Hello and welcome to the session,
I invite you to take a seat or lay down and get yourself comfortable.
You can close down the eyes if you wish and just take a deep slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
So in today's session we're going to be contemplating a quote or a concept from the book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
This book tells the story of a young boy who is moulded and shaped to become something that he never should have been,
Never should have had to,
In order to save the world.
And this quote comes from his sister,
Valentine,
Who loves and cares for the main character but also sees that there's a necessity to the actions that he and the people around him are taking.
And for this contemplation I'm going to read you the quote two times and we're just going to sit with it and then we're going to discuss the quote and sit with it again.
Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.
Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.
So this quote,
This idea of identity is interesting.
Wearing an identity.
So in the book the main character,
Ender,
Is forced to act and do and become something.
And this side character and other side characters also put on acts,
Also wear identities,
And they're changed by the act of wearing that identity.
They mould themselves,
They choose to become something else,
And in that act of choosing the identity,
They start becoming that identity.
They're moulded and shaped by the act that they're putting on.
This I think directly relates to us in life.
People in positions of authority,
Managers,
Policemen,
Doctors,
Lawyers,
Even a cafe worker,
In their element,
They're all experts of their field.
You become that role,
You identify with that role,
But really,
You're just playing a part.
The moment you put down the uniform,
The moment you clock off,
You are no longer that role.
And yet,
The embodiment of that role changes and tweaks you.
I invite you to consider the many different jobs you've had,
Consider how they've changed you,
Not just the knowledge,
Not just the practice,
But the actual act of sitting in that role.
In order to perform the role in society,
You become something different.
You put on the identity.
Same thing if you've had kids.
You as a parent is a different identity to you prior to being a parent.
As you age,
Your relationship with your own parents changes.
You start off completely and utterly helpless as a child.
Then you start to learn and seek guidance.
Then you start to seek independence.
Maybe you move away.
And then eventually,
Over time,
You come back and the relationship evolves and changes.
But who and what you are is different and is sort of shaped by the identity that you've taken in relationship to other people.
This quote,
Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be,
Is quite profound.
Because in order to embody something,
In order to act,
You have to,
At least convincingly,
You really have to get into that role,
Right?
And who and what you are isn't 100% solid.
We are who we are in relationship to people.
If you've had a falling out with a friendship group,
You will feel differently about yourself than you did prior.
If you have a big win at work,
A big success,
Your identity will change based on that.
So it's very easy to lose yourself because who you are is itself changing.
It's almost more realistic to not say that you're a stable thing,
But rather you are the process of change.
You are the thing that is changing over the lifespan.
You are the process of change itself.
I mean even taking this course,
Even reading a fictional book,
Who you are will change from before and after.
If I say a word or a phrase or a quote,
That will change you.
How can it not?
You've got new information which you now need to either embody,
Adapt or ignore.
But whatever option you choose is an expression,
An extension of the identity that you'll embody.
So therefore it goes without saying that the more you wear an identity,
The more you put on an act,
The more you sit with something,
You become it.
I wonder,
Who am I if I was to drop all of those masks?
Who am I without an external identity?
If you take all of that away,
Who and what am I?
So I invite you to take a slow calm breath in through the nose and out through the mouth and sit in contemplation of the quote.
Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.
Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.
So I'm curious,
What is your response to the quote?
How do you feel about the wearing of identity and how it's changing you?
I invite you to share your responses and questions in the classroom and to check out the answers and responses of other people.
I'll be in there daily sharing my responses to your questions and I encourage you to join in because it's a way that we can help form a sort of synergy in which we boost each other up,
Help each other out and potentially point each other in the direction of greater healing,
Growth and enlightenment.
I look forward to seeing you there.
This track was taken from the course Finding Enlightenment Through Fiction.
It's out now via my profile on Insightama and I invite you to check it out.
