I get stricken a lot.<\/p>\n
I like to start off saying things when it comes to general semantics by saying “It strikes me that …”\u00a0 Today is no exception.<\/p>\n
Today\u00a0it strikes me that the word\u00a0“identity”\u00a0has two diabolically opposing meanings.<\/strong><\/p>\n I recently had a meeting with an agent. It felt as if on the surface it went generically how I wanted it to go, but I left feeling a profound amount of rejection.\u00a0 The feeling was as if what I said during the meeting amounted to a turnoff.\u00a0 I’m not exactly sure why it went as it did or felt as it did (something to do with the concluding facial expression of the agent), but it was a sharp reaction I had.\u00a0 It was confounded by the non-glance\u00a0from the person with whom I did the audition as I left her, as if she couldn’t bring herself to look at me when I said goodbye.\u00a0 Honestly, she was in the mirror doing her makeup.<\/p>\n I can’t explain what really<\/em> happened in the meeting.\u00a0 For all I know, it went superbly well in the agent’s eyes and my scene partner was highly impressed with my work with her.\u00a0 For that reason, it’s not really worth trying to figure out exactly what happened because I probably will never figure it out.\u00a0 Speculation is wasteful energy for me.<\/p>\n But one thing I did wonder was, Was my identity lacking?<\/p>\n In these kinds of meetings, I enter the room assuming it’s obvious I’m an actor.\u00a0 However, the\u00a0people who preceded\u00a0me looked like a mother-daughter combination.\u00a0 What were they?\u00a0 Were they mother and daughter?\u00a0 Were they both actors?\u00a0 How did they distinguish themselves?<\/p>\n Notice that last question:<\/p>\n “How did they distinguish themselves?”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Our identities are essentially how we distinguish ourselves from the multitude of sameness we swim in.\u00a0 I’m a white guy, but my identity helps to distinguish me from all the other white guys.\u00a0 I’m an actor, but my identity helps to distinguish me from all the other white guys.\u00a0 My identity helps me to stand out.\u00a0 My identity is how I characterize myself apart from all the others.<\/p>\n Notice, though, something quite peculiar: This meaning for the word “identity” is completely opposite the meaning Alfred Korzybski assigns to the\u00a0word in general semantics.\u00a0 He defines the word “identity” as “absolute sameness in all respects.”\u00a0 So, we have one sense of the word “identity” meaning “absolutely the same,” and another sense of the word “identity” meaning “what is differentiating.”\u00a0 In the korzybskian sense of the term, true identity\u00a0contains nothing differentiating.\u00a0 But in the daily use of the term, that’s mainly what it contains: what’s differential.<\/p>\n The recent meeting made me wonder if my identity lacked as I entered that room.\u00a0 Maybe a mother and daughter entering a room before me makes it confusing who or what I am when I enter the room.\u00a0 Am I an actor?\u00a0 Am I some guy who is trying out acting?\u00a0 Do I bring something else to the table?\u00a0 Am I am athlete?\u00a0 Am I an improv comedian?\u00a0 Am I something totally different?<\/p>\n