I woke up today with this question in my mind and then I remember I made a post about it in the very first week of this blog and I want to share it with you as I still struggle with coming up with an answer to it (the original post can be found here).
In a world full of so many things, we tend to value ourselves from a thingy point of view because that’s what everyone can see. And if it’s not about the things, it’s about something related to other people or jobs or different labels. Is it right? Is it wrong? I don’t know. But I do know it doesn’t say enough about us.
Thinking about society, individuality and uniqueness, this question popped up. “Who are You”, I’ve asked myself. No, I don’t have amnesia so I do know my name, my status, my profession and so on. But what if I had amnesia? What if I remembered nothing about myself, about my past and about the people I know? Would I still be me?
Let’s imagine that one day you wake up with no memories. You would be scared, right? Not knowing your name and nothing about yourself… but would you act just like you had your memories? Would you react the same as before in similar circumstances? Would you like the same food, same music, same people? What makes you, you?
The best answer to this question might be character. It starts to form since conception and it evolves based on what experiences we have in life. So if you like a certain song, you would still like it even without your memories because it is rooted into your unconscious self, which keeps track of everything about us, without us being aware of. That’s why it happens for something to feel right for us without us knowing why… it’s because that particular song, person, situation, movie or whatever resonates with something from our unconscious self and it feels like that particular thing is part of us or maybe an extension of us. This applies to our unlikes too. Sometimes it happens for us not to like a certain person without knowing why… and it’s because something about that person is against something we have rooted in our unconscious self.
I guess we cannot answer to that question without using names, jobs or acquaintances because words cannot express the whole being. We are unique mixtures of instincts, thoughts, ideas, feelings and experiences which try to find their place in this world.
All of that being said, who are you?
Amazing!! I too love drawing..
Awesome! Thank you! 🙂
Oh DM. That’s my whole search and quest here on the internet. 🙂
I hope you made some progress in your search 🙂
Yes I have. It has been a wondrous journey and one I wish to document and tell in my blog. But because I’m so topsy turvy cartwheeling crazy, it’s hard to keep track of and remember to do or say or whatever. Lol
This has been my question to myself for as long as I remember. More so lateIy since realized I am losing my memory.
To answer your question, I am the culmination of all that I have seen, heard, touched, smelled and felt from the day I was born to this moment here. I have been cast by the Fire and moulded by this Earth , toughened by the Air and sustained by Water.
Now if I lose my memory when I wake up from my nap 1 hour later, will I still be the same?
No I don’t think so. I would have lost all the experiences and prejudices caused by years of conditioning and all the hardships I have faced until today. So I think I will be ready to be moulded by the inherent essence within me called The Atman in Hindu Dharma. I will become who I always knew my deepest self , in reality was. A fearless woman ready to face every thing that Life and God offered without cowering behind lies and excuses and needless shackles binding my mind.
I completely agree with you that my likes and dislikes would most probably be gravitating towards the same things and people I like and dislike now.
Remember the movie “The eternal sunshine of the spotless mind” ? It comes close to answer your question.
Awesome! I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ll definitely check it out! Thank you for sharing this insightful comment!
That movie is on my watchlist 😊
Forgot to mention that the drawing, a brilliant to your question creeped me out. It is very Kafkaesque!
Hi. Great Post. Gives One… much Pause for Thought. Much to Think About. Thanks for the Insights. Thinking Cap… On. As well.
Thank you! I believe we need some Pause for Thought from time to time 🙂
Buddhism would say that there is no self, something that I’ve never been able to wrap my head around.
Maybe there isn’t, but we’re stuck with it every day so I believe it is 🙂
Me too
Who are you?
I am Zoe Miller, I was Given this name therefore I should appreciate it, however I did not choose, what was already happening was my learnt behaviour, which was seeded by my parents at the time!
So the question is who are we!? We are called beings’ but no one truly knows’ but as a personality I like to think I know who I am and that is kind , caring, a helper a giver, And my family which I made, we call ourselves “The millers” they are my world, my universe, and they make me,.. Me.
Who am I.. A writer x
And a councillor.x
Each of us is a whole universe 🙂
The things I know about myself can’t really be expressed, they’re only known by me. And I only know a fraction of what there is to know.
That’s exactly why I believe we need to spend more time reflecting about how we really are. We only know a fraction of what there is to be known.
I am yet another seed planted in the soil of the Earth by the divine Creator and once my purpose in life is accomplished I shall mix with the soil! That’s me.
And what is your purpose in life?
Thanks for sharing.. I am me… 🙂
“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
― Oscar Wilde
And that’s the best 🙂
I am a Lion!
