what do you reckon?

[RedEmbers]

In your opinion... and personal experience...
Do you think that we (individuals) have a base 'essence'... a set personality of who we truly are and what we are trying to merge with or... that we are constantly changing... that our personalities are as changeable throughout our life/lives as the weather...

It seems important for me to ponder this the moment... as a part of my journey of releasing the many layers of my anxiety...

I wonder is it a journey back to authentic self or a creation of self... or in fact both?
Chicken or the egg?? Lol

[Greenslade]

I'm knocking on 60s door so how about some reminiscing? I can almost pinpoint when my personality changed due to major changes in my Life - joining the Royal Air Force, getting married, being demobbed, moving to a different town with a very different job... So yes, that's true for me, it has changed but not quite like the weather. Each event has brought its changes and if the changes are major enough in anyone's Life no doubt their personalities would change too. Even becoming Spiritual would make changes to a person. But through it all I've sill had a base personality that hasn't. I think who we were last month/last year is long gone, we were the person we needed to be at that time. Now it's a different time and we need to be different people. Our Journeys are unique and individual.

The thing is, Chameleon, our Journey is all about Self in whatever shape or form that takes, this is a Journey to I Am. So yes, it's about your Journey and not anyone else's. Don't ponder about what you will become, it seems what you should ponder on is where you've been and be aware of the changes that have happened in your Life to make you who and what you Are. We can never look forwards, we have neither the faculties nor the crystal ball to do that. But we can learn so much in retrospect, we can make sense of the reasons for things happening. Then we can start to drop the baggage and the clutter from our Lives, be rid of what we don't need any more. Like your anxiety that's a product of your past experiences and what you've carried forwards from them.

Your authentic Self is the base layer that never changes, your personality is the one that does. It's the authentic Self that really understands what you Life has been all about and understands the rhymes and reasons then moves on. It's the personality/ego that collects all the baggage and finds things hard to accept or doesn't understand. The ego often wants things to be a different way or its thinking gets skewed, and that adds layers onto the authentic Self.

I don't know your Life history so this is only guesswork on my part but what I'm picking up here is that you're in the process of returning to your authentic Self after your human self has made its Journey away from that. Your personality has no doubt changed a little throughout your Life and it will change again during and after this Journey of yours.

"Unto thine own Self be true."

[Robinski78]

I'm knocking on 60s door so how about some reminiscing? I can almost pinpoint when my personality changed due to major changes in my Life - joining the Royal Air Force, getting married, being demobbed, moving to a different town with a very different job... So yes, that's true for me, it has changed but not quite like the weather. Each event has brought its changes and if the changes are major enough in anyone's Life no doubt their personalities would change too. Even becoming Spiritual would make changes to a person. But through it all I've sill had a base personality that hasn't. I think who we were last month/last year is long gone, we were the person we needed to be at that time. Now it's a different time and we need to be different people. Our Journeys are unique and individual.

The thing is, Chameleon, our Journey is all about Self in whatever shape or form that takes, this is a Journey to I Am. So yes, it's about your Journey and not anyone else's. Don't ponder about what you will become, it seems what you should ponder on is where you've been and be aware of the changes that have happened in your Life to make you who and what you Are. We can never look forwards, we have neither the faculties nor the crystal ball to do that. But we can learn so much in retrospect, we can make sense of the reasons for things happening. Then we can start to drop the baggage and the clutter from our Lives, be rid of what we don't need any more. Like your anxiety that's a product of your past experiences and what you've carried forwards from them.

Your authentic Self is the base layer that never changes, your personality is the one that does. It's the authentic Self that really understands what you Life has been all about and understands the rhymes and reasons then moves on. It's the personality/ego that collects all the baggage and finds things hard to accept or doesn't understand. The ego often wants things to be a different way or its thinking gets skewed, and that adds layers onto the authentic Self.

I don't know your Life history so this is only guesswork on my part but what I'm picking up here is that you're in the process of returning to your authentic Self after your human self has made its Journey away from that. Your personality has no doubt changed a little throughout your Life and it will change again during and after this Journey of yours.

"Unto thine own Self be true."

By all accounts, that was a tremendous post Greenslade... It said everything that could be wished for ~ and a great deal more...

A wise choice of words and considerations...

Many thanks....

Rob....

[Ivy]

In your opinion... and personal experience...
Do you think that we (individuals) have a base 'essence'... a set personality of who we truly are and what we are trying to merge with or... that we are constantly changing... that our personalities are as changeable throughout our life/lives as the weather...

It seems important for me to ponder this the moment... as a part of my journey of releasing the many layers of my anxiety...

I wonder is it a journey back to authentic self or a creation of self... or in fact both?
Chicken or the egg?? Lol

Everyone has a base essence, but that isn't what is generally understood to be personality.

