Human beings are a complicated species. We are multi-faceted, revealing different aspects of ourselves, depending on whom we are with and what we are doing in any given moment. We play numerous roles throughout the day and throughout our lifetimes. And, if that were not enough to keep us on our toes, we have actors and actresses who in addition to their own roles, pretend to be someone else. When we are not playing in our own stories, we are often watching movies or television programs with actors and actresses portraying their pretend roles for us.
We are probably our most authentic selves when we are children. We can play the roles of student, friend, sister, brother, cousin, niece, nephew, grandchild, and often step-child. For those who like doing sports, football player, basketball player, or gymnast are only a few examples of functions that may become attached to a person. Once we reach adulthood, we begin to add new parts to our already existing ones. We become graduates, employees, wives, husbands, tenants, homeowners, and pet owners. These of course are only general applications that fit the blueprint of who we might become. In fact, they are merely labels. If we have made enemies during our life, very negative labels may be attached to us. For most of us; however, to most of the world, we are strangers. The labels that may be attached to a stranger are generally not based on fact, but through the biased filters of the one looking.
So, who are we really? It is a common practice to provide new acquaintances with a business card that describes what we do. It may list various accomplishments and contact information, but it does not tell the person we are giving it to, who we really are. The calling cards of the Victorian era, while very precise in social etiquette, contained a somewhat romantic mystique. For the most part we remain mysteries to one another, regardless how well we might think we know someone. We are often mysteries even unto ourselves. When we reach the end of life, we barely resemble the person that we were as a child, either physically or mentally; but if our life has accomplished what we hope it does, we are much closer to knowing ourselves, who we really are. That which resonated with us as a child resonates with us at the end of life. We re-discover in the later years what we intuitively knew as a child. At this late stage the real me can at last stand up in all of its authenticity.
