Rachel Kelly Edmonds and Dr. Vicky M. MacLean
Middle Tennessee State University
Department of Sociology and Anthropology

The emergence of the Internet Age represents a shift from industrial to postmodern society and the transformation of traditional community relations as people develop online communities.  The present research provides an exploratory case study analysis using qualitative data from twenty open-ended surveys posted online in the virtual community “MySpace.com.” The research explores the nature of cyber interaction and the presentation of self in cyber space, drawing from Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective on impression management.  Findings indicate that for many people online interaction is less constraining than traditional face-to-face interaction.  For most respondents online interaction enhances but does not replace traditional forms of interaction.  Reasons given for choosing online interaction ranged from convenient communication to keeping in the know.   Although participants sometimes deliberately misrepresented themselves online, most were unaware of their efforts to manage impressions.Abstract

The emergence of the Internet Age represents a shift from industrial to postmodern society and the transformation of traditional community relations as people develop online communities.  The present research provides an exploratory case study analysis using qualitative data from twenty open-ended surveys posted online in the virtual community “MySpace.com.” The research explores the nature of cyber interaction and the presentation of self in cyber space, drawing from Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical perspective on impression management.  Findings indicate that for many people online interaction is less constraining than traditional face-to-face interaction.  For most respondents online interaction enhances but does not replace traditional forms of interaction.  Reasons given for choosing online interaction ranged from convenient communication to keeping in the know.   Although participants sometimes deliberately misrepresented themselves online, most were unaware of their efforts to manage impressions.

INTRODUCTION

American culture has experienced an influx of technological innovations that have transformed the nature of communication and information retrieval through the Internet. This shift to the postmodern Internet Age has transformed traditional community solidarity as people develop online communities without social and geographical space limitations. Online communities provide a new medium for social interaction, decreasing the need for traditional physical interaction and thereby creating a new form of virtual solidarity (Hornsby 2001).   A traditional community can be understood to consist of a group of persons who share a cultural background or common economic and political roots that tie them together in time and space (Williams and MacLean 2005).  In contrast, internet communities create a virtual reality of inclusiveness encompassing international, national, and local areas that easily transcend geographic proximity.  The emergence of cyber-communities offers a new area of research for exploring the nature of community building and the social construction and presentation of self through virtual interaction.   In this research three questions are explored: How does cyber interaction compare to that of traditional social interaction? Why do some people choose cyber interaction versus face-to-face contact? Does the online presentation of self represent the techniques of impression management described by Goffman (1959)?

INTERACTION RITUALS AND THE ONLINE PRESENTATION OF SELF

Cyberspace serves as a platform for communication and the presentation of self wherein communities are created via online interaction.  Erving Goffman extended the classical theories of Emile Durkheim ([1893] 2005) that emphasize the importance of ritual behavior in building communities.  Both theorists recognize that through interaction rituals individuals become better integrated and regulated in society.  Extending the macro-oriented theories of his predecessor, Goffman’s work focuses on micro-level social interaction and the day-to-day rituals that make community and the presentation of self possible. In his book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), Goffman developed a dramaturgical theory of impression management in which he likens everyday life rituals of interaction to those of performing, in a play on a stage.  Everyday social life requires that people as actors master performances in constructing a presentation of self to others.  Daily performances of the self are enacted “front stage” when others are watching a performance.  As with a play, daily performances are supported by a “back stage” where actors are able to exit their front stage performances, let down their masks, express their frank opinions, and be untidy. Goffman presents a fluid notion of the “self” arguing that there is no true core self, but that the self is merely a performance that is accomplished through daily rituals of interaction.  In order for the self to be constructed, an audience is required and actors must present themselves to others in an effort to manage and to manipulate how they are perceived.

Also building on Durkheimian theory, Anne Hornsby (2001) coined the phrase “cyborg solidarity” to describe postmodern social organization.  Cyborg solidarity is a type of social organization that combines and blurs the boundaries between humans and machines, and where machines take on human qualities in the collective consciousness of users. Hornsby states that cyborg organization stems from,

…technological advances… contributing to the consolidation of the new International Division of Labor and . . . to changes in the collective consciousness.  Brand new ways of thinking and feeling about the relationship between humans and machines are appearing, all of which illustrate the use of online interaction and how important the role of the Internet is in developing this new type of society (Hornsby 2001:109). The notion of cyborg solidarity provides an apt description of how current societal trends and technology enhance ritualistic behavior on the Internet. The super information highway paves the way for individuals to create, recreate, and alter their presentations of self. In cyber interaction it may be easier to “save face” when a performance is not going well, or at least, it may be easier to exit the stage altogether with little embarrassment when on can hide behind an alias and a computer screen. We can expect, however, that in cyberspace (as in physical space) the majority of individuals do not have the inclination to misrepresent themselves in daily interaction. Indeed, Goffman noted that people are not always aware of their efforts to manipulate their presentation of self during everyday life interactions. “At on extreme, one finds that the performer can be fully taken in by his own act; he can be sincerely convinced that the impression of reality which he stages is the real reality” (Goffman 1959:18). Goffman’s theory raises questions about the extent to which the anonymity computer interactions encourage the deliberate manipulation of self presentation, for example, through profiles created or pseudonyms and identities adopted.   When building online profiles, or during online interaction, people are able to selectively disclose and to falsify information about themselves in ways that may not be possible in face-to-face interactions. People can pretend to be of a gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, class, ability, or professional/occupational status of their choosing.  An illusion is created by the user where an “…individual’s own belief in the impression of reality that he attempts to engender in those among whom he finds himself” can be easily constructed or altered (Goffman 1959:18).

