Thoughts.com Blogs - pondering becoming

I have been pondering lately, how to be real in another man’s face.

For many years I spent hours upon hours working on my “image,” the “me” I would present to the world. Comedians develop a schtick, or a stage personality. I was more interested in creating a Mr. Cool image that I could hide behind. Like in the movie, The Wizard of Oz.

I was not proud of my real self, and so like many, I developed masks for any occasion. I had a church face, a home face, a school face, and a performer’s face. Only in my private moments did I ever face my real face. And even then, I lived in denial because of self loathing.

Enter Jesus Christ. He taught me how to be who I really am, to shed my performance faces, and just be me. He gave me a new identity.

“If any man is in Christ he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2Cor 5:17

For me that new reality took a long time to process, but that’s because it took so long for me to shed the protective masks and become vulnerable.

So now that I have become…just me, content and happy, I have become someone else. Such Irony. As a George W. Bush impersonator, I have the honor of performing in another man’s face, and it is a huge hoot! One reason I think it works is that I don’t actually try to mingle he and me. I am very clear that he is the president, and I am at best court jester.

But back to my original point. One reason I love this so much is that I get to be me in GW’s face. I don’t have to adopt another guy’s personality, because he and I are very much alike with regard to his smiling jovial manner, so it sells fine without me having to do much acting.

I have been studying the art of imitation, and while I fully endorse imitation as a natural and inevitable way of developing into the people we want to become, I encourage authenticity. Without denying ourselves, our limitations and our weaknesses, and without pretending to be someone we are not, we can model our lives after those we admire, and through repetition develop lifestyle changes that reflect not someone else, but an improved version of who we are.

Basically, practice makes perfect. In Phillipians, Chapter 3. The Apostle Paul encourages his readers to, “…join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”

Well, blessing out there my amigos, and happy becoming!