[Squatchit]

I know nothing. :smile:

[RedEmbers]

Naw... thanks greenslade, you make some interesting points which I'd like to expand on after my commitments.of the day.

[RedEmbers]

Everyone has a base essence, but that isn't what is generally understood to be personality.

It seems to me that perhaps I've even been attached to the idea of my 'personality' like everything else, everything changes... and its about rolling with the changes :)

As for The base essence... I have no idea what that means at The moment, perhaps in essence, I am goodness, kindness and all those admirable traits haha... I certainly can display quite The opposite at times... but i couldn't go as far to say that those characteristics define me...

To be able to say 'I am me and that's all that matters' would be nice here but it doesn't seem to assist me at the moment...
Im not religious but..."I'm an expression of the divine" seems to be resonating with me this morning.

Hmm... letting it all sink in.

[RedEmbers]

I know nothing. :smile:

Haha, I feel The same way...

[silent whisper]

In your opinion... and personal experience...
Do you think that we (individuals) have a base 'essence'... a set personality of who we truly are and what we are trying to merge with or... that we are constantly changing... that our personalities are as changeable throughout our life/lives as the weather...

The self is constantly realizing itself through the merging with life, experiences and people as one, infinitely so..And as that merge occurs, we are merging with the whole within us. Expanding and awakening to what we have before us, what is offered to us through the experiences of life and taking what we need for our purpose and journey

It seems important for me to ponder this the moment... as a part of my journey of releasing the many layers of my anxiety...

I wonder is it a journey back to authentic self or a creation of self... or in fact both?
Chicken or the egg?? Lol


Remembering who you really are, opens the doorway to the co creator in new ways always..:)

[RedEmbers]

Remembering who you really are, opens the doorway to the co creator in new ways always..:)


Thanks for The reminder SW... it seems that I was starting to forget.
Right now... I'm trying to remember who I am at essence lol... a lot of my anxiety issues stem from not trusting The person who is beginning to emerge... Allowing the expression of myself to be... and letting go of all The ideas I've formed on what I 'should be'

Seems like an adventure, I like adventures :D

[Robinski78]

I've been pondering on the question for a few days now... It's quite an interesting one...

As I see it, we all have our own, very individual personality, which starts its life the moment we are born... Like us as beings (or even that of a plant) such a feature needs to germinate, grow and blossom, until it can be seen or experienced in all its glory: whatever that might amount to...

Most ~ if not all ~ of the changes that take place throughout life, are easily discernible at an early stage... Not always to the individual themselves, that can depend on the ego factor in some instances, or immaturity (of one description or another) on other accounts... But eventually: it will manifest to its highest order; a fixed point, that is our image for and of: a life well lived and spent...

Just a few thoughts that might be of interest across the board...

Rob....

[Saggi]

I'd like to share with you something that happened a few years ago:

I was a car parts delivery driver and I delivered to this garage at the back of, what I consider to be, the most amazing house.

I couldn't take my eyes off it, I felt so drawn to it.

I managed to carry out my delivery, the gentleman's wife took it and I gushed about how beautiful her house was, asked if I could take a picture, etc, etc.

Spent perhaps about 15 minutes having a quick chat with her about it and then I went off on my way.

A delivery came up a few weeks later and I was set to do it.

The gentleman's wife was there again, this time she asked me where she knew me from, I said I delivered here the other week, she said no, she knows me from before that,,, my mannerisms are really familiar,,,

I didn't recognize her in any way, nor her name, so she asked me questions, mums' name, where I grew up, each coming up with blanks, then she asked me where I went to school,,,

And bingo, she was my FIRST teacher, she recognized me 30 odd years after teaching me for one year, from me talking to her about her house,,,

I was totally amazed!

So, I'd say, when I'm enthusiastic/expressive about something my mannerisms are and probably always have been the same,,,

Love and hugs

Jo

XxXx

[Ivy]

It seems to me that perhaps I've even been attached to the idea of my 'personality' like everything else, everything changes... and its about rolling with the changes :)

As for The base essence... I have no idea what that means at The moment, perhaps in essence, I am goodness, kindness and all those admirable traits haha... I certainly can display quite The opposite at times... but i couldn't go as far to say that those characteristics define me...

To be able to say 'I am me and that's all that matters' would be nice here but it doesn't seem to assist me at the moment...
Im not religious but..."I'm an expression of the divine" seems to be resonating with me this morning.

Hmm... letting it all sink in.

The essence of a person is an energy that can be sensed on a subtle level. It's the spirit that remains after the body and the personality had died. From what I feel, I would say that it evolves it's unique essence from every minute experience since the universe began (an expression of divine), and that may influence the formation of a basis of personality, as genetics do.

But what is built upon that seems to be largely due to development since birth.

