Who Are You?

An exploration of identity.

Really.

Who are you?

The first thing that may come to mind is your name. The label you were given when you were born.

The second thing may be your occupation. The label you have found through your role in society.

The third thing may be a vague descriptor, like “lover” or “warrior”. The label that you created or found for yourself.

Whatever answer comes to mind, I’d like you to look at it closely. Say it in your head over and over again. Visualize it. Interrogate it closely. What does that even mean? What does that one thing mean? Does it encapsulate all of you? Think about it - does the label you give yourself summarize everything you do, say, and think in your life?

Probably not, right?

No matter what label you thought of - whether it be positive or negative - you will still miss certain aspects of your being. You will still be forgetting certain perspectives, behaviours, or thoughts you have about the world. Each element of your being could support or contradict the label you think of. In any given moment, you could be doing something that is radically different to the label you first thought of, because you are not always going to be exactly that label. You are not going to live up to the label 100% of the time.

If you chose the label “fighter”, for instance, do you always fight? Or are you sometimes a lover? Maybe sometimes you defend, whether it be yourself or others. Maybe sometimes you evade, for the safety of everyone. Some or all of these may be true, but the point still stands - you are not one singular label. One label is incredibly definitive - it is objective. We live in a world of subjectivity - everything is changing and everything is dependent on other things to be true or at least feel true. When I look at a flower, I see something beautiful that the natural world has provided for me. Some people may see that same flower as a gift from God. Some people may see that flower as a beautiful centerpiece. Some people may see that as a potential gift for their soulmate. The flower itself remains the same - but the human experience creates newness in everything.

What do you see?

So what’s wrong with labels?

Nothing is wrong with all labels. Just like the human experience, labels are subjective. Even the image of a flower I used may be identified as some with the actual species of plant. Neither one of us is wrong - it’s just different ways of describing the same thing.

Labels are incredibly useful for communication. We use them every single day.

“Could I get a cup of coffee please?”

“Where’s the stapler?”

“The Wi-Fi isn’t working!”

Labels ground our communication to sounds we have all agreed upon to signify a specific object, concept, person, sound… anything. Without these labels, trying to communicate our questions and ideas would be a nightmare. I would have difficulty writing this very article if I didn’t have labels at my disposal to articulate my points.

But when it comes to humans, the labels we give ourselves are not as helpful. While it’s easy to define an inanimate object or concept due to its strict objective physical realities, the human identity is fluid. Human identity changes moment to moment, flowing with the reactions of other identities and the environment to adapt to whatever comes its way. Maybe a certain situation calls for a strong leadership identity, or maybe the situation calls for a more relaxed, go-with-the-flow identity. This does not mean one identity is false and the other is true, or even that one is superior to the other. Different circumstances call for different identities, and to limit the human experience to one is illogical and extremely limiting.

“The human identity is fluid.”

The labels we have instinctively chosen are not truly who we are. They almost always describe our role in relation to other people. A mechanic, a painter, a warrior, a builder, a salesperson, a creator - these are all labels that define what we contribute to the world. They define who we are in relation to other people. Without things to sell, there would be no salesperson. Without paint, there would be no painter. Without parts, there would be no mechanic. For all occupational labels, they describe what someone does for other people.

What we do is constantly changing and evolving. There is no single label that describes anyone with 100% accuracy.

Now, this does not mean you are nobody. Everyone exists, and everyone has an identity.

What this does mean is you are not one thing. You are not one singular label. You are fluid, changing constantly through every second of experience that goes by. In only a second, your identity can change forever.

So, I ask again.

Who are you?