play a miniscule role in crafting their identity and others do it more actively. Although I think at the root of it, the part played by the individual is highly dependent on the circumstances that life is presenting. That is in the case of the average (unconscious) individual.
My thoughts on the dream:
I feel your dream is representing a level where the mask is created consciously, and I do believe this is possible.
Once we shed the masks that the world has given us (or that we have created in response to circumstance), we can cultivate and curate our own masks that are rooted purely in our essence. And in doing this we can get help from "dressers" who have experience in creating the best mask for the show in which we are about to perform.
I think mainly we have to distinguish between the masks we create consciously and those that are placed on us / created unconsciously.
And what is most important to me is that as long as we are conscious of the mask we are wearing, we are detached from it and we can take it off at any moment, and remember we are the one wearing the mask, not the mask itself.
We can separate our role / character from the consciousness underneath.
An important point to make is that the "in between" state between our "programmed/given" identity and our "authentic" self is very messy and hard and discouraging but not hopeless. If you can acknowledge and accept that, then it can keep you going. Just as a butterfly MUST struggle to emerge from it's chrysalis in order to build the muscles to fly, so too must we struggle to develop (or unmask) our authentic self.
I love butterflies so this analogy resonates very much for me, too!
Thanks Kristen, wonderful reminder :) I love the butterfly analogy to waking up, it's so perfect!
This is so interesting! When I was a child I remember thinking for myself ”why am I me?” I wondered about why I had been placed in this family, in this country, in this time and so on. And now thinking about all the masks and programming that has been applied on to that child after that... Waking up feels so real!
In your blog, Ti0, you say...
"The mask that tells you, “you are you”, or “this is you”. Your identity. One which has been crafted subtly and precisely by the world around you. While convincing you that you created it, that you own it, that it is yours, that it is you."
I had a curious dream two nights ago in which I was a dresser* of souls, helping them on and off with their identities. I was aware that some wear their identities tightly, others more loosely, and that this is key at the moment of death.
From the perspective of your blog, the "dresser" is the role of one who gives and helps "put on" this false identity...society and the world around you. Probably not just one role, but many. My own perspective is that we have an ego identitification (and more than one - e.g. The Queen, the public role, and Elizabeth Windsor, the person), which we tend to identify with, and which can change over time. And that they are in a sense a joint creation between the individual and the collective. I am also aware of something beyond the ego, and that maybe after death we "let go of" or "take off" these limited ego identities/ play characters, and can start to identify with something greater.
I would be interested in your or anyone else's view on this. Identity is such a fascinating phenomenon, and I find the idea of someone helping another on and off with their different identities (like in the theatre) humorous, because like Shakespeare, I do think that "All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts..."
*A dresser is someone who works in a theatre and helps the actors and actresses to dress.
What a wonderful dream and so well related to this post. Your thoughts on co-creating the identity are interesting, I think the degree to which each individual participates must vary greatly, where some people play a miniscule role in crafting their identity and others do it more actively. Although I think at the root of it, the part played by the individual is highly dependent on the circumstances that life is presenting. That is in the case of the average (unconscious) individual.
My thoughts on the dream:
I feel your dream is representing a level where the mask is created consciously, and I do believe this is possible.
Once we shed the masks that the world has given us (or that we have created in response to circumstance), we can cultivate and curate our own masks that are rooted purely in our essence. And in doing this we can get help from "dressers" who have experience in creating the best mask for the show in which we are about to perform.
I think mainly we have to distinguish between the masks we create consciously and those that are placed on us / created unconsciously.
And what is most important to me is that as long as we are conscious of the mask we are wearing, we are detached from it and we can take it off at any moment, and remember we are the one wearing the mask, not the mask itself.
We can separate our role / character from the consciousness underneath.