Persona- Carl Jung

“The persona is a mask for the collective psyche. A mask that pretends individuality so that both the self and others believe in that identity although it is really no more than a well played role in which the collective psyche is expressed.

It is a complicated system which mediates between individual consciousness and social community.

IT is a compromise between the individual and society as to what a man is supposed to be.

A theater made to make a certain impression on others and to hide part of the nature of the individual.”

 

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“The persona can be understood as the personality we choose over the personality with which we are born. The persona is an expression not necessarily of our true selves, but of our egos: how we wish to see ourselves and for others to see us, as opposed to who we truly and wholly are. As Jung pointed out, to have a persona is not the problem. We all need a persona, as we all need an ego. But the trouble begins when we become overidentified with the persona or ego, believing that these artificial creations totally define our identity.”

Gestalt Prayer

I do my thing and you do your thing
I am not in this world to
live up to your expectations,
and you are not in this world to
live up to mine.
You are you
and I am I
and if by chance we find each other,
it’s beautiful.

Frederick Perls

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(psss just to add a lil note :

The “Gestalt prayer” is a 56-word statement by psychotherapist Fritz Perls that is taken as a classic expression of Gestalt therapy as way of life model of which Dr. Perls was a founder.

The key idea of the statement is the focus on living in response to one’s own needs, without projecting onto or taking introjects from others. It also expresses the idea that it is by fulfilling their own needs that people can help others do the same and create space for genuine contact; that is, when they “find each other, it’s beautiful”.

At Gestalt Therapy’s core is the promotion of awareness, the awareness of the unity of all present feelings and behaviors, and the contact between the self and its environment.

 This was especially true in the 1960s, when the version of individualism it expresses received great attention.)