Goffman’s term “role distancing” can also be used to explain how people manage their front stage and back stage performances when interacting online.  In role distancing people “dissociate themselves from, rather than wholeheartedly embrace, the role” that they are uncomfortable or dissatisfied with (Kivosto and Pittman 2001:327).  A person confined to a wheelchair, for example, may describe his or her life without the limitations or prejudices that full disclosure of a disability might impose. The back stage is essentially the computer monitor that protects the individual from “losing face,” allowing a person to distance him or her self from the role(s) of choice.  Through a computer alias a person is able to portray the front stage persona constantly.  Of course, in non-computer mediated interaction, people also selectively disclose aspects of their past.  For example, if possible, an ex-convict may keep a past life of crime in the backstage area only. Similarly in other ways, such as through Internet gatherings, there is the possibility that a person can be embarrassed by other users posting controversial comments about his/her personal profile. This type of Interaction known as “flaming” is not unlike certain face-to-face rituals typically used when cutting remarks are made about a person in the presence of others. “When an individual enters the presence of others, they commonly seek to acquire information about him or to bring into play information about him already possessed. They will be interested in his general socio-economic status, his conception of self, his attitude toward them, his competence, his trustworthiness, etc.” (Goffman 1959:1).  In online interaction such information is easily obtained from individual profiles although, as in face-to-face interaction, credibility may be questioned. “Linguistic messages can be ‘about’ anything in the world, the sender and the subject matter having no necessary connection, coinciding only when autobiographical statements are being made” (Goffman 1963:13). In effect, during online communications people have the ability to connect on either false or true premises.  Nonetheless, genuine connections are made (even if under false premises) when one offers information about him or her self, and whenever that information is received and reciprocated.  The community building aspect of online communications then allows for a manipulation of who and what we are, and how we present ourselves.   Just what motivates people’s interests in exchanging information through this medium of communication and the extent to which online participants use techniques of impression management has yet to be explored.

METHODS

An opened ended survey (Arksey and Knight 1999) was posted online on the website MySpace.com in the summer of 2005.  Twenty responses were received over a three-week period.  The survey included questions to gather demographic information from respondents.  Other questions queried about the amount of time respondents spent in virtual interaction, what motivated participation in online communities, whether cyber interaction was preferred to face-to-face interaction, and whether respondents reported honestly in the construction of online personal profiles.   Major themes identified in the narrative responses to the question items were related to two categories: 1) motivations for participating in Internet interactions, and 2) presentations of self.  Direct quotes are used to illustrate and support the major themes identified.   The participants in the research were primarily white (14), with one Hispanic, one African American, and four of other ethnicities.   Respondents ranged in age from 21 to 35, with the majority ages 21 to 25.

FINDINGS

Most of the respondents reported that they spend one to five hours a day on the Internet.  Even respondents who prefer face-to-face interactions stated that they, nonetheless, dedicate time to online-interactions.   The most common motivation for using online communication was that the Internet provides a convenient method for accessing information about people in order to make selective contacts and friendships through cyberspace.   Additionally noted is the importance of Internet communications for “keeping in the know.”  Information was shared with friends and other contacts about what is going on in people’s lives and in community activities.  Both of these forms of interactions illustrate that online communication promotes social cohesion and community-building among users.  However, in keeping with ritualistic behaviors described by Goffman, time-use was clearly monitored.  Some interactions were limited to providing mere polite attention.   For example, Bill, a 33-year-old male from Tennessee stated, “…If it is someone I do not want to talk to, I will limit the time to 20 minutes or less.”

Other reasons given for participating in online communities include: curiosity, convenience, following the lead of friends, staving off loneliness, seeking romance or sexual expression, and communicating with people locally, nationally, or internationally. According to Micah, a 29-year-old female from California, “I prefer to meet new people online because online communities allow you to screen certain types of people. E-mail allows for gradual ice-breaking and finding commonalities.”  She continued to explain how she has made different types of contacts, whether for business or finding old classmates, and she stated that online interaction “enriches [her] daily experience.” J, a 30-year-old male from Miami, Florida, described the comfort he finds in pursuing relationships.  He is clearly aware that he is presenting himself in a particular way to create a desired impression.

This sort of poetic masquerade of self …a possibility of connecting in a way that doesn’t happen in normal . . . person to person interaction. There is a kind of ability to communicate with a person that is easier that happens through the Internet. Because you are typically isolated in a room alone with your computer there is less apprehension; there is less fear involved. . . .You are able to take more time in presenting yourself. . . . If you were to. . . approach somebody in human to human interaction and sit there stumbling with your words, as many of us do when we feel insecure, your first impression would come off a lot different.

J described further the greater freedom from inhibitions during interactions when other people are not physically present:

So it gives a certain ability to refine your presentation . . . . it allows you to present yourself with as little insecurities as possible because you essentially can do or say anything without the social repercussions, the judgments you would get from other people….In some ways it is easier to not deal with their reaction to you, it is easier to blow off inharmonious interaction.

