Looking for a Rufous

What are Personas- Introduction?

Let’s address the definition first, at least by example what I think a persona is . . .

Wait, push the pause button, just a quick side note about this blog topic. If you looked in the “About” section, under “Themes”, you may have read that People is one of the themes in my blog, actually a main theme, so think of Personas as a People topic. You can push play now.

How about this example . . . you’re a rancher, you get up in the morning, put on a clean pair of jeans and a plaid shirt with sturdy pockets, slip on a pair of comfortable boots, well-worn, but clean, and your hat. You sit down for a cup of coffee and a hearty breakfast, anticipating a demanding day getting ready for a stock sale only two weeks away.

Another persona might be . . . you’re an artist and you make artistic pottery. Your kiln is heating up and you’re making some rough sketches on paper – you don’t always do sketches, but the vision of a new series hasn’t quite clearly formed in your mind. You have a vast mental storehouse of ideas that you can draw on, from experiences in different cultures in Spain, in Mesoamerica, and in more domestic, communal settings. As the kiln continues to heat, you warm to the new ideas for your pottery series.

You get the idea, right. Personas are important I think you’d agree, probably a very healthy thing and a part of yourself that should be nurtured, possibly something that is essential, like the ego.

In one of my earlier blog posts, I described myself as several things – a writer, a grandfather, a photographer, and a runner. Recently I put on my running clothes and said to myself that I was a runner. A foregone conclusion I suppose, given that I ran over 1400 miles in 2013, no brag, just fact and that’s not counting the races that I did, probably another 100 miles. I really like running, for the physical exertion, the mental uplift and therapeutic benefits, and the endorphins, of course. And, make no mistake about it, it’s hard work and some days I don’t feel like running, but even on those days, I make an effort and I run. Like that scene from Forrest Gump where Tom Hanks with his long beard and hair is asked why he runs and he says something like, “I like to run.”

Children too have personas, not just adults – in fact, children can have very interesting and provocative personas, partly I think because they are unfettered by all the mental debris that we so-called adults have accumulated over time. Try this one out, perhaps typical of other children’s personas, but in other ways a unique persona.

This young person likes video games – no surprise there. He likes to play outside with his friends, in a part of the country where the climate isn’t always hospitable – who needs a jacket. He likes to make good grades, especially A+’s. His favorite things to learn about are math and science (especially space exploration). He has two baby sisters and likes to spend time with them. And last but not least in this short list of persona attributes, his favorite season is summer, which relates back to another attribute that I mentioned, playing outside. Later on I’ll relate the personas of others who this young person knows well.

April 20, 2014

He rides a motor bike and patrols a trail where I run sometimes, near a big corporate campus for a running shoe and apparel manufacturer. I’ll call him Cliff (not his real name). I often stop during my run to talk to Cliff. He’s a bit younger than me, actually everyone is younger than me, but we have similar backgrounds in that we were both in the service, Cliff in the Coast Guard and me in the Navy. He retired from the Coast Guard after 20 years of service. He was a Boatswain’s Mate. I had that duty for a while on my ship, so I was familiar with what it was like. We joked about how often things got painted aboard a ship. He told me about his duty on the Mississippi River near Baton Rouge. One of their assignments was to maintain the navigation systems on the river, part of which involved servicing the red and green navigation lights that lined the river. The lights help ships orient themselves while underway on the river. He told me one year the river was so dry you could walk all the way across to the other side. He also served in Puerto Rico and Guam and several other places. I think people with a service background, any service, are interesting because of the stories they tell about their experiences. I highly recommend talking to an ex-service person. Next time I stop to talk to Cliff, I think I’ll ask him how many runners and walkers he gets a chance to talk to.