Written By Elisabeth Paul

“The persona is the individual´s system of adaptation to, or the manner he assumes in dealing with the world. Persona is a compromise between individual and society as what a man should appear to be.” C. G. Jung.

As we navigate through life, finding ourselves in various settings, encountering different environments and people- we all equip ourselves with a kind of mask in order to be able to function under these various circumstances. This is absolutely necessary, and without the mask it would be like facing the elements naked and exposed.

Yet, we often hear we should “be ourselves” no matter what - but what would that imply? We simply cannot behave the same way in every situation. With certain family and intimate friends, we can hopefully (although this is not always the case), afford to display most of what we are. But luckily, we understand that we cannot, nor should we always wear our heart and soul at our sleeves. For one it would leave us too vulnerable - there would be no barrier or buffer to protect ourselves with, we need to guard our soul, in other words. And so, we have a “Persona” developed. 

As quoted in the beginning, however, Jung claimed the persona is a compromise. That implies it is not a completely separate character operating in total contrast to the true individual; rather, it holds parts of the person’s true identity, yet altered as to better be able to function when dealing with the outside world. 

It may be quite common to feel connected to the persona/mask to the extent that one alienates oneself from one´s true essence, identifying with the qualities of the mask only - an overidentification with persona. There is a certain “danger” associated with this, and taken to the extreme we may even begin confusing ourselves with our persona and repress our true individuality.

We should be able to look into the mirror well aware of the ways we sometimes wear a mask.

If we think about it, we can all imagine what it would be like for an actor or celebrity who has a certain image we mistake for the true identity of the individual. Being known and acknowledged for such an image only would easily lead to emptiness. In today´s society with social media, we are all faced with that dilemma to an extent.

If we only identify with the mask, and many others do so as well, our interactions might then be a character play between masks only…

I guess my question becomes:

Who do we portray? What do we hide? How *brilliant is your disguise? (Yes, a reference to the song title “Brilliant disguise” by Bruce Springsteen :-))