Creating An Alter Ego?

[Eva]

I've stumbled across a concept of creating an alter ego to deal with difficult things by in externalizing the victim mindset. How do you feel about this and have any of you done anything like this? Or do you feel like this is one of those "ego is an ego is an ego" matter, where I would be more beneficial to work to get rid of all kinds of egos altogether? There might be pretty significant pitfalls with this approach, and I'm reminded by Leo's episode where he discusses fake versus real growth.

[Leo Gura]

Sounds like putting lipstick on a pig.

Better to invest your time in consciousness work. It's not a quick fix, but it will pay off huge in the long run.

If you have low esteem, do Nathaniel Brandon's self-esteem exercises found in his books.

[smd]

23 minutes ago, Eva said:

I've stumbled across a concept of creating an alter ego to deal with difficult things by in externalizing the victim mindset. How do you feel about this and have any of you done anything like this? Or do you feel like this is one of those "ego is an ego is an ego" matter, where I would be more beneficial to work to get rid of all kinds of egos altogether? There might be pretty significant pitfalls with this approach, and I'm reminded by Leo's episode where he discusses fake versus real growth.

1

Where did this concept come from?  I've never heard of an alter ego being encouraged for self-development.

[Eva]

13 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Sounds like putting lipstick on a pig.

Better to invest your time in consciousness work. It's not a quick fix, but it will pay off huge in the long run.

If you have low esteem, do Nathaniel Brandon's self-esteem exercises found in his books.

Thank you so much for your input and book recommendation, Leo. I'll look into the book to work on that pig of mine.

[Eva]

1 minute ago, smd said:

Where did this concept come from?  I've never heard of an alter ego being encouraged for self-development.

Yeah, I don't think it's a thing that actual, serious self-development field uses. I don't remember where I stumbled across to it originally, but I've googled it since and there's some information available on how to create one and how to utilize it. More of a fluffy woo-woo thing, it seems.

[smd]

3 minutes ago, Eva said:

Yeah, I don't think it's a thing that actual, serious self-development field uses. I don't remember where I stumbled across to it originally, but I've googled it since and there's some information available on how to create one and how to utilize it. More of a fluffy woo-woo thing, it seems.

 

I see it now. It's for branding & marketing, at least that's what Google tells me.  If you're out to sell & your name is something horrible, then changing it might help.  Actors do this all the time.  I sometimes wonder about the mental state of actors...I mean making an alter ego is what they're doing when they get into their roles.

[Epiphany_Inspired]

@Eva I can TOTALLY see why that idea would have an allure! My personal experience is that alter-egos are usually a form of escapism...how would you relate and recover as a survivor if the victim was someone else? I have always had a concern for myself with alter-egos...we live in enough of a fantasy land already in this reality....think of all of the second-life addicts that have lost all touch with their present body etc.... I wanted to join the SCA for a while...just so I could have occasions to wear medieval garb and hopefully eat meals with those rad finger claws instead of cutlery...lol...but all of the chapters I wrote to seem to require alter-egos....at least they did not respond to my idea to come as myself anyway....and really, I can just get some finger claws and dress up with my friends if need be...lol...

[Eva]

On 09/11/2017 at 11:05 PM, Epiphany_Inspired said:

@Eva My personal experience is that alter-egos are usually a form of escapism.

I think this is the real core point in here.