I have an identity issue – just who the hell am I?
Others have given me identities that range from “my little boy” to “a son of God” to “an animal with a big brain.” None of which came from me about me – so who am I?
It’s a fair question that I’ve asked many times in the past – to the wrong person(s). Some answers I’ve gotten and I chose to believe have led me on some undomesticated fowl pursuits.
I have DNA handed down to me from perhaps millions of generations of creatures. My body is a biome of many species of bacteria, fungus, and more. I also have a bigger brain than many of my animal brethren, so maybe I can think about who I am.
I have an imagination and can pretend to be who- or whatever I wish to be. Imagination gives me the facility to pretend and play with my identity – in just about any way I want. Imagine that!
I behave appropriate to who I think I am in relation to my imagination of my environment. “I AM” includes “me” and my environment as I believe our relationship to be. Not knowing who I am in that relationship may furnish some entertainment value to my inner observer. Perhaps this value could explain my reluctance to discover who I am – and why I continue to behave in a manner that calls my sanity into question at times.
I can imagine myself to be anyone or anything I WANT to be – appropriate behavior will follow. My perception of my environment provides me feedback with which I can modify and hone my imagined identity – when I pay attention. Acceptance of feedback becomes, then, acceptance of self as feedback affects identity.
Perhaps I do myself a favor by resisting the urge to defend myself from you when you are my window into who I am. In a symbolic universe, though, data is not enough – I also must interpret the data – and that’s where my issue becomes an issue.