When asked whether interaction on the Internet is more meaningful than, or as satisfying as, face-to-face interaction and if it offers the same sense of community, responses ranged from those that prefer Internet interaction exclusively to those who prefer face-to-face interaction.  Most respondents indicated that they do not receive the same sense of community as they do with direct human contact.  Despite this response, the same individuals became members of online groups within the My Space Network.  However, they typically created blogs on their profile pages that are open to “friends only,” groups inclusive of selected online users.  J described his perception of online social interaction and community,

…It still wouldn’t make me feel personally more connected to society in the context of community. Because community to me involves the word communion, becoming one and extending beyond one’s sense of individuality into a larger extension beyond the limit of one’s identity into a communal identity. Online interaction is only a reflection of one’s own sense of self. . . . Online interaction does not provide for me . . . [a] . . . sense of community, or union or solidarity. It simply provides a sense of networking in which many individuals get a sense of other individuals.

Most respondents combined both online and offline types of interaction in pursuing relationships.  Other themes emerged that identified differences in online and face-to- face communications.   Participants noted that computer-mediated communication lacks tone inflection, body language, and the ability to pick up subliminal messages, that are more typical in face-to-face contact.  In the absence of these silent forms of communications in human interaction, computer users have developed a symbolic language in the way of “emoticons” to communicate emotions such as laughter, anger, and sadness.

When asked whether people find the categories for setting up online profiles to be limiting, and whether participants report about themselves honestly, most respondents indicated that they report honestly.  Typically, however, most went on to note that they sometimes subtly manipulate information, distort their representations of self, or limit how much personal information they divulge.  For instance, Rah Meat, a 25-year-old female from Missouri, stated “I tend to post a truthful profile; maybe a bit exaggerated. I don’t want to lie about things in case I do end up meeting a new friend.”  In contrast, Loretta a 24-year-old female from Tennessee stated, “…What’s fun about being exactly who I am when I have the luxury of creating alter egos and making people wonder?”   Maude a 25- year-old female from Tennessee stated, “I report truthfully [about half of the time], for instance, I list myself as married. I do this because I find the existing categories limiting….” Several participants described the structured options given for setting up personal profiles as “superficial.”  Bathle, a 29-year-old male from California noted, “For me, I find that the categories of ethnicity and religion are too limiting. To me these are complex issues.” For Arpeggio, a 26-year-old male from Tennessee, “…when selecting a gender, if one is transgendered and does not fall into the male or female category, the choice must be made to continue with the profile that does not quite encapsulate the individual.”   Others, like J, readily acknowledged that information given out was done so selectively.

I always hope to be appealing…I won’t tell them my entire sexual history. I won’t  divulge the entire depths of my character.  There are not enough megabytes of computer space nor is there enough time or interest…you have to selectively  disclose . . . .

The responses illustrate the fact that manipulation of profiles is almost unavoidable, especially when building an online identity. It is often not possible to create an accurate portrayal of self when one is given pre-specified and limited options.   A person creating a profile doesn’t have the option of leaving a profile category blank.  Clearly some individuals would rather not divulge their relationship status and may knowingly choose erroneous answers.  Another influence in creating distorted profiles of the self is a growing awareness that stalkers do use Internet profiles and online communications to locate victims.  Beyond these types of constraints, however, consistent with impression management techniques described by Goffman, users clearly described how they manipulated their presentations of self through selective disclosure.

Regardless of the many limitations and constraints in creating online identities, however, online social interactions clearly offer these individuals the opportunity to create a space where they can appeal to other users.   Many participants emphasized that most of there online contacts were already friends prior to interacting with them via MySpace.com.  Another sub-theme that emerged was that it is somewhat stigmatizing to admit that you met someone online.  Participants indicated that it was more acceptable in urban areas than rural areas to meet people through Internet communities.   Finally, younger participants seemed less aware than older ones that online interaction represents a new form of daily ritual; they seem to take this type of interaction for granted.  Older respondents were more likely to note that instead of asking for your telephone number people are now asking for your e-mail address. Older respondents also noted that communication was enhanced by computers and that they also provide more convenience in communicating.

DISCUSSION

The virtual community provides an arena wherein the presentation of self is easily manipulated at the user’s discretion, whether consciously or unconsciously, since face-to-face interaction is absent.  In cyberspace there are no physical boundaries in the traditional sense of how Goffman describes back stage and front stage performances.   Yet there is a tangible source of entry, which is the computer hardware that serves as a gateway to the imagined community.  With computer-mediated communication the mechanisms of presenting the self are altered. With face-to-face contact, one may be held accountable when attempting to alter back stage and front stage personas.   During Internet interaction, on the other hand, presentations of self are much easier to manipulate.   Online performers are able to create a front stage self, and are able to use Goffman’s techniques of impression management more directly, and deliberately, than when interacting face-to-face. With anonymity as a key factor, online interaction makes it possible to present the self in multiple ways and even to falsify one’s identity.  In fact, typical forms of online interaction rituals emerge that encourage and make normal the misrepresentation or fictional presentation of the self, such as through the construction of make-believe pseudonyms.  To some people the security of anonymity may even make online interaction more attractive than face-to-face interaction as some may feel more self-confident absent the direct observation of others.

