Today’s
question is simple, straightforward, and nearly impossible to answer:
Who are you?
Beyond
being a great song by The Who, I think this is one of those questions that
forces us to plumb the depths of our minds but really never come up with an
answer that can suffice to explain us in our totality. Many of the students
with whom I spoke today typically began with their names, which had me
explaining that our names do not define who we are. Names are placeholders,
convenient designations for us to grasp onto, but certainly don’t convey the
essence of who we are. No label can do this. Sure I can say that my name is
Ryan and claim to be a husband, brother, son, uncle, friend, teacher, mentor, philosopher,
weirdo and a whole lot of other things in between, but none of them will ever
get to the root of what it means to be me (or you).
One of the best
answers I received today mentioned how we are the sum total of our dreams,
memories, and experiences. We may be closer to the truth with this idea, this
notion of being an aggregate of many pieces, yet we must recognize the shifting
sands upon which all of these pieces of our totality are constructed. Change is fundamental to living
and growing, especially when it comes to wisdom. Are we the same person who
experienced X at age 12 when we have a similar experience at age 38? Probably not (Heraclitus would offer a firm "No").
I don’t
have any other questions for you other than the one asked earlier. Who are you?
To be completely candid, my answer is “I don’t know.” It’s tremendously
difficult to put into words, as are all phenomena that defy linguistic
limitations (a profound religious experience comes to mind—completely ineffable,
inexplicable), but that doesn’t let us off the hook as philosophers. We must
still contend, grapple, wrestle with this question…and all good questions.
Please leave your comments
below and feel free to share with others.
P.S. – If you’ve
never taken a Briggs-Meyer Personality test and want to find out who you are
(in whatever limited psychological sense these tests can convey), please click here to take one. It only takes a few minutes and is—admittedly—frighteningly accurate.
If you want to know more about me and my results, click the link below:
