Do you have an answer to this question? What comes to mind when you read this question?
Well, let me tell you this about me, have not clue. I was asked once if I could describe me. Who I am… My description was met with derision.
The comment following was simple yet profound. “You described what you do, not who you are.” What I do? All those titles and not one said who I am. Not then and not now.
How do you answer the question? Do you list the labels attached to you? Labels like mom, sister, father, brother, clerk, nurse, doctor, chief, bottle washer, housekeeper? Or what about woman, man, girl, boy? Who are you?
On a earlier post I made some comments about the phrase “I am.” About 2o years ago there was a commercial for Verizon, I think that was it. The people stood in a crowd and held up signs that said “I AM.” I thought, “Wow. What a profound comment.” Then I came across an article that said everything after the phrase “I am” denotes ownership of that word or description.
Sitting in 12-step meetings I listened to people introduce themselves using “I am.” Phrases like “I am an alcoholic or addict.” I began realizing that this meant this is who I am. I was not sure who I was but I did not want to own a disease, a dysfunction, especially when I watched what it represented in the world.
Define alcoholic, addict, gambler, or any other phrase that fits with a 12-stepper. It is a negative definition. One that nearly everyone I knew who used it, used it as an excuse for living their lives without hope. Lies, stealing, gossiping, it all remains in a person’s life until he or she decides to stop it. There should be a 12-step for this type of behavior.
An old saying that can be shifted to nearly anything: You can take the drunk out of the bar. But you cannot take the bar out of the drunk.
That which is defined as a drunk are the beliefs, the actions, the ideas of who and what one believes is true.
Who are you?
My answer today? I am…. My gender is female, woman, sexuality is heterosexual, age is 56 considered to be a crone or wise woman, my occupation is spiritual counselor, minister/priestess, student, coach…. I have many titles to describe me as a person. But who I am is the daughter of the Divine, a goddess and nothing less. I am filled with love. Tempered by my old beliefs and behaviors, the way I have always reacted to drama and crisis. These things are not me, but what I do. They are life lessons taught through experience beginning with my parents (step-father).
I AM: Divine, love, grace,
I AM: anger, trauma, nightmare.
These things are a part of me, the inner part that is seeking healing. When I let them speak the result is silence. But I have to let them speak.
Who am I? A woman of Divine guidance willing to change, to grow beyond human experience and embrace the Divine.
Bless you and know I am available to share your journey. Click the Services tab at the top of the page.
(The song titles: Who are you? were performed by the Who in 1978 (written by Peter Townsend) and Black Sabbath in 1973 (written by Black Sabbath). I like both versions. There is another one performed by Shades in 1977… )
