A Man of Many Faces

This is a secret that very few people in real life know about me. I've never told anyone I don't know well primarily for fear of being judged, but at this point I just want to understand why I do this.

I have a tendency to change what I look like about twice a year. Now when I say change I mean I change everything. My attire, accent, general grooming, even my posture. I do still keep my most deeply held beliefs but that's about it.

When I was growing up I had about 7 different go to looks that I would alternate between. My family moved around alot so I often picked up the most cool or popular look at whatever elementary school & ran with it for awhile. By the time I was 16 I alternated back and forth between hippy, skater kid, punk, classic rock enthusiast, cowboy, immigrant irish, & goth, & each of these had their own accent to match.

I do a pretty mean irish, scottish, & redneck accent. The irish is so good people from Ireland in the online gaming community even think I'm from their own country. It took me about a week as a teenager to master the irish dialect, though admittedly mine is a more broad generic accent. It's not quite Dublin, not quite upper, not quite lower. Scottish flowed naturally from Irish for me & I had it decent in mere days. Country I just picked up from my own family.

Now that I'm older I really only bounce around between irish, cowboy, & hippy, but I still change my look bi-annually. I don't know why I do this though I think it began as a way to fit in wherever I found myself. My ex wife got used to it, not sure if she ever liked it though, but she does think I should've gone criminal & became a professional con-artist.

Well there it is, my deepest darkest secret exposed. Thoughts anyone?

 

It's always interesting to hear what's going on in other peoples minds. Thanks for sharing.

 

Some people have a Different Kite to fly in any wind I only have one Kite and it only flies in certain winds but its my kite
I either read that somewhere or dreamed it ? But you can live by it !

 

When you've spent the vast majority of your life "flying many kites" it's nearly impossible to tell which one is your true one kite. I'm glad you can live by that one kite but for someone like myself that's just not possible.

 

Being able to be who you want is one of the great things about life. Maybe it's just how you will figure out which you you like the best. Or not. But I think everyone changes themselves throughout their life.

 

It seems you have identity crises. I used to get them too. Also sounds a bit schizo. Maybe stop focusing on the externals, the self image, and find out who you really are. Are you a frustrated actor or stand up comic. It's OK to be an eccentric. Makes the world a better place.

 

I don't know how to figure out who I really am. I know my deepest core values but that it. Guess I've spent so long being what other people expect me to be that I've never been able to sit down & figure out who I really am.

 

Who you are is who you are and you are a man of many talents.

 

You are what you is !

 

I'm a worm.

 

Maybe you're just a multi-faceted individual and you're all of those things, but because you live in a society that tends to label everyone as this, that, or the other, you feel like you can't be all of those things at once.

Though the different accent thing is perplexing

 

Yeah I don't know why I do the different accents. Thinking about it off the top of my head the answer is "If I'm gonna look the part might as well sound the part." I even change my addictions to match my current persona. For example I started dipping when I started dressing like a cowboy but when I don't dress that way I stop dip & go back to cigarettes, the addiction of choice for my hippy & irish looks. I only smoke pot when I'm hippying it up & I trade that for drinking with the other two. I'm fucked up I know....

 

Ok that bit about drinking apparently isn't always true because I've been drinking fairly heavily since the whole divorce thing.

 

I dont think it sounds that odd. Even people who stick to one look are mostly just pretending anyways, its not like anyone comes out of the womb a goth kid. Its a sort of act/costume people pick up when they're struggling to define who they are. You've just decided to experiment rather than committing to one look/persona. These costumes are just superficial anyways, people choose their looks based on what they find aesthetically pleasing, it isnt like a person's look truly defines who they are.

And as far as the accents, I'm pretty sure I only use my normal speaking voice at work. Around friends and family I speak in goofy accents 90% of the time.

The part about picking up/giving up certain habits when you change your persona is a little eccentric but eccentric isnt bad

 

So much of your original post sounds like my former boyfriend; except the accents. He only did a German accent when he was beyond super drunk once.

I actually called him "The Man Of A Thousand Faces".

Are you a Gemini, by chance?

 

Nope Scorpio

 

Doesn't sound all that odd or out of the ordinary. I change my make up and clothes styles, at different times of the year. I think it's good to change things up now and again. It might mean that you are not the type to get stuck in ruts, which is a positive thing.

 

Okay.

The guy I'm referring to is a bit of a con artist.

 

My ex wife thinks I should be

 

This guy pushes really hard to be accepted by people he admires. He tries too hard to convince and win people over if they are in a group he desires to be accepted by.

It was embarrassing to be with him when he did this.