Personal Identity

 

Who Are You?

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

Soren Kierkegaard

          I spent yesterday trying to find a piece of land up on Beech Mountain that my daddy owned jointly with another person. That search involved climbing and climbing up twisting, turning mountain roads for hours. I don’t think I’ve ever really looked at Grandfather Mountain that closely—it looks like Abraham Lincoln lying in state. I am surprised that the experience was not memory evoking for me, since these mountains were my home turf. So much change and growth. Now, where there once were pastures with cows grazing, there are ultra-fancy wooden houses perched on stilts, surrounded by decks with a view.

          Our identity is based upon our heritage, our place in the world, and our personal relationships. When I say, I’m Scotch-Irish, it means that way back in the 1800’s my forbears came here from Ireland and Scotland. I identify with them even though I’ve not yet set foot in either place. We look backwards to understand who we are and carry that understanding into the present and future. And as we go, we add layers to that identity—wife, mother, teacher, artist, writer, embedded and entwined within a deep and impenetrable Southern soul. Like the mountains, we retain the core, but change with each additional layer.

          How strongly we identify with our heritage of time, place, and tribe depends upon how much exposure we get to “otherness” and how impactful that exposure is. Also, it depends upon how deeply we think, how curious we are, and whether we are resistant to change. Some of us simply don’t think about it much—actually, some of us don’t think about anything much. Often, skimming the surface of life looks liberating to me; it would give my brain a rest, but skimming is not in my DNA. I wonder about you. What is your identity? How do you define yourself? Are you a curious person? Has your identity changed over your lifetime or are you still the same old you? When did you first notice that you were pulling away from the pack, or are you still in the lap of your tribe? Who will you be going forward?  Give it some thought today.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane