identity

the impacts of some experiences from the past week lead me to think more about questions related to identity. not only in general, where do i belong, what’s my role on this planet, who am i as mother/father/employee, but more in an ontological? way.

„perhaps it’s impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be” Orson Scott Card

we are born with a so called blank paper knowledge, tabula rasa. all we do our whole life is to fill in this white sheet with information, experiences, feelings and behavior. we are constantly changing. right from the moment of conception – before we even see the light of this world, and up to the moment we stop seeing the light of this world – after we die, we still change.

in between the two periphery we constantly develop, change, shape. The 4 years old naive boy i used to be is not anymore the same with the 16 years old rebellious teenager, and will never be the same with the 30+ years old men. who am i, who is the authentic self?

following my blog post on burn-out someone asked me on linkedIn the following:

You imply that you or I are currently your inauthentic self, otherwise you wouldn’t highlight the need to move toward your authentic self. This also means that you must clearly know what your authentic self is to be able to determine that you are actually moving towards it. Without this knowledge, you can’t know that you are for certain journeying towards your authentic self, only that you are seeking and/or experiencing a difference from your current inauthentic self. I was wondering when in the past, or how you came to know your authentic self before starting your journey?

i don’t know if i could give an answer that was required from me at this point. the only thing i know for sure is that i really mean what i wrote as a reply:

we all arrive to this world not knowing anything, and end our life with knowing how little we know. the attitude that stipulates the whole process is who we really are.