Persona: The Three Faces

Our personalities can be compared to onions, there are so many different layers to us that even we lose count at times. (Don’t worry you’re not an actual onion inside.) But there are three major layers to one’s persona; namely, the persona that is shown to everyone, the persona shown to those closest to you and the persona shown only to yourself that is, when you are alone.

Let’s take a look at the first face, the most shallow persona.
This is the figurative mask that we all wear, to conceal our true selves and in a way, to protect ourselves. It is our most shallow persona, perfectly crafted to conform to all the norms of society, in a way, you could even say that we don’t even really know each other! This face isn’t completely fake however, it does have some amounts of truth in it of course, but its highly unlikely that you know a person’s true colours by just knowing this first face of theirs.
To truly understand someone, you must get close to them, spend time with them and get exposed to their truer self. I’m calling it ‘truer self’ as it still probably won’t be the completely unadulterated version of themselves due to the nature of people. And here we arrive at the second face. The one you’d only show to those close to you.
The second face is not influenced by societal norms as much as the ‘mask’ is, and is often the truest version of a person that is out for others to see. This is the persona you have when conversing with close friends and family and is basically how a person actually is on the inside. This version of someone will be more out-spoken and usually more fun than the first persona.

And lastly, we have the third face, the most private and hidden one which conceals all the hidden traits, likes and dislikes that may be considered ‘unacceptable’ in public. It has all your deepest secrets and is the genuine version of any person that isn’t afraid to speak their mind, express their opinions even if they are likely to cause conflict and openly expresses their wishes etc. This part of a person probably wouldn’t be revealed to you unless you’ve known them for like a lifetime. In most cases, it will never be revealed to anyone but themself.
As the Japanese saying goes: “The Japanese say you have three faces. The first face, you show to the world. The second face, you show to your close friends, and your family. The third face, you never show anyone.”

_{I do not own any of the images above}.