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Are We All Just Acting Out?
Our lives as performance artists
Tom throws himself face-down on the shop floor. He is three. The right age for a tantrum. He screws up his eyes and wrings out hot tears. Everybody else is acting out too. Only they call it life.
When a child like Tom cries for attention, his parents sigh. “What a performance,” they say. “He’s overtired.” “He had a hard day.”
As Tom grows, it becomes less acceptable for him to carry out overt emotional demonstrations. He stops explicit performances in favor of subduing his feelings. At least, he thinks he hides his angst. But it slips out each time he does something. Anything. In short, Tom still acts out his deepest emotional dramas.
Much like the rest of us.
From the moment we grapple our way out of a tunnel to the time we head into a portal closer to the stars, we project our inner state onto the outer world.
We show what we go through by what we do. When we’re hurt, we act hurt. When we’re happy, we act happy. Yet, we imagine acting is disingenuous. Inauthentic. But every actor on stage does his best to project the truth. And it’s the same in everyday life.
It’s useful to recall individual’s actions are reflections of what’s inside them. Or perhaps it’s disturbing? You can’t get…