With regards to 'I am goodness, I am kindness' etc. I look at goodness, kindness etc as momentary intentions and actions. So, in that moment that I am doing something with a kind intention, I am being kind. But I am not the kindness itself - the kindness refers to the action, and when I have completed the action, I am no longer being kind. This leaves the possibilities open to being another way (change) or to simply being (which is all we are, most of the time - just being).

In terms of personality, it reveals that the only constant is that I am being. in this way, what I am being, who I am being, where I am being and how I am being has infinite potential.

[RedEmbers]

Good day all :)

Some very interesting responses have come in.
It seems that currently I'm connecting a common thread :)

This morning while I was pondering over this question a bit more I had a thought:
What I am expressing as a person to The external world changes and evolves often, The way that I express myself more or less remains the same.
It's one of The same thing, so yes, while my base essence forms part of my personality... their is room for movement, or growth in the outer layers.

[linen53]

I am almost 61 years old and as I look back my personality has drastically changed. From impertinent, self centered, impatient, rude to deep, contemplative, think before I leap, and appreciative.

My early adulthood was one of survival in a world I just didn't know or understand. I wanted to be soft and sensitive, but my early growing up years were full of bumps that gave me a tough exterior.

Back then I understood nothing. Now I understand everything.

[Moonglow]

Hello,

Find that age and experience play a big role in how I view myself and the world. Which have made me more confident in my abilities and at times made me more hesitate.

Some traits I believe are also passed down which may affect some tendencies I may have with in myself. So, yes feel are born with some things that form my personality.

Some things have changed in me, while others still hang about and are just the way I am as this person.

Whether I express these things or how depends on where or with whom I am with. I bit more reserved around people i don't know and a bit more loose around friends and family.

Some influences from my parents still play a bit of role in this as well.

So, it seems many factors play into this. At times hard to tell what is the core me and what is that me that has taken form through all living life.

In the end it is all me and perhaps with this just comes the changes that come with aging, living in society, and all the other stuff.

[Dwerg]

I have seen this directly within myself and others, but the only way I can explain it is that we are each other. That is the "essence" I find. If the people you met in your early life didn't come far themselves neither do you unless certain things fall in place. I see that anyone who sets happiness as a goal and persevere will get it. I myself have no single idea why I came as far as I did, I only know I sensed something was wrong. Many times I thought I shouldn't have come as far as I did looking at all that was working against me and how others never made it out of it. Then I discovered those who did despite the hardest of challenges and the worst of circumstances. By the principle of becoming who you see I now faced a choice, was I going to listen to those who made it or those who didn't. Still the effort was mine, and yes I did beat myself into humility.

Now I see that despite all our differences and things that makes us unique we all share being human, and there are undeniably things we all have in common. A theorizer in my opinion is one incessantly seeking to disprove commonality, if that is not fear then I don't know. Autists do this, intellectually they are hyper accurate, but forever trapped in infinitely splitting things into smaller quanta. This makes them very objective, but incapable of tolerating the nuances of human interaction which makes them FEEL different. It's fine that things are separate, but we do have the ability to see separate things as common and even one. Both functions are necessary to function properly, and I would say they are involuntary, but can be consciously balanced.

You don't need to look further than your own experience for proof that you have changed and that change is possible. Our entire lives is an experience, and you are experiencing reading the text right before your very eyes right now. How does that influence you?

[Tesla_Rain]

I am almost 61 years old and as I look back my personality has drastically changed. From impertinent, self centered, impatient, rude to deep, contemplative, think before I leap, and appreciative.

My early adulthood was one of survival in a world I just didn't know or understand. I wanted to be soft and sensitive, but my early growing up years were full of bumps that gave me a tough exterior.

Back then I understood nothing. Now I understand everything.
Thank you for expressing this. I'm 24, and I feel like your younger self.

[Greenslade]

By all accounts, that was a tremendous post Greenslade... It said everything that could be wished for ~ and a great deal more...

A wise choice of words and considerations...

Many thanks....

Rob....

Thanks Rob, much appreciated.

[Greenslade]

It seems to me that perhaps I've even been attached to the idea of my 'personality' like everything else, everything changes... and its about rolling with the changes :)

As for The base essence... I have no idea what that means at The moment, perhaps in essence, I am goodness, kindness and all those admirable traits haha... I certainly can display quite The opposite at times... but i couldn't go as far to say that those characteristics define me...

To be able to say 'I am me and that's all that matters' would be nice here but it doesn't seem to assist me at the moment...
Im not religious but..."I'm an expression of the divine" seems to be resonating with me this morning.

Hmm... letting it all sink in.
There's a lovely story about how the Universe was brought into creation. Once upon a time there was a single consciousness in the Universe, all alone in the night. Then one day that consciousness did something to change the Universe forever, it asked the question "Who Am I?" In order to answer that question it split itself in two so that it could look at itself. In that moment duality and separation were born. "As above, so below." We are aspects of that single consciousness looking at itself as we mirror each other.
"I'm an expression of the divine" seems to be resonating with me this morning.
You are indeedy.


