The Ritual of Finding an Alter Ego

e The Ritual of F i n ding an Altr E g o. The Ritual of F i n ding an AlterE g o.

Routines have taken over the internet – or my TikTok feed, at the very least. People share their morning routine, their workout routine, their cleaning routine, their pet care routine, their “going out” routine; the list is seemingly endless. For me, routine implies monotony. Tedium. I can’t find the joy in doing the same things that lead to the same outcomes every day.

Instead, I like to think of the routines in my life as rituals. Ritual may imply a more religious tone, but it can also be understood as a series of acts repeated in a certain manner. I spend time endowing each step I take in my daily rituals with meaning and purpose, so they are never monotonous, never tedious. Each action marks a step taken toward transforming into the version of myself I want to be in that moment. Even if the actions are the same, the person is not. How many of us can truly say that we are the same person in our morning ritual getting ready to walk to class as we are in our evening ritual getting ready to hit the bars?

Many think that they have their true selves and then an alter ego that comes out only in certain scenarios. One of my best friends named Rachael claims she transforms into Raquel the second that boldness enters her body. Another friend doesn’t believe she has an alter ego; she is simply herself at all times. By definition, however, an alter ego is only an alternative personality. I think our alter egos need not be imagined as complete departures from who we really are. We wear different faces every day, but those faces are still ours. Because we are different people in different settings does not invalidate

that these people are still true representations of us. Our authentic selves are composed of an array of alternate versions, like a photo edited with a thousand different filters. These alter egos do not need to be completely separate from who we are, but perhaps mere extensions of it.

The tone I set for my day during my morning ritual is never the same, and it is certainly different from the tone I set during my evening ritual. One morning ritual defines a new self created for that specific day. Splashing water on my face, checking my agenda and drinking a big cup of coffee sets the tone for the person I choose to embrace. She is optimistic, focused and – let’s be honest – stressed. The ritual I undergo in the evening embraces a new me. I crimp my hair, do my makeup and don my favorite pair of white boots, and a new woman appears. She is more confident, louder, bolder. They are both me, but with a different filter overlayed. And with a gallery of endless filters to choose from, there is never a need to reuse the same one.

What if we abandoned routines and embraced the ritual of becoming a completely new version of ourselves every day, as many times as we want per day? Rather than thinking that alter egos are people wholly different from ourselves, let’s think of them as alternate versions. Allow ourselves to embrace changing who we are every day, every minute, every second. From dusk to dawn, we can challenge ourselves to create as many versions as possible of who we can be.

“Allow ourselves to embrace changing who we are every day, every minute, every second.”

ART DIRECTORS

KATERINA TRIANTAFILLOU & LILY MCNEAL

PHOTOGRAPHED BY

GABRIELLE GEORGE

MODEL

MELODY MOSES

WRITTEN BY

MEGHAN MORTENSEN

DESIGNER

LAYNA BEALE

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