Defining Oneself

I have been thinking a great deal about how we define ourselves, and how that impacts our worlds.

Tonight I have been surfing through blogs of various sorts – many, many blogs – at random. I’ve noticed the desire people have to define themselves in terms of disease. Now, I have to say, I have been *blessed* to not suffer from any chronic condition, so I don’t know how that affects one’s life. But, I do find it curious that one’s disease is so important that it is often THE thing that is mentioned as a definition or one of two or three things that is mentioned as the most important things to note about a person in a profile or bio.

In the past I’ve noted this with regard to “survivor” or “victim” status. It’s noted with a pride that is odd to me. We’ve all been victims and we’re all survivors of various things, but I don’t define myself in that fashion. It seems very limiting to me. If the most important thing about me is that I survived something 30 years ago, I need to examine what I’ve done in those 30 years. Surely I’ve done something else that’s noteworthy.

Of course, that may have been what I call a “defining moment,” but it’s not the only thing that defines me. At least I hope not.

Humans are infinitely complex in many ways. I’m not sure why we want to keep ourselves in these small little boxes, defining ourselves as “survivors” or “sufferers” or whatever. Are we not bigger than this? More complex? More inventive?

This begs the question of how I define myself….. I guess the 101 things does some of that for me….. If I had to do a 15 second elevator speech for myself I’m not sure what I’d put in it…

Off the top of my head:
Creative person with an old soul… looking to connect with others on the same path…

I’ll have to give that some thought.