The word character is defined as an attribute or distinguished feature of an individual, group, or category. I’ve recently started thinking about the idea of characters and what kind of character I am. Honestly, I had the crazy idea about trying to figure out how we measure the character of a person. We measure so many things in life that in today’s world of messages and measurements, it must have triggered the train of thought that I’m about to share. After some thought, it’s very difficult to measure any one person mainly due to the complexity of each individual to begin with. There have been some clues that have led me to a little more clarity though. So here goes.
When it comes to character, things like role playing, acting, and more recently video games have become examples. Acting, you could say is one of the more obvious forms of character portrayal, since you embody the attributes and essence of the characters to tell a story. Acting takes a tremendous amount of obsession and skillful training to really get help a character come to life so convincingly that you associate that actor or actress as that person.
Video games, virtual reality, the worlds of imaginative creativity have unlimited opportunities that are only limited to it’s user. Most of the time, the beginnings of some games require a character selection which will allow you to become whoever and for whatever. Each character has a different role that it fits into, each role has a specific responsibility in the game, and some responsibilities are more crucial than others depending on the situations that are played. No matter who the character is, it has meaning and is necessary.
As a kid, I remember playing with friends or just my younger siblings, and we would “pretend” by using our imaginations. There are a lot of fond memories, building with Lego, fighting with our distinguished and handcrafted weaponry, and having the time of our lives. I remember wanting to be just like a Jedi, noble knight, or precise archer as I flailed my handmade/plastic weaponry at my foes. Nowadays, I still reflect on those imaginative worlds and wonder how things would be if they were truly reality. I seem to have looked more internal when it comes to applying the attributes of the characters I use to play, as I grew older. I have thought more about what a knight would do or what roles apply to my everyday life. Why are heroes the way that they are? What are the dragons that I currently face? What even makes me a knight? What makes me a good one?
Life is a lot like a video game, we are all characters, very specific and unique. A lot like the virtual or pretend realities, there are many different faces that we put on all depending on the situation. One of the hardest parts of my life have been to try and figure out what the role I’m suppose to play. How I came to that conclusion is another future post. The roles of life are constantly changing and adapting, that it’s no wonder that it can be difficult. That’s why I think my train of thought on measuring a person isn’t so clear cut, the roles of life are a little more complex to make a general measurement for all.
Why measure a person at all? If you can’t seem to find a measurement of yourself, you never really know where to get better, or to even have a point of direction to get better. So how can you progress when you aren’t measuring? What can you even measure with? One way that we can see where we are, is based on the labels that we can undertake because of our behaviors. I’m a “gym junkie” because I go to the gym a lot. I’m also a blogger….well because that’s what I’m currently doing. Other labels can describe your personality, beliefs, orientations, feelings etc. Sounds a lot like a character creation page in a video game right? But this is serious, this is real life, the world of experiential consequences and not simulated ones. The conglomeration of all of these different attributes can be summarized by Bronfenbrenners Ecological systems theory:
This chart is a visual description of the quote, “We are products of our environment.” There is a lot of information to really interpret here as well so I won’t go into too much depth. One thing I came to realize though is that each individual….is very complex and there are a lot of influences that are apart of the equation of measurement. So can you measure a person? You can try…..it’ll just take a lifetime.
Woof, that still is a lot of information to really digest. People are really complicated aren’t they? No wonder it’s difficult to reach any common understanding consistently.
I’ve been a place, where I didn’t know what role I wanted to play in life and was really quite overwhelmed with the idea of having to choose. Those feelings in combination with other hardships in life have led me to thinking about the quitting of this ‘game’ and wondering if I really wanted to continue playing. That hasn’t happened in quite sometime, and i’m glad that I haven’t quit. There are however, many unfortunate circumstances for others that have resulted in quitting this game…and it’s a sad situation. I wish that what I’m about to say can perhaps help change a perspective into a hopeful one. Suicide is not a joke, and neither is Life. There are a lot of characters in the world, but there isn’t anyone as unique as YOU. Alan Watts, a British writer, said,”When a man no longer confuses himself with the definition of himself that others have given him, he is at once universal by virtue of the inseparability of his organism from the cosmos. He is unique in that he is just this organism and not any stereotype of role, class, or identity assumed for the convenience of social communication.” When you filter out all of the other voices of influence in your life, and really focus on who you are, that’s when you find clarity.
How do you filter? Well as I have had to do this a few times during hard points of my life, i’ll just share what I’ve done. My methods, aren’t anything special or recommended over any other types of treatment, I’ve just adapted certain techniques to my own personal use. When I’m in a quiet place, removed from distractions and “influences” I either sit or lay down in a comfortable position. With my eyes closed I try and take in my surroundings like, the texture of my bed, the air, my heart beat, my breathing etc. Once I get focused that way, I think about my emotions, how am I feeling? Why am I feeling these things? Slowly, I start understanding each piece of the problem and attempt to look at things in a bigger picture. Part of that bigger picture, is the amount of time. I try to think about how long I want to live, or what the common life expectancy is, then think of how much longer I have until I reach those final years. That’s when I know, what I’m going through will only be a small fragment of my mortality and I have so much time to continue things. Finally, I do everything I can to remember that I am the one that is facing this opportunity, and since I’m the only one of me, that’s pretty unique. I have my own way of defeating my dragons or demons or monsters, because that’s my character.
Each character is very special. Each character plays a role. I’m glad you are a character in my life.
Thanks!
Mind Puke 