I wrote on the blog Wednesday about a question recently posed to me.: Am I What I Do? Or What I Am? The post sparked a lot of interest and discussion and got me thinking, and I don’t yet have anything like an answer.
This is the kind of question that makes philosophers drool. (picture above, the Raven).
When that happens on social media, the promise and potential of this medium are revealed; it’s not just conspiracy theorists, busybodies, and trolls. Getting one another to think, not mimic, is a small miracle, whenever it happens.
Life is not simply what happens to us, writes Joan Chittister, life is also what we make happen.
We become what we do, she says. “We become new inside when we urge ourselves to do new things. We become awake when we do not allow ourselves to sleep through life. We become more sure of ourselves when we forget our age and trust ourselves enough to refuse to fear everything in life…”
I like this idea and perhaps would go further.
We can change who we are, and we can change what we do. Any time in life is the perfect time to begin again, become new, change, learn, and find ways to enjoy life and be meaningful and purposeful.
I believe life allows me to be exciting, engaging, and significant, to do good and be good – always to be better. I think I owe the world the best of myself because everyone in the world is also struggling. That is what we all do.
We are how we respond to the challenges as well as the joys. Who I am tells me to go deep inside myself to discover everything I am.
That is also what I do. This is beginning to make sense to me.
It’s like David Brooks’ article (who I often disagree w) in the NY Times today about why Trump voters vote for him. It is, if not a wakeup call a reality check on us elites being called to delve into ourselves, self-examine to see our role and our own selfishness.
True, Paul, the elitists have had a long run, it’s coming to an end…I hope their compassion stays on
When I was a highschooler and an accomplished classical pianist who accompanied a number of vocalists over the years, I wrote in a friend’s yearbook, “For some people singing is something they do, but for you, Sallie, singing is who you are!” Many years later at a class reunion, she told me she had remembered that as the years passed, and she came to understand exactly what I’d meant.
Thanks Pam,I understand also, thanks for telling this story
Another way to look at it would be to ask: If you couldn’t write, blog or take photos then who would you be? What would you do? Those abilities are such a big part of making you who you are. I think you’d be a changed person for sure.
For sure 🙂
A good post for any age to read. Maybe if younger people as well as elders could hear that, it could change the world.