RAN Magazine Issue 12, June/July

RANMAGAZINE.COMApril/May 2011|ISSUE 10|

F R E E P A P E R !

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|RAN|

ISTAKEN

IDENTI TY

forward.

►

by tdhouchen

T

his FORWARD is about progress andownership and reality.I think these three things are prettyimportant.You might not.Some people would have you believe thatwhat you are seeing and/or eeling is notreal.Other people seem to be going aroundpretending to be somebody they aren’t, ornot recognizing who they really are. Likei you work in a school most o the time,‘teaching’ people, adults or children, thenmost likely

you are a teacher o some sort

. Lotso people might say they aren’t teachers, andeven think they aren’t teachers, but what itlooks like they are doing is teaching. To me, this is a case o mistaken identity.Being a teacher is pretty cool I think. Kind o noble.I think so anyway.Some people are going around lying, butsomehow they don’t think they are

liars.

Some other people are going around sayingone thing, and doing another thing, but theydon’t think they are

hypocrites.

Some olks are taking the low road, back-stabbing, eluding, hiding, but they somehowthink they still have

integrity.

Other olks takethe high road, and spend lots o time beingextremely

judgmental

o the rest o us. Glasshouses.You might think what you’re reading nowis a judgment o

you

. I don’t think it is, butlet’s call a spade a spade shall we? Who areyou really? Not who do you

thin

k you are,but what do your actions say about you? Noone is perect, but is something wrong withtaking real ownership o your real thoughts,eelings, actions, and behavior? Ownershipcan be a very empowering thing. Try it.Restraint is one thing, denial is another. Howlong have you, should you, conceal your realeelings, or the sake o ‘harmony’, and howreal is that harmony i it’s based on you notbeing able to express your reality? No oneis advocating you kick and scream at everyopportunity, but how about you yoursel acknowledging how you really eel in anygiven situation? It might help. Counselinghelps. There’s a ree counseling serviceavailable at the International Center. It’s awonderul and perhaps essential tool oryou to be able to have just

a moment

o totalexpression. Those moments are very ew andar between here. Some o us need those.

People constantly act in one ashion, but want to believe, and want YOU to believe, that theway they are ACTING somehow has nothingto do with WHO THEY ARE, or who they THINK they are.

Here In Japan, appearances are everything.Outer orms are more important thancontent.I think, most o us know

,

appearances

aren’t

everything and outer orm loses meaningand depth without the

content

behind it.But lots o olks take these two aspects o Japanese culture to an extreme. They think i they

look

decent, then theymust also

be

decent. They think i they carryout the rituals, then the rituals themselves justiy any behavior they display.It’s like wearing a suit o armor, but not reallybeing a Knight.Misrepresentation screws everyone up.You’ve gotta be your real sel at some point,at least I think so.Who are you being today?I mean

really

being? Not just

looking like

you’re being, but

really really being

.Are you even really

be

-ing?Or are you just

act

-ing like you’re

be

-ing.Which?I’m still struggling with lots o this culture’sticks and quirks. The no expression thing still really slaughtersme, the blank aces and the dodgyinteractions.I nd mysel lost and conused

a lot,

it’s morethan just the language.I any o this strikes you, read author

AliceMiller

’s work. Enlightening.I you’re having issues, can’t quite copeas well as you’d like, are conused andmisunderstood

, sad, lonely, hurt, tired,conused--

and you need someone to talk to,

a proessional who won’t judge you

, call theInternational Center, 052-581-0100. It’s agreat service.Reality Check, that’s all, no judgment,

a littlereality never hurt anyone.

The cover eature o this issue is MAKE-UP,

what mask are you wearing?

Hope you dig this issue, we worked hard onit.Summer’s on the way.Gon’ be HOT.Come outside and play.Peacetdh