What are you...precisely?
“Angels and Demons” by Artist Mark Brown - Antigua
The recent social constructs in the west of you being able to categorize yourself as who you "identify as"...changes the philosophical as well as biological foundations of who you actually are and transcends to a twist on metaphysical questions of "who am I". It can be quite confusing and it's intended to be. If you are lost, insecure, vulnerable and confused-you are easier to mislead, tempt and control.
From a chemical/biological viewpoint-you are made up of elements, the most prevalent being H2O (water-Hydrogen and Oxygen). Each day you add nutrients which can add to your composition, degrade you, or actually "toxify" your systems. What you breathe in also affects your functioning-whether you are fortunate enough to breathe clean air (less and less possible) or varying levels of polluted air depends on where you live and work.
Your environment can physically constrict and even damage you, strain your health (extremes of altitude, cold, heat, humidity or aridity) electrical magnetic pulses bombarding you, and/or excessive noise can diminish your capacities and conversely, a pristine, natural landscape may enhance your well being on a physical, and possibly a spiritual plane.
However, the thoughts, energetic emissions and emotional atmosphere you are subjected to daily are also inputs which have the ability to change you, stimulate and certainly influence you more powerfully than you may realize. One end of the spectrum would be the privations of a prison cell or being born or kidnapped into a Daesh/ISIS stronghold, criminal network or pedophile family-living hells, yet millions must survive these conditions.
On the other side of the spectrum-you may be born into or grow into a materially and culturally rich family, a spiritually strong family and/or peaceful country where all your basic needs are satisfied and you have the freedom to express yourself uniquely. You may fight against either situation as you grow and this struggle will transform you.
“Head Above Water” by Gregory Reade-Bronze-USA
The types of media/propaganda you are subjected to can mold you permanently into an unrecognizable version of your "self". Peer pressures, social media, advertising all permeate most societies now. You may find being inauthentic is the only way you can conform. You may unconsciously be emulating media personalities and "famous" people-to be accepted. Perhaps your voice imitates other people, your intonation, vocabulary becomes rote instead of spontaneous. Are you "them" or "you" now?! Have you become a caricature of yourself after posting so many posed images on social media platforms?
Do you ever reflect on these questions? Only you, in the privacy and stillness of being with only your own thoughts, are able to answer the question honestly-to check in and seek out who you really are...today, this week, this year, this decade-this lifetime. Such a quest takes great care and deep courage. No one else can do it for you. Someone who loves you may be a support, a motivator, a mirror....but only you know the truth in the answer(s) that may be revealed.
Fiber Artist Inge Jorgenson-"Kiss via"
Isn't it time to exercise your will to discover the truth of who you are on a daily basis? It takes effort to peel back the veils and become conscious. It takes practice to be conscious.
Posing can only be satisfying for only so long. Are you simply what you present to the world...what you post and display? Are you constantly thinking about what to "post" instead of being in the moment of the actual activities you engage in, by yourself or with others? Do you remember the pic/video clip...more than the real experience? The virtual world is all an illusion after all.
Festivals are one way to “act out” fantasies of who you’d like to be or who you admire or abhor. During Mardi Gras, Día de los Muertos and Halloween, costumes, masks, make up and accessories can be fun as ways to “create a new you”. Your imagination and skills can be used to entertain and possibly exorcise the “demons” through “play/theatre/parades/charades”.
Just remember underneath all the costumes and masks who you really are when you take them off. Do you know? Hope so.
From Texas with some ‘spit and vinegar’,
Jo