Classic theories of the self and social organization can be applied in the postmodern era and to a concept of virtual communities where there is an absence of conventional communication among people. Computer-mediated communication has become integrated into the everyday rituals of life, and with the introduction of multiple user domains people have the opportunity to build communities online.  New technologies, however, have given new meaning to Shakespeare’s “all of life is a stage.”  Indeed, the fact that through the Internet the stage itself is created in the minds of users allows for endless possibilities for different forms of communication and identification among the users.  In this research online interaction was found to “augment” face-to-face interaction and the Internet was found to provide new tools for community building.   The online community did not replace physical space but became a convenient way of maintaining contact with friends and occasionally meeting new contacts. Staving off loneliness, curiosity, staying in the know, and conveniently obtaining information about people were all motivators for people to join the online community. Many merely followed the lead of their friends. However, online interaction for the majority of respondents was not a satisfactory replacement for face-to-face interaction.
In considering, “the presentation of self,” respondents generally stated that they reported honestly, although many of the same respondents provided instances in which they withheld certain information or deliberately reported falsely. Cyberspace clearly allowed respondents the freedom to explore different presentations of self. However, blatant misrepresentations were used only when the participant deliberately made a game of play-acting and were used to the harm of none.

CONCLUSION

Although online communities are a relatively new and trendy phenomenon, it does not appear that traditional forms of daily interactions as we know them will cease to exist; computer-mediated communications will likely continue to enhance traditional forms of interactions and relationships.  It is clear from this research, however, that new forms of consciousness are emerging in relation to computer-mediated communication, particularly among the young.   Virtual reality takes a local space and transforms it to a global place.  By giving individuals a space to create, connect, and unite with like-minded others, the Internet has become part of an everyday and taken-for-granted stream of consciousness for its users. Traditional social interaction is geographically limited; whereas the entire concept of cyberspace and virtual interaction is limitless, giving online communities multiple avenues for creating and building a sense of cohesion or “cyborg solidarity.”

REFERENCES

Arksey, Hilary and Peter Knight.  1999. Interviewing for Social Scientists. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Durkheim, Emile. 1893 [2005]. “The Division of Labor in Society” excerpted in Edles Laura D., and Scott Appelrouth Edition. Sociological Theory in the Classical Era. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor Books.

Goffman, Erving. 1963. Behavior in Public Places: Notes on the Social Organization of Gatherings. London: The Free Press of Glencoe.

Hornsby, Anne. 2005. “Surfing the Net for Community: Durkheimian Analysis of Electronic Gatherings” in Kivosto, P. Edition Illuminating Social Life: Classical and Contemporary Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Kivisto, Peter and Don Pittman. 2001. “Goffman’s Dramaturgical Sociology: Personal Sales and Service in a Commodified World” in Peter Kivisto Edition. Illuminating Social Life: Classical and Contemporary Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Williams, Joyce E. and Vicky M. MacLean. 2005. “The Legacy of Community Studies” in Anthony J. Blasi Edition. Diverse Histories of American Sociology. Netherlands: Brill Academic Publishers.

Community Building in Cyberspace: Social Interaction and the Presentation of Self by Rachel K Edmonds, Dr. Vicky MacLean

http://frank.mtsu.edu/~cdinit/conference/2003/prog.htm

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About the Author

Rachel K Edmonds is a broadminded and insightful teacher; a professional whose personal successes have brought great benefit to those with whom she has worked. Rachel is a published scholar in the field of sociology/anthropology. As a professional, Rachel has drawn upon her scholarly career and business experience to apply both a theoretical and practical approach in the fields of education, business and marketing. Rachel is currently living in Chicago, IL and expanding her knowledge in the field of marketing as a Master of Science graduate candidate and continues to provide business and marketing consultation. www.linkedin.com/in/rachelkedmonds or rachel@boropulse.com

Posted: Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 12:00 am — Filed Under: Healthy Living

Yoga Fills A Society’s Need

BY RACHEL K EDMONDS

Have you wondered why it is that people for thousands of years continue to turn to astrology for answers about human existence? Can numeral values and sun signs provide answers to why certain people gravitate towards each other, and why some individuals are repelled by their very presence? Are the heavens a blueprint of our past, present and future?

After meeting with a local Astronumerologer, Thaddeus, a practicing Astronumerologer since 1975 and member of the American Federation of Astrologers, the mysticism behind the ancient lore became evident.

What draws a person to this field of study? For Thaddeus it is a heartrending story, but after all, a journey that is thoroughly blessed. This event strengthened his intuitive abilities, which allow him the insight to help others who are ready to be helped and shed light on how they can help themselves. Thaddeus lost a young child and due to this experience, he turned to non-traditional sources for answers, after modern medicine failed and did not offer any.

He, himself, was a skeptic, so at this point what did he have to lose? He was already facing a traumatic situation, so he went to see a psychic and it was then he became a believer. Thaddeus was brought up in the Catholic tradition, and as most are aware, psychics and astrology do not typically mesh well with either Protestant and Catholic faiths; however, there is a lot of hidden and esoteric knowledge that directly relates Christianity to that of the occult.

Not only does the field conflict with the fundamental Christian beliefs but also within the scientific community. Thaddeus comments, “It is amazing that people have such a strong emotional reaction to astrology without having a basic knowledge about it. I’d like to see scientists, astronomers and skeptics do a simple test. Find out what ‘sign’ the sun and moon were in when you were born using standard Western tropical astrology. Then read about yourself and see how it fits.”

