Persona Play

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to don a different persona? To try on the qualities of an archetype?            New personas are donned regularly by actors in the movies and in theater, and also by everyday people at costume parties, and at Halloween. These are chances to play make-believe, to step into another identity for a brief period of time. When someone finds a persona to dress up as that particularly delights them: Their faces shine, and you can see the persona in the way they move, hear it in the way they talk, and feel it in the way they practice the essence of their character.            An actor really embodying a persona can look like an artistic revelation, like an act of transcendence.            Persona role play can be an act of escape, of exploration.
It can also be self-expression and self-expansion. A statement, an invocation, and a method of breaking down barriers and connecting with one's self and others in a new way.            On a more everyday level, exploring the associations one has when contemplating a particular object or persona can be a way to practice mindfully being present with something.            Meditating on a theme or an object is a practice in many mindfulness traditions, such as in the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, who taught that by looking deeply into an object, the contemplator could see the connections between themselves and the object of contemplation.            I find this to be a very grounding and peaceful experience.
I became enchanted with the idea of this kind of exploration as a playful space for self-expression, and even perhaps as poetry.            This book of short explorations is the result. Some entries are simply musings, some are poetic, and a few rhyme.            Although many of the entries in this collection explore specific human archetypes such as "If I were a Queen" and "If I were a Wanderer, " others explore metaphors, such as "If I were a Rose" and "If I were the First Light of Dawn."