Who Am I? In 'my Universe' there is a single consciousness that split itself into two. One aspect remains as Spirit while the other becomes human - the mirror of the Universe 'inventing' separation and duality. As the Universe has aspects of itself (individual Souls) we have aspects of ourselves. We are father/mother, son/daughter, brother/sister.... and there is a single consciousness within us that can perceive our aspects as either different from each other or as all parts of the whole. Ego and personality are aspects of ourselves.

It's one of The same thing, so yes, while my base essence forms part of my personality... their is room for movement, or growth in the outer layers.
You become a mirror of the Universe. Cool, eh? But does your personality form part of your bare essence? Your personality is a part/aspect of your I Am.

Whether I express these things or how depends on where or with whom I am with. I bit more reserved around people i don't know and a bit more loose around friends and family. Isn't the Universe just like that?

Our core is I Am, everything else is our perception of our aspects and how they manifest out.

[linen53]

Thank you for expressing this. I'm 24, and I feel like your younger self.

I think that is what we are all here for. To help one another. Your welcome.

[LadyTerra]

In your opinion... and personal experience...
Do you think that we (individuals) have a base 'essence'... a set personality of who we truly are and what we are trying to merge with or... that we are constantly changing... that our personalities are as changeable throughout our life/lives as the weather...

It seems important for me to ponder this the moment... as a part of my journey of releasing the many layers of my anxiety...

I wonder is it a journey back to authentic self or a creation of self... or in fact both?
Chicken or the egg?? Lol


For me it is both...we are born under certain Stars (a hand is dealt and a personality map is established)...then our Stars progress as our possibilities expand and evolve...as do our personalities and our lives and ourselves.:hug3:

[Baile]

For me it is both...we are born under certain Stars (a hand is dealt...)Hi LT. You understand this concept of being born under certain stars. Now, is it a stretch to add the idea that those stars, and what we are dealt, is what is we decided to create for ourselves in this incarnation?

I'm asking because this goes back to CC's original question. One of my core beliefs is we, as souls in spirit, decide which karmic tasks to take on in each particular lifetime, before we incarnate. We choose our stars and deal our own hands in other words.

CC is asking if we have a base essence and set personality. Yes, I believe we are individual unique souls, and that uniqueness can be seen in the way in which we are free to choose our incarnation tasks and, to some degree anyway, experiences. When I came to this understanding, it released decades of worry and concern about my place in existence. Things for me fell into place after that and my life has never been the same.

[wolfmanthe1st]

Your personality is largely determined by which of the seven rays are dominant and which are somewhat passive in your soul structure.

[LadyTerra]

Hi LT. You understand this concept of being born under certain stars. Now, is it a stretch to add the idea that those stars, and what we are dealt, is what is we decided to create for ourselves in this incarnation?

I'm asking because this goes back to CC's original question. One of my core beliefs is we, as souls in spirit, decide which karmic tasks to take on in each particular lifetime, before we incarnate. We choose our stars and deal our own hands in other words.

CC is asking if we have a base essence and set personality. Yes, I believe we are individual unique souls, and that uniqueness can be seen in the way in which we are free to choose our incarnation tasks and, to some degree anyway, experiences. When I came to this understanding, it released decades of worry and concern about my place in existence. Things for me fell into place after that and my life has never been the same.


I've been aware of several past-lives for most of this incarnation and the concept of Karma following us--until our debt is paid (from one life to the next) is one of the founding principles of my Tradition (or Religious Practice).

However...this knowledge...the knowledge that I chose this path as a means of working-off a bit more of this debt...hasn't made the task any less arduous. We came here to work...we have to pay for what we choose to do.

I understood what the OP was asking and chose to answer (only) the portion of the question I responded to.:hug2: :wink:

Peace and Love on the path of your choice...

Blessed be...

[Baile]

I understood what the OP was asking and chose to answer (only) the portion of the question I responded to.:hug2: :wink:I wasn't pointing that out for any other purpose than to clarify my comment, and to tie together the reason for my question.

[LadyTerra]

I wasn't pointing that out for any other purpose than to clarify my comment, and to tie together the reason for my question.


Thank you--Baile.:hug:

[Baile]

However...this knowledge...the knowledge that I chose this path as a means of working-off a bit more of this debt...hasn't made the task any less arduous. We came here to work...we have to pay for what we choose to do.I understand. Without meaning to invalidate your comment, I don't think of this as my debt. It's just my life path, and I see my karma as something that helps guide and direct my actions.

[LadyTerra]

I understand. Without meaning to invalidate your comment, I don't think of this as my debt. It's just my life path, and I see my karma as something that helps guide and direct my actions.

I honor and respect your perspective.:smile: