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PERSONA THROUGH LANGUAGE

I was born in Holland and immigrated to New Zealand with my parents when I was ten. There, I grew up speaking a mix of English and Dutch at home. Over the years, I have made frequent trips back to Holland to visit family, including a few months of living and working there in my early twenties. As a result, I would say I have a pretty good grasp of the Dutch language and culture, and it’s still very much a part of who I am.

I recently spoke with a friend who had spent several years in Japan. She is married to a Japanese man and, similarly, has an excellent grasp of the Japanese language and culture. We both noted that when you spend some time immersed in the language and culture of another country, after a time, your mind switches and starts to think in the other language. We also noticed that a change of behavior tends to accompany this switching of the dominant language in the mind.

Nuances in each language and different word choices allow you to express yourself differently. Combine this with the culture and mass consciousness of the country, and one can see how you might adopt a different personality when fully immersed in another country’s language and culture. Most countries and cultures have quite distinctive personality traits, which are expressed primarily through speech and body language. For example, think of the stereotypes that have come to be associated with different cultures, like Italians, Germans, Indians, Chinese, French, Australians, etc. As humans, we express a distinct personality – or ‘act’ – through language and communication.

The funny thing is that now when I go back to Holland and speak Dutch to people that don’t know me, they pick up my New Zealand accent and think I’m foreign, but they can also tell that I speak and act like a local, and this often leaves them quite confused!

ACT OF CONSCIOUSNESS

In the book Act of Consciousness, Adamus Saint-Germain explains that what you perceive to be your identity is really just an act. It’s not really who you are, and by changing how you act you can change your life. He states, “Energy responds to the act of consciousness. This means that energy literally aligns itself to your consciousness. If you act like a limited human, your energy will respond in kind.

That’s all very well, I thought, but I can’t act if my life depended on it! My acting experience in this lifetime was limited to a couple of minor roles in school plays. I really didn’t know how to go about changing my ‘act,’ and so, I shelved this concept in the ‘too hard’ basket because I had no idea where to start, and it just felt weird to try and act differently.

THE ROLES WE PLAY

However, after the conversation with my friend about languages and personality, I suddenly realized that I’d already been acting my entire life! And it wasn’t just one character or act, there were so many different roles! The different persona brought forward through speaking a foreign language was just one of many. When I’m at work, I dress more formally, speak more formally and act professionally; and I take on a more nurturing and caring parent role at home with my children. When I go to the gym, I’m focused and energetic with an outfit to match; and when I’m out with my friends, I’m more outgoing, gregarious, and dressed to impress! Every time I’m in a different situation and interacting with different people, I take on a new role, and each one has a different persona, costume, dialogue, and behavior. The origin of the word ‘person’ comes from the Latin word ‘persona’, which literally means mask or character played by an actor. How many of your roles do you recognize?

Life is like a play where we are the scriptwriter, director, costume designer and actor portraying many different roles. We employ the people we interact with in our play to act out other parts as needed, but it’s all still our own play and script. Of course, we usually see ourselves playing the hero – the loving parent, the knowledgeable expert, the fun friend, the sporting champion, the helpful family member, the virtuous volunteer, the creative artist, the talented chef, or the boy racer (you know who you are). Each role is an act, an aspect of who we are.

However, sometimes, we play the part of the villain. This may include the angry parent, the jealous partner, the lazy worker, the gossiping friend, the selfish sibling, or the controlling boss, and I’m sure you can think of many more. These are the darker aspects of ourselves, the ones we usually choose not to acknowledge in the credits!

THE ACT OF A MASTER

Most people experience a time in life when they start to question the roles they have been playing because they now limit their expression in some way. These watershed moments are often labelled as a midlife crisis or a spiritual awakening, but they can happen at any time. Similarly, for me, the more I stepped into my role as a Master, the more I recognized the roles that just didn’t suit me anymore, such as the ones that made me feel small and inadequate, or drained my energy. Over the years, depression and a heaviness in my heart have been indicators that certain roles needed to be released because they limited the expansion of my consciousness. This included an unsatisfying career as a Civil Engineer, two long-term relationships, my roles as a self-sacrificing mother and partner, and that of the poverty-stricken solo Mum, amongst others. I’m not saying these changes were easy, but they have all been ‘acts’ that I have released or changed over the years.

Most of my roles are now well-practiced and comfortable. However, at various times in my life, I’ve taken on new roles where I had no idea what I was doing and felt like I was just ad-libbing. Becoming a parent for the first time was definitely one such moment; starting a new job or relationship is another. Taking on a new role can be scary and uncomfortable, and stepping into the role of a Master is no different. There will be nerves and stage fright, but if you own the role like you have no other option (like becoming a new parent), it soon becomes a natural part of who you are.

Given that my energy responds and aligns itself with the role or ‘act of consciousness’ I’m playing in each moment, I only need to adjust the roles I’m already playing to become what I want them to look like. For example, by acting more joyful and more abundant, I’ll bring more of these into my life. I just need to tweak the persona, dialogue, and costumes a bit for the roles that I’m already playing.

It’s helped me to realize that I’m not just playing one big role in this life, but many different ones and usually more than one at a time. By recognizing my various roles, I’m bringing consciousness, or awareness, to them, which allows me to change the behavior, thoughts, and language associated with each part. When I break it down like this, changing my act of consciousness doesn’t seem so daunting, because I know I’ve already been doing it all my life. It’s nothing new.

So, as the sole director of this play that is your life, how could you adjust your roles to reflect better the life you want? Which roles would you rather let go of, which ones would you like to rewrite, and what are some new ones you might like to add to your repertoire?

Don’t think you can’t act because in truth you’re always acting. You are simply being invited to add awareness to each of the roles you’re already playing and to make it a conscious Act of Consciousness.


Natacha is a consciousness explorer, writer, mentor, and designer. She is passionate about her personal journey of living as a fully conscious, divine-human, and assisting others to do the same through sharing her personal stories, mentoring, and guided conscious breathing. You can find her on Soul Breath JoyFacebook and Instagram


2 comments on "An Act of Consciousness"

  • Denise Crispino on March 12, 2023 1:32 PM said:
    Muito obrigada, adorei o seu artigo!!!!
  • Eder Santos on March 9, 2023 11:27 AM said:
    Adorei este artigo! Vou começar a selecionar novos personagens e começar a atuar!

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