The Created Self: Reinventing Body, Persona and Spirit Book

The Created Self takes readers to as yet unexplored regions in the modern psyche's preoccupation with self-invention. Our distant ancestors, living by strict Darwinian principles, had a simple list of to-do's: get up; survive; reproduce; die. But our modern selves have time and resources to spare--and our personal to-do lists can extend almost as far as the imagination can take them. Our selves today are largely works in progress and, as we constantly reinvent ourselves, the challenge becomes one of coordinating change with the integrity and unity of the self. Using the insights of William James and evolutionary psychology as a springboard, Robert Weber takes us on an engrossing journey into the nature and meaning of our shifting selves, the motivations and methods for self-change. He proposes an ecology of the self based on three distinct, but interdependent, spheres: the body, the persona, and the spirit. Our bodily selves can be cosmetically nipped and tucked, and through new reproductive technologies extended in ways previously undreamed of. Our personas, comprising both our self-image and the image we present to others, are constantly assuming multiple roles in the course of our daily lives. And finally the modern changing self finds spiritual fulfillment in myriad traditional and nontraditional cultures, both sacred and secular, as we craft beliefs to suit our individual and communal needs.Read More