Meditation for January 17th
Personality vs. Identity
There is a difference between the qualities that make up one’s personality and those that make up one’s identity. Someone’s identity helps them be part of a group by sharing beliefs and interests with others. Our identity helps us know where we fit in. One’s personality is the way we behave and the qualities that set us apart from others. Our personality is what makes us special within the group or groups we identify with.
Look at your own life. Is the music scene and/or fashion you choose essential to you? Then you strongly identify with a group and have little to no personality due to a lack of intellect and imagination. People who grow up and ndo ot let go of their identifying markers and groups become emotionally and intellectually stunted. And I get it, it’s easier to adhere to an identity than our own personality, because an identity stays the same day after day. Personality will change and develop over time.
I used to live in Portland, Oregon, a town of Peter Pans; boys and girls who will not grow up. A lot of them cling to musical and cultural identities that have existed since the late 60s, and will not deviate to explore new or complex ideas. A lot of them latch onto Metal and Punk music to display their peacock feathers of fitting in. They feel the world is against them, even though the world could give a fuck. Identity is so pervasive, that is becomes hard for a person to expand their beliefs and interests. Mostly due to fear of the unknown.
Let go of your old identities and start focusing on your personality. If Metal and Punk were not to exist anymore, would you still be a human being? Or do you want to be a lonely long-haired man-boy sucking boilermakers and still wearing a jean vest with buttons and patches all over, talking about the way it used to be when shows really rocked to no one who cares? People cover up their lack of personality by covering themselves up in a costume that represents their identity.
Identity has been the focus, amplified by social media, because the best way to sell products to you is to corral you into an identity that makes it easier to sell you things. The algorithm is just seeing what your identities are and show you the products that examplify that. When we express ourselves with just our personalities, that can’t be commodified.
Prayer
Lord Dio,
help me to rid my skin,
and become a unique person,
That people find interesting.
Immortal Dave Mustaine,
who died in a tragic train collision,
Let me be beyond scenes and clubs, and be an individual who can like a wide variety of things, even if other people who dress like I do don’t.
Demigod Darby Crash,
allow me to dress with comfort
instead of wearing tight pants with a handcuff belt.
Let me wear whatever I want,
and still be liked for who I really am.
Amen
Craft
Go to parties. Say you can’t tell the difference between Radiohead and Coldplay, Geese and Goose, Biggie and Tupac, or the difference between Ozzy’s Black Sabbath and Dio’s Black Sabbath, depending on the demographic.
Goal
Pick a new look. Try a 19th-century Victorian-era dandy, a mid-19th-century gold rush miner, or a huge Lawrence Welk fanatic, and make that your new thing. Don’t skimp and be lazy – go HAM on this new look with an accent and everything. Try it until a few other people start doing it. Then go fitness goth.