Concience and Stress
Hello, I'm Satan. But I was God until a few weeks ago. I didn't really appreciate the job and I bitched and moaned until higher powers made some personnel changes. Now my good friend Lonnie Simmons is God. But God really wants to be Satan, I can tell. I always see him mouthing my lines at our rehearsals. Ultimately, we agreed to switch it up every now and then. I'll go back to being God and he can be the Ultimate Bad Boy from time to time. After all, we have similar voices and delivery styles, so it won't hurt the overall production. Might give it added flava.
Obviously, I'm talking about a play, Where You at, Lord? which is based on the biblical Book of Job and fellow writer Robert Ricks and I are at the 'tale end' of the casting phase. In a roundabout way, I wanted to get to the point of how we, as people, do seem to have a variety of roles in our lives and some roles seem to be diametrically at odds with others.
Ancient philosophers considered this dualism an inherent part of human nature. The institution of Drama evolved largely to satisfy this need in humans to portray different aspects of ourselves, and to see similar portrayals from our fellows. It extends into our personal lives as well. We have different 'facades' for our parents, children, siblings, teachers, friends, rivals - everyone gets to see a slightly different side of you; of all that comprises you. None one will know all those characters, although your closest friends may be familiar with more than one.
At essence, all people are at least a little schizo. Some of us just cope with it more fluidly than others. Some of us find outlets where our various 'personalities' can just be. That's about the only 'cure'.
One of my very dearest friends struggles with this on a daily basis. A person with lofty altruistic values, the only thing higher than her character is the standard she sets for herself, a standard that doesn't allow a lot of 'slack' - she will kick her own ass from here to Sidney if she believes she has 'let anyone down' for any reason, at any time.
She's a drop dead gorgeous woman, but the slightest increase around her waistline or tightness in her wardrobe sends her into a panic. ("I'm fat!" is her war cry.) She juggles a schedule of a million activities, but if she double-commits even once, she's all over herself for lack of organization. She's one of the most intelligent people I've ever met, but she constantly second-guesses herself.
My dear friend is indeed intelligent, and I believe she has an innate understanding that her rugged treatment of self will cause/is causing problems that can easily infect other areas of her life. She knows that "letting one's hair down" is a very healthy and necessary way of coping with stress. She knows that stress is one of her worse enemies. But she fears potential chain reactions from letting her hair down, and so even more stress is generated from that line of thinking and the cycle feeds itself.
Cause and Effect is the constant mantra I say to self when I'm looking for a solution to a problem. I know that we, as humans, are often more inclined to treat the symptom of a malady than to search for its source. But logic suggests that symptoms (Effects) can be treated indefintely and the malady persists. Cures are only effected when the Cause of a problem is identified and treated.
In my humble opinion, permitting conscience unlimited control over behavior may win a person a lot of Mother Teresa points, but it won't let the real energies flow in a healthy manner. You can't ride the wind if you're worried about how far down is the ground.
Then again, it's not like I'm an expert in matters of Conscience. But I do know a lot about stress. And, if compromised, one can always fall back on on the late Flip Wilson's catch-all excuse: "The Devil made me do it!"
Hello, I'm Satan. But until a few weeks ago, I was God...
(The artwork at the top is Gustave Dore's depiction of Satan from John Milton's Paradise Lost)
posted by JahStorm @ 9:06 AM
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