I want to finish this short series of time travel inspired posts with one more specificallly referring to Doctor Who. Don’t worry if you’re not a fan of the show, it’s just a jumping off point for some general ideas that remain applicable even if you’ve never heard of Rose Tyler or Davros!

The specific Doctor Who concept I want to talk about is regeneration. When an actor decides to leave the show, the Doctor “regnerates”. The new actor plays the Doctor his own way and there have been many very different portrayals over the years.

Yet despite the many differences between Doctors, the character’s fundamental personality remains the same. He changes whilst remaining the same person. That’s the idea I want to discuss here.

Imagine for a second that you could regenerate, that you could become an outwardly different person yet remain the same at the core. Remember, the origin of the word “personality” is the Latin word for “mask”. Imagine you could swap that mask for any other one that took your fancy. But still be the same person underneath.

What facets of your personality would remain untouched whatever the mask? What values and beliefs would you retain? What principles would guide your life?

In short: what makes you you?

You might be surprised at the results.

Now that you’ve identified the core aspects of “You”, you might like to think about the bits you can change. You’ve probably been wearing this current mask for a long time - you might even have forgotten wear the mask ends and “you” begin.

If you could regenerate into anyone you want to be, what mask would you choose? Which parts of your current personality would you jettison and what new aspects would you adopt?

On Doctor Who, the Doctor can only regenerate in times of great danger. You’re lucky: you can do it whenever you choose.

Photo Credit: exfordy (Creative Commons)

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