1 min read
I Contain Multitudes
A colleague offers to take a new professional photo and asks what it would mean to capture a true self. A reflection on authenticity, facades, and Walt Whitman.
I was in need of a new professional photo, and a kind office friend, Chang Guo, offered to help me. In the brief photo shoot, she intended to find a way to capture my true self.
I have thought about that. I reflect on whether the three faces theory, the public self, the intimate self, the hidden self, is really true. I always believe that I am true to myself in any setting and with anyone, hence a firm believer in authenticity. But to what extent is it true?
As Walt Whitman wrote in his Song of Myself, section 51:
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
I infer that “I contain multitudes” means that in our true self, there are likely a high number of facades, which evolve through time and experience, whilst the core values remain the same. All of the faces and facades are my true self, and the combinations really make a person unique.
Once again, I thank Chang Guo for her talent and effort in taking these photos.
