One of my favorite movies of all times is "catch me if you can", with Leonardo in the leading role. It is one of the very few movies I can keep watching over and over again. It is so interesting to look at the movie from an identity perspective. You can be any person. What makes you fit in one role and not in another? Aren't we all just playing a role?
Leonardo having fun switching between different identities. From being a doctor, to a pilot, to even being a lawyer.
You can be anyone. In order to figure out who you are, you must play different roles. Like Leonardo did (not the way he did it of course 👀 ). Figuring out which identities that fit you well is a process of ups and downs. But just like Leonardo it is important to have fun along the way!
The netflix series lupin is also a masterpiece in identity. In the series on a given moment in the first season, the main character says: ‘nobody really knows who he or she really is’. One moment lupin is a cleaner in the louvre museum, the other moment he is one of the richest persons of France buying art in that same louvre and a few days later he’s a nerd trying to get into the library of a news agency. He is able to switch roles like we switch pants. I made the above picture with some of his roles in the first season.
We are a plurality of versions. Which version of who you are on a given moment in time depends on so many aspects. Is identity just a role we are playing? No. A character is only a part of an identity. An identity must be a snapshot of a person on a given moment. A very small moment, cause you’re not the same person you where last year, last month, last week or even yesterday. We’re constantly changing.
I like this ted ed talk, especially the story with the ship. If you change all the part a ship, is it still the same ship?
One of the reasons I like solo travel so much is that it gives me the opportunity to be any person without having the limits and borders of friends, colleges and family that are finding you are acting weird. You can be anyone. I’ve been so many different personalities while solo traveling. Trying out new identities once in a while is such an opening to discover different versions of ‘your’ ‘self’. Whatever the self actually truly means. What we are and where we are, what our consciousness really may be, is an open question toward a deeper understanding of our ‘self’.
This video by improvement pill, explains the concept of "identity & solo travel" very well.
By trying different masks and playing different roles you may learn more about which 'identities' fits you. I personally believe you are not either one or another identity. As a human person we have at least 5 different identities, that make us who we are on a given moment in time.
You can combine different identities according to your wishes and desires. This creates unique identities. Your liking is that just a feeling? Then is identity shaped by feelings? What made those feelings what they are? Which molecules triggered that state? Which chemical connections formed that state? Where did those molecules come from and which laws made them act toward that specific behavior? And why those laws? What shaped and triggered the existence of these laws? Maybe I am going to deep but to truly fundamentally understand who we are, we must eventually all ask the same questions on life and the origins of the universe.
Who are you? What makes you ‘you’?
Factors at play
There are a multitude of definitions for what identity means.
When asked who we are, we often tell about our beliefs, experiences, backgrounds and interests. Who we are is however shaped by so much factors.
The choices we make every single moment, our goals, how we act, how we dress, how we behave, .. the factors that define an identity are infinite.
How you grow up, family, gender, age, friends, people, clothing, culture, influences, the state of your mind, choices you previously made and will make, characters you choose to be, the current state of the environment around ‘yourself’, they all influence your truly self. Identity will change. That’s a constant in this universe. You can influence it, but it’s unknown what it’s ultimate source or meaning is.
Brain influences
People in an accident who got hit hard on there head may suddenly be a different person. Silent people could suddenly become lousy active people or vice versa. The point is that the ultimate source of who we ‘are’ is adaptable. Men could interfere with the mind and genes to change its ‘self’. Changing the outside self, will trigger change on the inside and vice versa.
Whoever you are now, right now, take a brief moment cause it’s really a miracle you’ve formed a ‘self’. You have an influence on the environment, on the universal powers and laws around you to influence certain laws to become a self, to shape the environment around you. You are a powerful magical thing. One can have an influence on its own thought, causing influence on its environment and the identities around one being.
It’s weird to see an old friend from primary school back as an adult, if you haven’t seen each other ever since. You’re like working adults now, what has happened somehow that that person in your mind is still you and your friend playing in those lessons in school. It’s weird to grasp. It’s normal but yet it’s so bizarre. That friend, that person doesn’t exist anymore. It’s someone else now. The same for yourself applies to.
What is defined as 'you'? Your brain? Your body? The Philosophy Of Personal Identity video gives food for thought.
Character traits
Just like the way you dress, a character is an inevitable part of an identity. With enough self awareness, willpower and a reinforcement of the new behaviors and thinking patters, a person can change their character traits. Of course some personality traits may be more malleable than others. But a character trait you can change. It is unbelievable. What character traits fit you ? List of some character traits. in high school, some people classified me as a "gray mouse" variant. Unfortunately I did not find that scheme back.
Pinterest visualization
Pinterest is an very interesting platform to visualize ideas. It is widely used for visualizing futuristic versions of your room, house, garden, life, family, identity and your future ‘you’. The visualization is a powerful reminder when making choices about your future direction. The boards you design will have an influence on your future identity. It is a form of therapy.
Trying different ids
The way we dress and act are factors that define who we become. Different styles create different identities. In my AndalucÃa trip article, I showed different styles which in turn create different persons.
Different gadgets, create different characters. ‘A Harley Davidson gives a totally different impression then a fiat 500. ‘.
Some identity factors you choose yourself. But age is different. It speaks for itself that age impacts your identity.