Granted what we read is still an interpretation of thoughts that stem out of the same framework of consciousness that created the sciences and intuitive based approaches. Some individuals claim there is a lack of scientific evidence supporting the claims of astrology; however, the fact remains that the foundation of astrology has not changed in more than 5,000 years and is still a growing area of research, which suggests that our culture has a need to preserve this ancient mysticism.

Astronumerology involves synthesizing astrology and numerology, it combines an individual’s birth chart, name (numerical value equated to English alphabet), date, time and place of birth, which offers the practitioner a well-rounded view of the person’s past as well as illustrating potential life patterns that could affect the future.

“Astrology can be used in many constructive ways,” Thaddeus said. For example, “Natal Astrology [also known as Genethliacal Astrology] studies the self and relationships of all types: intimate, student/teacher, employer/employee, timing of events, starting a business, weddings, operation, etc.”

Another subfield Thaddeus is excited about is Astromapping or Astrocartography, he stated, “This is where your birth chart information is shown in the form of a map. People are now relocating to live on positive lines of energy show on this type of map with good success.”

Five hundred years ago, there was not a clear distinction between astronomy and astrology; the differences centered around interpretation and prediction. “An astrologer is an interpreter of celestial phenomena, while an astronomer is a predictor of celestial phenomena.”

Thaddeus continued to elaborate on the divide between camps, “Modern scientists have basically thrown the baby (astrology) out with the bath water (ancient science). Now modern science is being turned on its head and forced to look beyond our five senses. The Unified Field Theory could explain the various mechanisms of how astrology could possibly work.”

For further information on the Unified Field Theory, research Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, Theory of Everything, String Theory and Post-Quantum Physics.

Within the field of astronumerology as well as other nontraditional approaches to self-exploration, there lies in an instinctive belief system with an inherent level of intuitive sensitivity that appears to be a recurring theme among its practitioners. When asking Thaddeus what his experience was he stated that intuition does play an important role in his readings especially when face-to-face. As intuition and science commingle, rationality seems to hold precedence over truth and often our most sacred personal truths are empirical, so how does one balance intuitive experiential truth with rationality? For Thaddeus it is imperative to have a balance of intuition and intellect.

“You can’t live in a dream world, you gotta deal with reality,” he says.

A respectable characteristic of the field is the balance of intuition and rationality. One tenet that practitioners tend to abide by is if a reading suggests probable issues based on patterns, then they do not disclose potential negative outcomes. If a person holds onto the interpretation, they could create a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is why it is the practitioner’s ethical responsibility to disclose only enough information about the person’s life that will aide in growth, self-awareness and ability to make the right choices. So as the old song goes let us all find, “Harmony and understanding, Sympathy and trust abounding, No more falsehoods or derisions, Golden living dreams of visions, Mystic crystal revelation and the mind’s true liberation.” May we all, “Let the sun shine In!”

Finally, if you have, any recommendations for future topics, please e-mail rachel@boropulse.com or visit theomexchange.wordpress.com. To contact Thaddeus for a consultation, e-mail thadtc@aol.com or call (615) 336-8015.

Open Minds Exchange: The Ugly Beautiful
Rachel K. Edmonds and J.M. Harrell 23.JUL.09

When the physical form of one’s identity becomes the medium for gauging self-worth, the flesh becomes objectified like a façade or storefront beckoning potential buyers and window shoppers of love. Our bodies become like mannequins, plastic and empty, a tool for self-fulfillment masking the hollow emptiness inside. Therefore, we shall follow the dynamic between flesh and spirit, body and soul, and in one way, how beauty becomes perverted and made shallow.

Like all objects of desire, their value is usually placed upon them subjectively as they themselves often possess no intrinsic value. In this same way, beauty is objectified because of the socially instilled value placed on objects of desire whose value does not include the essence it possess, i.e., in this case, one’s spirit. If we are taught to ascribe value to beauty, where such value is limited to aesthetics, the remaining characteristics of the person become excluded from value and thus, separate from beauty.

That is to say, the value we place on physical beauty distinguishes form from essence in such a way as to exclude essence from beauty’s value. When in public, whether at school or work, a grocery store, or even walking down the sidewalk, what happens when you notice an attractive person? Do you look at them with an intent gaze? If so, how long does it take before you internalize their external beauty? Is there always a sense of jealously or inadequacy? Or is there acceptance of another’s physical attributes that do not phase your sense of personal worth? Our society has put so much emphasis on outward appearances that the truly beautiful have become something ugly. We can say beauty is on the inside but our conditioning makes it a true trial when attempting to resist the temptation to compare self with others.

Setting aside the socially contrived hierarchy of beauty idealized, i.e., the genetically elite towering above the rest beneath, it is rather the inner experience of our suffering caused by the denied value of our inner beauty in a market of meat that must receive more than “window dressing” so that we may reestablish the parameters of beauty to embrace the whole. As our identity becomes isolated within our body, excluded from recognition and bereft of value, one of the largest subsequent travesties is set in motion, i.e., the utilization of body image for the sustenance to supplement our spiritual lacking. It is those of us, the ugly beautiful, who use their “genetically superior” bodies as an attractive appliance to acquire power in the form of attention, both negative and complimentary, from the mass surplus of people whose bodies and thus, self-image, fall short on the aforementioned beauty scale.

