I went to a conference yesterday for a few hours. It started on Thursday and ended today but I find that I generally can't tolerate these kinds of events for that long. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of interesting people there and the dialogue was engaging. What I find intolerable is the role playing, the performances that get in the way of authentic connection.
I found myself thinking about Shakespeare's famous quote: All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players. That guy had a way with words.
The conference was a stage, an opportunity for those in attendance to play the role of "academic." This kind of performance keeps us from experiencing each moment and expressing ourselves in response to each moment.
Like most people I have spent most of my life playing roles: daughter, wife, mother, employee, student. These roles are not me. In order to experience my true self and live an authentic life I have to be willing to abandon these roles. I have to be willing to put down the scripts and abandon the stage. I have to be willing to face others not as players but as thinking, feeling human beings.
Then again, maybe Shakespeare had it all wrong...
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