Boundaries Of The Soul Analysis

In Boundaries of the Soul, Singer uses Jung’s ideology to define what a persona is: “…a character or stance through which we can relate… the name given to the masks worn by the actors of antiquity to signify the roles they played…oriented toward… the expectation of society that an individual may have.” (pg. 158) Singer believed that the persona could hold a positive purpose in mediating between a person and his or her society. She believed that a person’s persona functioned to point out what his or her personality is like, allow that person to adapt to society’s expectations and requirements, and it aids in identifying who a person is in any given situation. Singer said that many people find their identities within their personas, which could …show more content…
While I feel like I can be a fairly outgoing person, I am very introverted. I cannot handle large crowds or being around a lot of people for very extended periods of time. However, I live in a primarily extroverted society, and I believe that my closest friends have some extroverted characteristics. When we host events at our house or have mutual friends over, I usually have to wear this particular mask so that people will not get the wrong impression and think that I am standoffish or unfriendly. My housemates and I like to spend time together; however, at night when I am recharging in my room alone, they tend to wander in and out to talk or spend more time together. In this situation again, my persona is activated so that my friends do not incorrectly believe that I dislike them or that I do not want to spend time together. This persona becomes activated when I am at my church, as well, seeing as I have to take charge of different events and become very social and engaged with all of our members, which can be challenging. Also, I once dated an extrovert who never quite understood that I did not want all of our time together to be spent in large groups; as well as, I need to recharge by myself in order to handle those types of situations. Still, to make the relationship work, I wore my mask so that we would not argue, and so that he and his friends would like me more. My “I am an extrovert” persona is …show more content…
I need to be more honest with myself in how exhausted I feel after a long day of interacting with others in my social world and admit that I need to make time for myself. I order to make this a more active plan, I will continue to keep a consistent gym plan, which is one time where I am more on my own and able to go inside my own head for a while, which is something I enjoy. I also intend to be more intentional with making solitary time for myself at night. I might try alerting my housemates that I am taking thirty minutes to have my door shut, and I can try to practice my relaxation yoga, which I also enjoy. In addition to this, I can address my socializing stressors with my housemates, and even some of my other friends, by explaining to them what an introvert is and what I mean when I say that I need to recharge. This way, we can still all do fun things together, but they will also be more understanding when I say that I need some time alone. As for handling my church, I know that realistically I will still need to wear this mask at most times. However, I can try to avoid taking on too many responsibilities so that I do not have to use this persona as frequently. Though, I do believe that my two personas serve a purpose, I recognize that it would be healthier to remove them more often. Due to this realization, I plan to use the previously