With the relationship between body and soul, flesh and spirit, cleaved into conflict by the values that exclude the spiritual, a remarkable number of us have grown accustomed to functioning within a form that seemingly misrepresents our true self. The hopelessness perceived by our isolated inner self then transforms from a victimized role into comfortability with receiving self-worth through the vehicle of our body. Like a drug, this apparent comfortability with form as a means for achieving inner self-sustenance blossoms into an outright addiction and our thirst for inner fulfillment through the shallow values of beauty become both self-defacing and predatory.

The “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” segment of the populace should actually be the “Don’t hate-love yourself because you are beautiful.” When we tear down our self-worth, especially when it revolves around a concept such as beauty where external beauty is temporal, we are giving up our power, power to love without envy and criticism of the other. There is a level of responsibility to what true beauty means; we cannot blame the media and social conditioning.

Lastly, with great beauty comes great responsibility. Those who are fortunate enough to be blessed with unique physical beauty have a greater responsibility as representatives of beauty to uphold the honor, sanctity and purity of true beauty, protecting it from perversions of value that objectify the flesh and exclude the spirit.

Finally, we extend an open invitation to hear from you. Inquiring Open Minds want to know. If you have any recommendations for future topics, please contact us at rachel@boropulse.com or jason@boropulse.com or visit theomexchange.wordpress.com

Opinion: Open Minds Exchange: Ending the Relationship Battle
Rachel K. Edmonds and J.M. Harrell 09.JUL.09

Imagine if all that we thought to be true was just an illusion created by our conditioned sense of self and reality, a result conveyed by our biological responses as our brain’s neurotransmitters dictate our emotional responses, a chemically induced web of tissue and cells. Where the patterns of chemical addiction, mental illness, cognition and memory lie, the neural pathways make reality, which appear to reflect our beliefs and are hard to change as habits and perceptions become hard-wired.

Light, sound, taste, touch and smell are converted from their original states into electrical signals for our brain/body to process and interpret. This is the first dynamic piece to the function of thought and in determining how we relate to anything or anyone. We store this experience within us as memories, or more specifically, our reality. For a more in-depth view of holographic reflections and relationship, pick up a copy of Michael Talbot’s, The Holographic Universe.

In this brief article, we are not referring to relationship in its typical sense of intimate or familial connection, rather the behavior or feeling toward someone else, as defined by Encarta. We are going to delve into what experimental psychology and Eastern philosophy defines as relationship, which offers perspectives on the role biology plays and how thought creates our understanding of what relationship means to self and the other person. Granted, it is yet another theory attempting to describe the experience we call “life”; however, it does offer great truth and insight.

These theories combined explain the creation of identity and memory. Consequently, relationship dynamics as a system are in need of new healing modalities. If we are the sum of our beliefs and physiology, then we develop relationships out of such beliefs and physical stimuli. Therefore, we primarily see the world through these limitations, not the world as it is without them.

According to Jiddu Krishnamurti, “Relationship between human beings is based on the image-forming, defensive mechanism. In all our relationships each one of us builds an image about the other and these two images have relationship, not the human beings themselves.” During adolescence, our identities are not formed in isolation but through and in relationships, which lay the groundwork to how one evolves and consequently involves self with external reality.

Children develop relationships with both animate and inanimate objects. In fact, adults do not outgrow this type of imaginative dialogue.

Regarding relational involvement within the following frameworks, subject/object, self/other, internal/external, spiritual/physical, emotion/logic and perception/illusion, Krishnamurti elaborates further by stating, “Relationship based on these images can obviously never bring about peace in the relationship because the images are fictitious and one cannot live in an abstraction. And yet that is what we are all doing: living in ideas, in theories, in symbols, in images which we have created about ourselves and others and which are not realities at all.”

Furthermore, we are not firstly in relationship with others but with these images and ourselves. Because we do not see the world free from the limits of our beliefs and judgments, we are confined to just that, a concept of this world, this realm. Like our senses, which filter information, our thoughts and beliefs act as mental conjurations. We do not ever really know those of whom we are in a relationship with; we only know our perception of them and they us.

Holographic Re-Patterning, Dynamic Systems Healing and cognitive therapy are fields of study to start learning about. It is not so much about changing the other as it is changing one’s behavioral and emotional response, to be aware of triggers by the reflection of self on the other and conscious enough to take responsibility for our conditioned perceptions and modus operandi (Matthew 7:12: “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.”).

We may think we are in a relationship with another but in reality we are in relationship with concepts of the other. So how does one heal negative relationship dynamics? The answer is within and true healing starts therein.

In order to grow as an individual, one must start with the self and be open minded enough to delve into what the concept of relationship is and how it affects every dynamic force one encounters.

Finally, we would like to extend an open invitation to hear your perspective. Inquiring Open Minds want to know. If you have any recommendations for future topics, contact us with any comments at rachel@boropulse.com or jason@boropulse.com or visit theomexchange.wordpress.com.

One may ask how we as Americans have the right to fuse together distinct branches of yoga into a hybridized, diluted version of ancient teachings. Yet, in the Orient where such practices have long ago found new homes through the migration of people, trade, etc., yoga had time to mature in foreign lands and foreign hands.

Cultures naturally imbibed such influences according to the market’s necessity. As wisdom is universally influential, it is viable that the migration of India’s spiritual beliefs and practices would first be adopted abroad by the wise men and women within such cultures, e.g., priests and nuns, yogis, etc. In this way, modern Westerners who have comparatively only recently adapted spiritual perspectives from India must be allowed time for the necessary fusion that is naturally indicative to influence itself.

