…And you are not who you think you are. I was chatting with my parents at lunch today and our discussion jumped quickly from the childish admiration of our soon to be devoured chili burgers to a string of much deeper topics from aging to the ego, then to this odd space I’ve been exploring as of late: this idea that our identity is a complete illusion. Many of you know I did an audition for a local TEDx event and my talk was about the humanity in all of us. The general thesis is that we are all human beings sharing this human experience. Regardless of all the labels we place on ourselves and all the things we identify with (our profession, religion, political party, favorite sports team, nation, etc), we all experience the same sadness of loss, the warmth of love, the disappointment of failure and the exhilaration of success, among many others. THAT is what we share, THAT is what makes us connected and ultimately THAT is what makes us human. So what does this have to do with identity?
At the end of the day can we really call ourselves anything more than simply human? An attempt to label ourselves anything else limits who we are. In fact, I’d argue breaking us down to just “human” carries with it a limiting connotation since we display a significantly lower range of potential than I believe we truly have…at any rate…We create an identity, a self, as a way to create something permanent, something that pervades our entire lifetime. This is silliness! If I really think about it, REALLY think about it, I can’t help but giggle to myself because like life, we are in a constant state of flux, therefore an identity that accurately, truthfully describes us over time is sure to be a lie unless it includes all our moments. If in one moment I am inspired, the next I am reflective, then I get angry, then see a loved one and be overcome with joy, who am I over this period of flux? Is my identity my body? The vessel through which these emotions are experienced and carried out? No, it can’t be! Physically we change, we shed a whole new body’s worth of skin every seven years, so it is not our body that is constant through a lifetime. Moment to moment our emotional state of being changes. We can’t make general assumptions about ourselves and others, like, “Oh I am a nice guy” or “She’s a real bitch”, because at any time that “identity” could be a total untruth and change. Being nice, passionate, loving, hateful, angry, etc may be true in moments, and we may consistently be a certain state of being more than others, but at any given moment in time who we think we are is likely to be a complete a illusion.
So who am I? Who are you? Why are we calling ourselves ANYTHING, clouding our ability to perceive and experience the world honestly and BE in the moment truthfully? Does it matter who we are or who we choose to be?
- JMB