Lion
Hollywood Undead
I am a lion and I want to be free
Do you see a lion when you look inside of me
Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep
‘Cause I am a lion born from things you can not be
How can I sleep at night there’s a war inside my head
I found a lion hidden right beneath my bed
I will not hide myself from the tears that you have shed
‘Cause I am a lion, and you are dead
Heres a story of everything we’ll ever be
You can hide but some of us can never leave
And if you go I don’t need those little things
They remind me of all our little dreams
Can you hear the words, all I can say
We can watch the world even if they walk away
Forget about tomorrow, tomorrow is today
You where born a lion and a lion you will stay
I am a lion and I want to be free
Do you see the lion when you look inside of me
Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep
‘Cause I am a lion born from things you can not be
Remember an army of all those little kids
Livin’ life like they only get a little bit
It’s hard to fight when you’re born in the middle-end
I’d rather die then watch you givin’ in
I’m sorry daughter but you’re fathers not the same
I can look into your eyes and I swear that I will change
But tomorrow is tomorrow so forgive me if I say you can hide
Beneath the covers while I hide behind the pain
After all only so much we can say
Words can lose their meaning once you walk away
Promise me that you’ll love me, watch me as I fade
I’ll give you all the things that these lions never gave
The hands on the clock and the things we cannot change
Tearin’ out the pieces and take back what I made
If there’s one thing I’d keep, it’s you that I would save
‘Cause I am just a lion and a lion I will stay
I am a lion and I want to be free
Do you see the lion when you look inside of me
Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep
‘Cause I am a lion born from things you cannot be
Hey! I never meant to let go
All I want and you’re all I’ll ever wanna know
Can’t hide in the attic of a pretty home
Of a pretty home, of a pretty home
Hey! I never meant to let go
All I want and you’re all I ever wanna know
Can’t hide in the attic of a pretty home
Of a pretty home, of a pretty home
Hey!
I am a lion and I want to be free
Do you see the lion when you look inside of me
Outside the window just to watch you as you sleep
‘Cause I am a lion born from things you can not be
Amazing! Lion mode ON!
I found it on line and thought it suited the situation 🙂
It does 🙂
Since this morning when I saw this post, I have been thinking on it. Not wanting to rush and put any answer, I will say this ” the jury is still deliberating” for me. I’m a WIP(work on progress) but that’s my personality; I’m a learner always. So, ask me this question again in…10 years lol
Interesting! I will 🙂
I’m infinite consciousness having a human experience.
That’s a great way to look at human condition!
Well, that’s what we are, right?
Your blog is great!
Thank you! 🙂
Well I’m not “my favourite film/colour/song/number, the school I went to, where I live” etc. I’ve recently been fruitlessly trying some online dating and I noticed most profiles included a list of the above sorts of things, which to me mean very little. I suppose what I “am” is a simple human who does his best to accept others how they are, not always completely successfully! I’m also non-conforming, questioning, and try to accept whatever is.
That is exactly my point! Thank you for this! Even though we might be seen as simple, we are not those things from that list. We’re simply more than that 🙂
I was already becoming aware of my identity at the age of 9. I used to tell people, “I don’t want to be known as a boy or girl. I want to be known as a person.
When I was 32, my psychiatrist talked me into having ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy, i.e. shock treatments). I was so scared that after those 12 treatments, I would no longer be me. I lost all short-term memory. And, even though I was told that my long-term memory would be unaffected, I lost everything I knew about working on cars. I was very sad; because, that was something I felt set me apart from most women. And, my dad was older and had less patience to be able to reteach me. Luckily, that knowledge started slowly coming back 10 years later. Recently, the process has significantly sped up with the help of my daughter since I moved from 1500 miles to 50 miles away from her. She was also taught by my dad and by her husband as well.
About a month after the last ECT treatment, I asked my husband, “Am I still me?” He said, “Yes.”
As a person with BPD, I have always had what appears like an unstable identity; in that, the way I looked was/is in constant flux. My hair style and color, how I dressed, whether I wore makeup was always changing. I recognized this when I looked at a photos of myself spanning from the age of 13 to now. I was, also, easily influenced into activities that were in conflict with my core beliefs between the ages of 17 to 55. So, I feel that I was more me before the age of 17 and am since the age of 55.
I remember looking in the mirror one day when I was 35 and saw someone else staring back at me. Throughout the years, I have been slowly shedding the beliefs that were instilled in me by family, friends, religion, schools, society, and media. I feel like, the older I get, the more me I become.
This is such a great story! I think that the older we get, the more time we have had to spend with ourselves so we manage to see ourselves better. Maybe you were you from 17 to 55 as well, but you weren’t entirely you. Only a part of you showed up.
That is probably true. I remember that 5 years after the ECT, my son said to me, “You’re sitting here next to me; but, you’re not really here.” 😥
Nice question!
I feel we are more like an onion, covered with layers and layers of experiences, perceptions, information, degrees, jobs and so on. We tend to look at these layers and feel we are what have accumulated in terms of these layers. However, to dig deeper to uncover these layers and understand the self is an endeavor! Looking for the ways towards it.
It is an endeavor, but I’m sure it is worth it! In my opinion, those layers need to be understood and replaced if they don’t fit us anymore.