We call it imagination but I’d call it courting an idea. It’s similar to marinating in cook speak.
We all function on this level. For some imagining is vivid while for some others, it is a mirage, easily fading away, not so easy to get a hold of.
The vivid dreamers walk around like there’s a cloud on each path; floating, the very essence of a bounce in each step.
I read somewhere, “if you run out of ideas, read a book, if you lack clarity, write…”
Now, I’d add mine. If you must pretend, be the best version of impersonation you can muster. What makes pretenders fail in their role is simply that they ever stop pretending.
Welcome to impersonation 101, you may need to take notes from here on…
Let’s begin…
We all love movies about famous spies who execute a mission flawlessly. The Nikitas, James Bond, individuals who assume a role so excellently you simply cannot tell where the lie ends and the truth begins. While this may be frowned upon as a form of brandishing deception fancifully, this doesn’t change the fact that we sometimes live life shading the truth to others or even worse ourselves.
The lies we spin into a believable tale are almost not as harmful as the ones that we subscribe to but do not originate from our consciousness. Simply put, we all have at one point or the other been caught up in a lie or in the new trending speak, delulu. Only some us find ways to blend this mask of delusion with reality.
We live it so well, we make an identity of it, with a new persona emerging but to really sell a lie, you have got to believe it truthfully. So much so that the truth stands a chance to doubt.
The more interesting fact is that we are all impersonators mostly, on a micro level, like how we wear costumes and create slightly blemished dating profiles, how we recapture events in ways that exonerates our intentions but damn the other party, gaining sympathy from the audience. How we fake-it-till-we-make-it.
Some call it social climbing, networking, or upscaling, levelling up and while there is nothing wrong with these act, in fact, it is a necessary cardinals of growth personally and professionally not to mention, intrinsic to the social nature of man. This only goes to prove that we all function in duplicity when the occasion calls for it.
Now that we’ve established that you’ve got what it takes to be an impersonator, the million dollar question is what must you do to never get caught?
You are in the right place and while this is not going to be an ongoing syllabus, it is definitely a master class that requires diligent participation in the coursework.
1. Repetition: Repeat, again I say repeat. Constantly and continuously the lie you want to make true. The same way you can constantly tell yourself “I am worth nothing” is the same way you can repeat till repetition tires “I am worth something”.
2. Create a prototype: Every good game has a rule book, and every movie has a script. What am I driving at? Create your own script and rehearse till you can perfect each line and emote as necessary. It is like how girls change their manner of speaking depending on which guy they are talking with, how guys imitate a deeper base to impress a lady, and how entrepreneurs devise product to a target market. This is called strategizing. See, it is an everyday concept.
3. Visualize: The power of visualization cannot be over-emphasized, it is central to the success of your script in two above. Here, you need to take on the position of the director steering the action in the way the scene should play. Never mind that you are the actor as well as the director here. Visualizing is about the big picture, seeing the board but also understanding it in fragments. The little parts that make up the whole. This is how you know how much work still needs to be done to get you where you need to be.
4. Keep Track: This is similar to analysing and fine-tuning your script…adding missing puzzles. Cross-checking how close each addition is to the bigger picture. It can also be likened to layering. This is where you polish the accent, pick up new hobbies that match the character you are playing, and choose a similar representation in person and understudy. Prime example, looking at art auctions for a mansion you don’t even have-yet.
5. Access feedback: Other people give this. When people compliment you on the persona you know you are still working on, this helps you understand how far you have come from where you used to be. For example, someone says to you “I have never come across a more forgiving person as you” and you laugh because one of the criticisms from you last relationship was your partner complaining that you didn’t know how to let things go.
Finally, I will tell you this for free, never stay out of character. Sleep and wake in it… Till it becomes as automatic as inhaling and exhaling, muscle memory. Till you forget that you exist in duplicates now.
Lest I forget, wasn’t this was about impersonating happiness and yet nothing points specifically to an activity that can make a person happy?
We focused on persona building in this module because being happy requires deep subconscious programming. Rem, an almost dream-like state of tranquillity that no turbulence can pierce.
Do lots of people transcend into this realm? Nope, because we are so quick to forget that it is all an act and there is no rest from the circus.
Till the next master class, keep practicing one character at a time.
What version of yourself will you be playing next?
Xoxo,
Dcconnoisseur.
Connoisseur of Memories 