Becoming Who You Want to Be

Tonight, in the very strange but good TV show Penny Dreadful, a character (the transvestite male prostitute) said, "Let us be who we want to be, not who we are." He may have meant merely that it's okay to play dress-up, to pretend, but I interpret this to mean that if we act the part of the person we wish to be, perhaps that bit of play-acting will eventually actually make us into what we want to be: braver, more competent, more successful, more virtuous, more efficient, fitter, or whatever we most desire to be.

I think there's a lot to that idea. It echoes the business-world idea of dressing for the job you want, not the one you have, or the proven effect of smiling when you feel down; that has been shown to truly cheer you up.

In any case, I intend to remember that line and try doing that a whole lot more. There are many good qualities that I would like to have more of, and some bad qualities that I would like to have less of. So I'll get to working on that: acting the part until the acting becomes the reality. Wish me luck!