There exists a natural backlash against the apparent watered down version of yoga in the West from those who hold a traditionalist perspective, but for now, many of the traditional perspectives are considered foreign and potentially threatening to many if they do not possess a level of acceptance and open-mindedness. So we must acknowledge both the preexisting lack and the need for a more holistic approach while allowing possibilities to occur/manifest themselves in acceptance as a necessary process. There is, after all, long-term benefits to such a union despite the present feelings we may have to reject such necessary/required charge.

Social influences affect our perception and it is critical to be aware of such scotomas while engaging with others. We all possess a fusion of beliefs that dictate our willingness and capability to open to a new exchange of information and to internalize the experience without judgment, so seeing how we are influenced can aid in personal growth and willingness. Daisy Villa has mastered this skill by fusing together different schools of yoga, Christianity and reiki.

Villa, born in the Philippines, immigrated to America during the 1950s. Growing up, she found herself in an influential family and with a father who instilled strong morals and values accordingly. Villa learned the importance and gained a deep appreciation for such things as a college education, art and music, as well as religious and personal freedom.

She is a certified yoga teacher, Reiki Master level IV, writer and Christian. Villa teaches Yoga at Olympus Athletic Club in Murfreesboro where she teaches a fusion of Hatha, Ashtanga commonly known as “power yoga,” and Kundalini yoga.

Villa credits Yoga for “awakening” her to a broader perspective on balance and speaks of a type of trinity in mind, body and spirit in which excluding one for another brings about greater potential for egoism, disease and spiritual imbalance. Adding also that with this awakening it was a godsend bringing only good into her life, Villa states, “I felt like my spirituality was dying or something was not right in me . . . I looked for it in the Eastern arts but I’m still a Christian, and for me it was a path of growing of being a better person, more aware, awakened.”

The personal benefits brought about by yoga’s influence allowed her to see God’s influence speaking directly through the spiritual practices of other cultures, and in this way, she came to not only become a licensed Yoga teacher but a Reiki master who still prays to Jesus before opening an energy healing session.

For more information about Daisy Villa, visit tranqwell-being.com.

Herein, let us imagine that we could categorize everyone into distinct polarities—those who are open to change and those who resist change. Now, if influence were the active force causing us to contract in resistance or expand in acceptance, such influence would have to be secondary to a predisposition of being open-minded or closed-minded.

On a societal level, when foreign concepts first enter into our Western world-view, it usually occurs on the fringes of society until enough profitability has occurred to spur the attention of media funding. The mediated and distilled version of the original perspective happens in accordance with the collective open-mindedness of the population, since the populace may only be open, for example, to yoga as a physical health regime. In this way, we must not judge such mediated versions of authentic perspectives but see them as following the natural path we have established for the role of influence itself.

Before the process of assimilation and cultural adaptation, there is a comingling of ideas between the established norms and the new perspectives. It is in this time that we are with the ideas of yoga from the East as we attempt to bridge the differences with the West. Yet, there would be only widespread rejection of new concepts if there were not a preexisting need for them out of something lacking within our culture.

Finally, we extend an open invitation to hear from you. OM—inquiring Open Minds want to know. If you have any recommendations for future topics, please contact us at rachel@boropulse.com, jason@boropulse.com or visit theomexchange.wordpress.com.

Meade comes from a diverse ethnic background, including her maternal grandmother who is full-blooded Cherokee. An enigma of sorts, Meade possesses a Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt University and is a Jungian scholar, ordained United Methodist minister, chaplain at the MTMC and a college instructor. Additionally, she is a prison minister and the director for Rosa’s Children, a nonprofit organization aiding children whose parent(s) are incarcerated and surprisingly has time to serve as a publicist for the heavy metal band F.U.C.T.

There are several unique aspects to Meade’s religious and spiritual philosophy, but what is most important is that as a self-proclaimed Christian, she is all-inclusive in her beliefs and that is evident by how heritage affected her life’s path. One might conclude Meade’s multi-ethnic background influenced her both religiously as well as spiritually thus allowing for an open-minded approach to self-determined truth.

“I have a deeply intuitive empathic sense but I also pay great attention to detail and I think that it’s in the details and the analysis of individual people and individual acts and behaviors that we pull together the truth from what we know,” she says. “We can observe the truth but it usually happens in reverse order. Feel the truth then we observe where it came from.”

This emphasis on “feeling” truth correlates well with both her Native American heritage and her Christian faith through the acknowledgment of the feminine role in both. Meade not only recognizes the maternal in the form of the Cherokee Great Grandmother Spirit but also the Holy Spirit representing Wisdom as the feminine attribute to the triune Christian God. In addition, she embraces her role as a female minister, which still to this day is not accepted among many denominations.

Such a broad acceptance of the many ways in which she experiences the divine draws focus away from the unavoidable ethnocentric behavior we all exhibit at one time or another. She explains, “I think, spiritually speaking, that we have ‘ethno-spiritualism’ that precludes a lot of things. I think it is a cosmic block that keeps us from opening up to other cultures, other ethnicities, and other spiritualities and belief systems. Because we tend to believe as human beings that ‘my belief, what I believe is the only thing that counts’.”

