Are we all actors on the World Stage?

 

 

How well do we really know the people we think we know?

Then again, when we say we know somebody, what do we usually mean?

Macmillan dictionary defines to know as follows: remember someone for something, understand, be familiar with, recognise, to mention a few.

Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean, but most of us know her as Marilyn. As an actress she had to become many different women, so I wonder what happened to Norma Jean, where did she go? 

For me it has always been a marvel how someone can shed their own identity and become another. When the lights are off and the show over, how does an actor find their own identity again?

This leads me to ponder if in some sense, we do not all have different roles which we "play" in our lives?

In the opening line of Jaques famous speech from Shakespeare's play, "As You Like It", often called the Seven Ages of Man, Jaques says: "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players."

Although one may feel as a "whole" person, under a microscope maybe there are many parts.

You're a man/woman, brother/sister, husband/wife, father/mother, son/daughter, friend/associate, boss/worker, teacher/student, etc.etc., and could these positions not be regarded as different "roles" we play?

Actors are handed scripts to learn/study the character they are to become/play, but if the world is a stage, then maybe everyone of us are handed "scripts" from birth, we just don't recognise them as such? We speak of "role models", could they maybe be thought of as "living scripts"? Even if we decide we do not want to be like our father/mother/brother/sister/other, their way of being still influence us in how we want to be/behave/act. Maybe we can also add to this influences from the movies, TV shows, magazines, books, friends, teachers, lovers, work mates, team mates and so on.

Actors act, they become someone else for the duration of the "play", show, movie, then when it's finished, they become themselves again. Do we all have a "core" selves we return to in the stillness of our minds when the day is over?

When we say we "know" someone, do we mean that we are familiar with that persons behaviour/way of being, that we think we have an understanding of their "core" selves? Some say that human beings always search for patterns and that maths came about for this reason. If a person regularly behaves in a certain way, a pattern, there is an estimated amount of certainty and we probably believe we know that person. "He is always on time, She always arrives first, He always speaks open and honestly, She is always quiet, He always forgets, She always remembers, He always does the right thing, She always phones her parents on Sundays, and so on..." and of course the opposite: "He's never on time, She always arrives at the last minute, He never says what he really thinks, She always voices her opinions loudly...etc.etc".

So what happens when a person behaves outside of the usual patterns? "Man, I thought I knew him, but after what he did, I don't think I know him at all !"

When Marilyn was found dead in her bed there were people who were shocked and yet others not at all. The event is still regarded as a mystery by some yet others are sure they know what lead to her death. Perhaps nobody really knew Marilyn at all, perhaps not even Marilyn herself.

Socrates coined the phrase: "Know thyself", which is easier said than done in my opinion

How does one get to know oneself?

Perhaps one begins with: Who do I think I am rather than who do other people think I am?

    Is the image I portray of me the true me? What and who is my "core" self?

How do I find my "core" self?

In the stillness of your mind may be a good starting point.

Getting to know someone and/or oneself takes time and patience, compassion and love, and although we may know someones behaviour/being patterns,

at the core, are we not often mysteries wrapped in an enigma even unto ourselves?

 

"Know yourself. Don’t accept your dog’s admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.” (Ann Landers)

 “Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
(Carl Jung)