the sun eclipsed behind the clouds
a discussion began over the weekend regarding ways you identify. that is, various identities you claim (for better or worse). I came up with this partial list, in no particular order:
christian
man
humanist
environmentalist
liberal
brother
son
partner
friend
cyclist
hypoglycemic
straight
lgbt ally
musician
engineer
white (I feel no connection to my small bit of spanish blood)
american
artist
I guess some would call these labels rather than identities. but I feel like labels are externally applied and are defined by society, whereas identities are internally felt and we (perhaps) each define them with different shades of meaning. one thing I realized is that you claim some of these, but are not necessarily proud of all of them. some you're happy to display, others are just part of who you are. my rumination of the day is wondering whether the balance of proud/indifferent/ashamed identities is a marker of how content you are with life. Or is it that any one of these identities can have good and bad sides to it, depending on its incarnation? I suspect so. I also suspect when listing them out I'm apt to include more of the identities I am proud of.
clearly I'm too pontifical for a monday. I blame the flaming lips and their semi-psychodramatic music.
christian
man
humanist
environmentalist
liberal
brother
son
partner
friend
cyclist
hypoglycemic
straight
lgbt ally
musician
engineer
white (I feel no connection to my small bit of spanish blood)
american
artist
I guess some would call these labels rather than identities. but I feel like labels are externally applied and are defined by society, whereas identities are internally felt and we (perhaps) each define them with different shades of meaning. one thing I realized is that you claim some of these, but are not necessarily proud of all of them. some you're happy to display, others are just part of who you are. my rumination of the day is wondering whether the balance of proud/indifferent/ashamed identities is a marker of how content you are with life. Or is it that any one of these identities can have good and bad sides to it, depending on its incarnation? I suspect so. I also suspect when listing them out I'm apt to include more of the identities I am proud of.
clearly I'm too pontifical for a monday. I blame the flaming lips and their semi-psychodramatic music.
random bits cobbled together by j-dub
1 Comments:
i think an identity can come from an external source, so long as it's honest. a label might not be true, but an identity is always true. i feel one is more satisfied when they can see the difference and honestly say, "yep, that's me and i'm ok with it." even when it's less than flattering.
it's also interesting to think about how different identities play off one another. two people who share the "brother" identity, may not even be the same type of brother because of the interaction between their brother selves and the multitude of other facets to their personality.
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