“Do I trust some and get fooled by phoniness Or do I trust nobody and live in loneliness? ‘Cause I can’t hold when I’m stretched so thin I make the right moves but I’m lost within I put on my daily facade but then I just end up getting hurt again”
– Linkin Park
The Facade
Why the facade? I’m looking for something, perhaps something that does not exist. I don’t expect perfection, but I do have a level of expectation. Unique, intriguing, independent — is that too much to ask?
When you’re running your own company, you meet a lot of people and realize many things. I’m an optimist; I look for the good in people, and I always find something to like about someone. Unfortunately, people are boring, and people are fake. Very few people choose to play their own role in these theatrics we call life. Instead we take on characteristics that are not our own. We are actors. We can be whomever we wish to be, however it’s important to stay consistent.
When we are given our scripts, we can portray ourselves in an infinite number of ways. Yet we find ourselves changing our scripts according to the characters in our scene. A quality actor is welcome to improvise providing they stay consistent with the attributes of their character, but most of us are far from good actors. Instead we stray too far from the script and become completely different characters — characters so shallow that we become transparent, and it becomes easy to see that we are acting.
Evolution
Evolution is an essential part of our character. At some point we are expected to become more than what we presently are. Well written scripts carry a character through a series of crises, showing how the character evolved from what they were before, to whom they became after. Our lives follow the same formula. It’s not that you must not react differently to similar circumstances. It’s that you need to embrace conflict, crisis, and confrontation as an opportunity to analyze, learn, and evolve past your current state. This in turn creates a dynamic character whose persona becomes discernible in contrast to predictable or inconclusive.
Perhaps part of the problem lies in casting ourselves as the lead actor. If we could only view others as equal actors, then perhaps we could realize that we are all nothing more than supporting actors. Not a single one of us lead. Instead we support, refine, and construct each other as supporting actors who support other actors. In a world of quantum, infinite, possibilities, it is impossible for one of us to take the stage, front and center, without destroying the others. You may only perceive one of us at any given time, but we are all there.
An Honest Observation
I look around this tiny world, floating through parallel universes of infinite possibilities, and I see so much…assimilation. Very few choose to be unique. Very few choose to be intriguing. Very few choose to be independent. Look at yourself. Are you a product of your society? Your peers? Does your wardrobe reflect a desire to fit in? Do your actions portray a narcissist? Are you the same person in private that you are in public?
Break this mold, for such things will only lead to a shallow life of deceit and loneliness. You will never feel loved for who you are. You will never feel complete. You must embrace that which makes you “different”, that which makes you “weird”. Only then can you discover who you are. Only then will others accept you for who you are.
I choose to be unique. I choose to be “weird”. I choose to be intriguing. I choose to be “different”. I choose to be independent…
I choose to be myself.
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p style=”text-align: left”>Thoughts from a concerned individual, – David Aaron Fendley
