Mother, father, sister, brother, employer, employee, stock broker, truck driver, soccer player, cook, philosopher, scientist, priest, saint, sinner, artist, child, adult, hiker, hooker, gunman or gandy dancer ....
When others think you are someone, that's not quite right ... it's too limited; something is left out.
But when others think you are no one, that's not quite right either ... something is still missing.
Not quite right.
I wonder what right might be.
Pretty good one.
ReplyDeleteRemnds me of idea that we all don masks, AND that we are made to wear masks by others. There's little choice in the matter.
Besides the ones you mention like family member and career, there are those like the Smart, the Dumb, the Lazy, the Obnoxious, the Brave, the Strong, the Hero, the Hurt, the Humble, the Pious, the Do Gooder, the Cute Dunce (or Dumb Blonde), the Drama Queen, the Freak, the Wannabe, the Boss, the Guru (spiritual, tech, and otherwise), the Lady / Gentlemen, the Bitch / Prick, etc., etc., etc. including the "I am more than a mask," mask and the "let's transcend our masks" mask.
The problem isn't that we assume or fall into or are imposed these masks / roles. The problem is identfying with them and not seeing that a given person is more than a single or even a combination of previously worn masks / roles.
See I remember freshman sociology. :-)