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Who are you really?

by | Jan 4, 2021 | Who are you really?

“I remember being in my twenties wishing I was in my forties because those people seemed to know who they were. The thought of being grounded and comfortable in my own skin was so appealing, better than most of the magazine ads I saw selling something. After having so much life experience, I can definitely say it is not age related to know who you are. Some know who they are very young, and some don’t have a clue even when they’re in their seventies.  And even if you don’t know, you can still find out. It’s never too late.

Knowing who you are is just as important as knowing who you aren’t. Can you fall asleep at night knowing you did the best you could and didn’t hurt anyone intentionally?  Are you aware that you are kind, sometimes cynical, fun, maybe pushy?  Who we are is a snapshot in where we are and what is going on. But yes, there are things that are ingrained in our personality. 

I am convinced (and I’m happy to listen to input from others) that I am loyal, silly, truthful, athletic, and annoyingly punctual.  Of course I’m more complicated than that, but I feel it’s a good start. 

I look back on those times in my twenties and feel most of that was inside me at the time, but now in my fifties it is clearer than ever.”

Who are you really?

by | Dec 16, 2020 | Who are you really?

I’m one wildebeest in a herd of fifty thousand (million?). Sometimes the grazing is good, other times not. Sometimes there’s water in the river, other times not. There are the lions, of course, but some of the other beests are just as dangerous, or at least just as annoying. And some of them smell so good it’s hard even to graze near them without — you know.

Like every creature, I know my own physical nature — how I move through the world, how to get what I need to survive, and a sense of what it’s like to be “me.” My mind sifts those thoughts over and over, generally in sync with my immediate environment, always ready to react from instinct if the need arises.

But beyond just the physical, I know I’m a wildebeest. I can get my mind to think about what it might be like to be a different beest, or even a zebra — or a lion! I can graze when I feel like it, on either side of the herd or (yuck) right in the middle. I can try to mount another beest if I want to, though there could be consequences. I can be the best lion-scout in the herd if I set my mind to it, and I can even chase a lion away if I want to feel totally alive. I know I could die doing that, but I’m going to die at some point anyway.

When we’re on the move, I can feel the rumble of the many beests who ran before me on this same ground, and I know there will be many more running and rumbling here in seasons to follow. I am “me,” and eventually I will be nothing — “no thing” — and a moment after that the herd will have moved on without me….

Who are you really?

by | Dec 13, 2020 | Who are you really?

“The word ‘really’ is an interesting spin on the age-old question, ‘Who are you?’ It adds a sort of comedic relief to the otherwise stressful question – at least for me. Because the great irony is that nobody knows the answer. Any answer we would give to the question ‘who are you?’ is only a placeholder. A container so as not to overstretch our boundaries of ‘self’. An attempt at solidifying the un-solidifiable. But here is my best attempt at answering the question:

‘Who we are’ is a truth that reaches many levels. On one level, it is relatively true that we are who we typically think we are – a body, a mind, an ego, an individual being. Because that is true to us, it is ‘relatively true’. However, one level deeper, we see that we are completely interconnected with other people, the earth, and really, the whole cosmos. This is also ‘who we are’. One level deeper, we come to a space where we simply don’t know, can’t fathom, and ultimately must surrender to the unknown nature of who we are. This is beyond ‘true’ and ‘untrue’ – beyond language itself.

Ultimately, like carving a wooden sculpture from the trunk of a tree, who we ‘are’ is arrived at through a process of chipping away who we ain’t. We can see through the illusion that we are just our bodies. Likewise, the illusion that we are just our thoughts. Just our egos. Each of these constructs must be chipped away at in order to bear what is left behind – who we are, really.”

Who are you really?

by | Dec 13, 2020 | Who are you really?

“I like to think that I’m a nice guy. I think I’m friendly, enthusiastic and emotional. I think I’m really a lot more normal than people think when they meet me. This comes of the fact that I like to keep people from knowing who I really am. There’s a couple of people who think they know me, and yes they know more about me than most people ever will. But as of now, I only have two friends where I don’t feel the need to hide my true self from. One of them is on Quora. You know who you are. I keep most people out with a mix of dark and perverted humour. I guess it’s a kind of defense mechanism. But I keep people out, you never know who’s gonna use their knowledge of me to hurt me.”

Who are you really?

by | Dec 13, 2020 | Who are you really?

“So you feel entitled to a sense of control
And make decisions that you think are your own
You are a stranger here, why have you come?
Why have you come, lift me higher, let me look at the sun
Look at the sun and once I hear them clearly, sayWho, who are you really?
And where are you going?
I have nothing left to prove
‘Cause I have nothing left to lose
See me bare my teeth for you
Who, who are you?

Now you’re moving on and you say you’re alone
Suspicious that this string is moving your bones
We are the fire, we see how they run
See how they run, lift me higher, let me look at the sun
Look at the sun and once I hear them clearly, sayWho, who are you really?
And where are you going?
I have nothing left to prove
‘Cause I have nothing left to lose
See me bare my teeth for you
See me bare my teethWho, who are you really?
And where are you going?
I have nothing left to prove
‘Cause I have nothing left to lose
See me bare my teeth for you
Who, who are you?”

-“Who Are You, Really?” , Ekko Mikky, Teen Wolf, 2017