People who are not Christian and who may consider themselves agnostic or atheist will sometimes associate negative events with what the Christian religion represents. For some individuals, the fact that the Native American culture was unscathed until colonial contact that consequently caused massive disease, death and ultimately forced assimilation creates yet another reason to have judgment for the Christian religion. For others, when the term Christian is mentioned, they may recall what the latest scandal was in the media. Furthermore, there continues to be division even among Christians today, just as it initially divided into three major movements the Gnostics, Jewish Christians and Pauline Christians in the beginning.

Continued negativity revolves around perceived judgment of damnation if you are not “born again,” or attend service regularly or for that matter are members of a church. These stereotypes are experiences that people may have had but are not defining characteristics of what true Christianity is about and that is of unconditional love, i.e., Agape. However, experience and conditioning shape our perspective and how we relate to people who may be considered in alliance with a legalistic religious group.

There are people who truly represent the essence and love of who Christ is. Remember that the religious entities are defined as many things, but an individual who is associated with such institutions cannot be limited to such definitions that are inherently faulty due to human construct. Again, there are those who may not even claim to be Christian yet walk humbly in the Spirit of Christ, people who are guided by the spirit of light and lead by example not solely by words.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” — Matthew 7:1-5 (NKJV)

Finally, we extend an open invitation to hear from you, our readers, any suggestions, criticism, and insight into the subject matter we present. OM–inquiring Open Minds want to know. If you have any recommendations for future topics that you would like us to cover, please contact us at rachel@boropulse.com, jason@boropulse.com or visit theomexchange.wordpress.com

Amidst the unassuming uniformity of brick offices on Uptown Square, distinguishable only by the business names on brassy plaques each office front must bear, you will find The Healing Place. With excitement and a dash of nervousness, we enter. A few paces down the Berber carpet hall, stands Ms. Carole Bratcher dressed in white with a warm and gentle smile. “Please remove your shoes and come in.” Bratcher is an energy healer trained by Ataana Badilli who was born in Germany of Turkish descent and is now located in NASHVILLE, TENN.

Therapeutic aromas waft the olfactory as our eardrums tap out the rhythm of a trickling fountain commingling with a meditative lull of a gentle playlist. Sitting next to her table, Bratcher appears quite relaxed, alert, and grounded. Speaking with a genuine uncontrived openness, she exudes joy and pleasant contentment. She then proceeds to explain what energy healing is and how it works.

According to Bratcher, “Energy healing taps into the life-force we all have within us. So, each being on this planet [and]…in this universe actually, vibrates to a certain frequency.” She says that no matter what name we give it whether it be life force, energy or a connection to God, “whatever it is, it is all the same thing.” Through an energy work session the clients with her assistance, “…taps into that energy field”, and by doing so is able to “…find themselves, go deep inside…find the you that you are…where your true heart is, where your higher-self is, your soul, your connection to God. All that is the same—that is where the answers lie. So, what somebody is able to do in a healing session is connect to yourself and find your truth”.

Furthermore, Bratcher takes little if no credit for the healing during a session rather, she acts as a conduit directing the omnipotent life force energy that each of us have individually and share collectively. This universal energy, she feels, is that of unconditional love saying, “And, if you know, you really get down to the definition of love, it can’t have conditions (laughs)…it is the life force. It’s the energy.”

Nearly every religious and spiritual practice has studied the dynamics of this omnipotent energy. Different cultures have developed unique approaches to its utilization from enlightenment to healing and wellbeing, to the martial arts and even ESP. It has been called by different names, most notably; “Prana” from the yogi’s of India; “Ki”, from the Huna of Hawaii; “Chi” from China and Tibet; “Qi” from Japan. Yet, strangely enough, though this energy has a long tradition within these cultures, here in the west we scarcely have any empirical relationship with it other than a conceptual curiosity.

What we do possess however, is our scientific ingenuity. One need only look into the world of Quantum Physics and the burgeoning field of Quantum Biophysics to find the published data as well as the leading theoretical evidence to support an energy field that unites us all (we will save that one for another time).

Carole Bratcher was born to a farming family in a rural Iowa town. She states, “I have always been drawn to the healing arts”. Carole began her career as a Speech Language Pathologist until she first experienced Energy Work in 1996 and had what she describes as, “…this beautiful awakening into the world of energy”. To her it was her life’s calling saying, “I have discovered I am here to reach out to the everyday person…the people that are coming to see me are people who are out there working 9 to 5 jobs, going to church, living that typical suburban life, and that really excites me because that’s how I was raised.”

It is our sincere hope that as we grow, both individually and as a people, we come to realize that the different hurtful gaps separating us from each other and from nature, are more of our own making than reality on a higher level. And, no matter what spiritual path, if any, we may follow, that it is only love in its purest form, lived and experienced—rather than theorized, that can bridge them. Finally, if you are feeling imbalanced in one way or another remember, you did not get that way alone so you do not have to heal it alone because there are people like Carole Bratcher in our own community who we can turn to for help when we need it.*

Finally, we extend an open invitation to hear from you, our readers, any suggestions, criticism, and insight into the subject matter we present. OM–inquiring Open Minds want to know. If you have, any recommendations for future topics that you would like us to cover, please contact us at rachel@boropulse.com, jason@boropulse.com, or visit theomexchange.wordpress.com

*This edition of the Open Minds Exchange article “Healing Energy” is the unabbreviated version versus The Murfreesboro Pulse print version issued on 14 May 2009. Further information on energy healing, Carol Bratcher and this article are posted on theomexchange.wordpress.com, as well as an interview transcript and Mp3 file.