Every now and again I wonder what it would be like to be someone else. I am not talking about a celebrity or someone in the national spotlight but someone who grew up in a place with a different family environment, philosophical outlook, sociological understanding, and personality. The latest occurrence happened when I was watching a show and the contestant was some guy from the Bronx; this guy looked and acted the way I would expect a guy who grew up in that area (I understand that this is all based on stereotypes).
It is not that I have not had the opportunity to “change” who I am. I have lived in many different cities and states in my life. In fact, I am so use to be the “new guy” that the concept of being part of a group or community is foreign to my thinking. I have moved in to areas where I have only distant relationships in the area and could have presented myself as whoever I wanted to be.
I remember flirting around with the idea I could present myself as someone who I am not, but soon found that you really can not divorce yourself from your sense of being. The image of yourself is not as easily transformed as you think. To accomplish this you must be constantly engaged in restraining who you are. I am do believe it is possible to accomplish changing who you are (how you were raised and your worldview), but it is complex. I also believe that it is possible that if you try to change who you are you could end up more losing something and find you can not restore it.
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