Under Construction
"I find it quite interesting that the word “person” was originally used to designate a “mask” or a “false face” in ancient Greece. It came to be used in the context of drama as an “assumed character”; eventually this linguistic usage stuck in our common language to designate a human being. Perhaps this is because life and the works of art work very similar. There seems to be some sort of script that we follow in order to operate in society. Even if we don’t follow any script that has been given to us from the outside, there is always an internal construction of who we are, an identity. We can change this construction, but we can never get rid of it. This is why there is always a reinvention and not a suppression of the self. Ideally, a self that is flexible, comprehensive and compassionate. We possess hyper complex structures that allow us to create our own self, we are autopoietic beings (from auto-self, and poiesis-creation). We create unique entities, with unique stories within a broader story. This means that we, as individual, have three functions, as described by the Spanish philosopher Xavier Zubiri: as agents, authors and actors. As agents, we execute the actions; as authors, we choose creatively over other possible actions; and as actors, we are inscribed in a broader reality that surpass us, but where we can make an impact. Just like “pure” reality can never be seen because it is seen in a particular way (with our eyes, a specific band of colors, etc.), we can never be without a mask. Behind every mask there is a mask. What mask do we want to wear? Personally, I wish to wear a magical one. When somebody asks us: who are you? We respond with our name, or occupation and things of that sort. But why don’t we say that we are someone who dreams of such things? Why don’t we respond that we are a child of the universe who dances to the sound of the singing air? Why don’t we respond that we are, under construction?"