How do I Create a Persona?

Example: Jane gets up every morning to take the morning shift at the grocery and comes home at night to fill out and send resumes to employers in her area of expertise. She hangs out with her friends when she can but feels the burden to help provide for her family. She gave up going to the local center of worship a long time ago. Her family still goes for special holidays but she finds herself going less and less. She is not sure that she believes there is God but wishes she could know for sure

Example: All of Jane’s money goes toward her brother’s medical bills. As such, she is financially barely getting by. She wants to bring honor to her family and herself by the way that she looks and what she wears but finding the money to do this is difficult. When she wears certain old clothes/makeup she feels that everyone around her notices— she wishes she had the money to stay with the fashion magazines she reads. Her parents are always talking about how they wish she could get a better job. Maybe then they wouldn’t be in so much debt.

Example: Sometimes Jane wonders if she should keep asking her parents for the money to go out with her friends but her parents insist that it’s okay and, though she wonders, she likes going out with her friends too much to press the issue. Her parents talk often about their worry that they will not have enough to eat— this adds an unconscious pressure to Jane’s life and increases her feelings of being a burden. Surely if she was able to move out it would be better all around for everyone.

Example: Jane is frightened by the idea of her getting sick. Her family already has enough doctor’s bills to pay. If Jane were to get sick herself, and have to miss work, the family would undoubtedly suffer for it. Not to mention, being sick means being stuck at home; which isn’t somewhere she likes to be.

Example: Whenever Jane feels an earthquake or when the heavy rains come, her overall sense of anxiety rises. What would happen if her house was destroyed? She doesn’t like to think about it— her grandmother thinks about it enough for all of them. But sometimes the thought enters her mind, “What would happen to me if I died?” Whenever these questions arise, she turns to the comfort of meditation and pays closer attention to her horoscope. Sometimes she finds herself searching online for answers but finds little comfort there.

Example: Jane grew up in a home where any show of anger or frustration or any sign of tears would be met with physical and emotional shaming. While she tries to avoid any such dramatic expressions now, every once in a while she lets her anger or sadness show and she is once again met with shaming words. She can feel her heart become more and more numb to them on the surface. Should she care anymore? Should she keep giving her heart and showing herself only to be met with shame? Not only this, but she has accustomed herself to shutting down in her relationships with guys. Every time she has opened herself to a guy, he has responded with going too far and taking advantage of her vulnerability. She feels hardened and wonders if any relationship could make her feel secure and loved.

Example: Jane comes from a mixed ethnic background. This causes quite a bit of tension in her heart as she feels that identifying with just one would mean hurting someone she loves. The stories of the past tension between the different peoples both make her respond by taking a tolerant, indifferent stance toward the ethnic groups and the religions they are attached to. However, “Who is she? What is she?” are questions which she sometimes lets herself reflect on– though without much hope or conclusion.

Example: Jane constantly wonders, “If I’m not apart of a certain party, and think the way that this party does; can I get a job? No one knows how long the current political system could hold out. What will I do if it doesn’t hold out? What will I do if it does?” Jane wonders what will happen; what if this or that country takes over? What if there’s another war? She tries not to think about it too often but it’s hard not to.

• Who/what do they trust?
• How do they make decisions? What does that process look like?

Example: Jane takes her cues for what truth is from the actions of those around her. She sees the Scriptures as a basis for truth but is influenced greatly by the actions of her friends and family. God, if He exists, must be a source of truth but she is not sure what that truth is or how it affects her. She mostly goes to internet, friends, family and community for what she needs to know.

Example: If Jane were to consider really getting to know Jesus she would be concerned about what others thought about her. She would be especially concerned with what her family thought. Would people think that she had joined one of the dreaded sects that were known to exist? Would everything be different? Would the separations in her family become even wider? Can she trust the people helping her to know Jesus? Are they trying to manipulate her?