Dec 29, 2011 / Topic Ideas

How do you define your identity?

Topic #346:

How do you define your own identity?

We are all born into cultures, families and communities with certain values we naturally inherit. But in order to figure out who we are, we have to revisit those inherited values, and decide for ourselves what to believe, or what to value. Simply believing something because our parents or teachers did assumes they were right, and if they made the same assumption about their parent’s and teachers, when exactly did someone sit down and consider the alternatives?

How can a person define their own identity? Is it good to do this? Why or why not?

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  3. Good challenge. My partner is Essex – it’s where he grew up. I’m an eco bunny – it’s what I do (and you can see the blogs which explore this at aroundbritainnoplane.blospot.com and homemadekids.wordpress.com).Happy new year everyone. Nicola x

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  5. We all have one or the other specific qulaity which makes us different from the rest around us and this is –indentity, through which we are always identified,either we are present or not. I , feel I am still remembered the place I left by my sense of humour, spontaneity and wit. It’s very positive to have ones own identity it gives the feeling of fulfilment of character without it we turn out from somebody to nobody.

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  6. Change is here to stay, and we as people are constantly changing. Hopefully, we evaluate our identity on a regular basis. I know I do. I do this with conversation with friends, family, acquaintances, or the new person I just met. Also, I spend quiet time in thought and prayer about who I am and my purpose on earth. But more than anything, my identity is found in how I serve those around me. Busy wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter, granddaughter, wellness administrator, culinary professional, instructor, and farmer; serving in all those capacities.

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  9. I am a Planet Earth citizen! This means a child of The Creator! Step out of the external world of distractions, and see the inner happiness, is my call! Love will conguer the fears, not material objects. Nice to have, but not Real!!!!

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  10. I love this question. Identity has always been something I’ve thought a lot about. I am mixed race, bicultural, bilingual, middle class, Catholic, to name a few of my identities. This is a great thing to blog on and I’m sure I will in the future. Hanging on to your post to remind me to do so. Happy New Year!

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  12. Excellent question! I found and am finding again, that by revisiting these inherited ideas we also learn more than we might think we would about who are family members in fact really are. My parents started out in a small unorthodox Christian denomination before returning to their roots in mainstream Christianity. I was pagan for a number of years before leaving that faith for the study of History. I also have a professional life in Spa and Massage where there is much to be said for process philosophy if not theology and this mix adds up for a very interesting path personally for me. When it comes to looking at identity and deciding who we are I think it’s like defraging the computer every so often. We have fragments that will always be with us from the past and we will forever be combining them with the reality from our present.

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  13. I believe we should all challenge inherited values. If we do not, our values are not our own. And with that, we must look deeply into all aspects of what we believe and know why we believe. I had a college professor who asked those in the class who were Catholic to step forward. Then he asked those who were Catholic to raise their hands if they believed their pets would go to heaven when they died. Most raised their hands. He then stated that the Catholic religion does not believe animals have souls, therefore, animals would not go to heaven. I believe his point was if you are going to identify yourself as something, you need to learn for yourself everything about that something and decide for yourself if you believe.

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  14. Like I have been taught, is to try some thing that you like to do, and if it works in your faver go for it . This probaly the only way you will know scusses or failier, This will also determine what type of person you really are lazy or scusses good luck to every one

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  16. And with the freedom and the wide choice we possess comes Responsibilty. We have to mantain a sense of balance. Culture guides us and keeps us grounded. Yes, at times one finds something that does not sit well them. True culture will allow you to have alternatives (good alternatices at that). Let us stay true to ourselves and make sure the choices we make are balanced. Hit me up on http://www.beedestiny.wordpress.com for further discussions. 2012 here we go.

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  17. Hay una expresión que aclara bien: “Todo depende del color del lente como veas las cosas, o personas”
    O mirar con los ojos del corazón: “Que no hay corazón, traidor para su dueño”.
    Qué diferente y difícil es definirse, a que nos definan.

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  18. Guantanamo Bay. Due to people like former President of the United States George W Bush Jr. and the current Prime Minister of Canada Harper, I can no longer identify. Due process and basic human rights are the issue. Without that it’s chaos. Chaos it is then! Chaos shall be my new indentity.

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  20. I battled with this issue for a while! All my different my culture, religion, interests, personality traits and just what I do in general do not fit well together.

    I finally got over it when I decided that nobody has one identity and it does not make sense to try and define it. To your co-workers you are someone, to your spouse you are someone else. When you are around your parents, you try to act the way the raised you to act it is just a way of respecting them. When you are around friends, you might want to prove that you are your own person by doing something that your parents would find very uncharacteristic of you.

    All the people around you can define who they think you are, they can give you an identity. But I believe it is impossible to give yourself an identity because you cannot decide when you are being the “real” you. Is your personality defined by how you behave in front of strangers, in front of your kids, in front of you friends?

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  21. This is something I’ve been trying to do for some time. It’s really empowering to do but constantly changing, and the words are extremely hard. great topic, I hope I can do it justice.

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  22. I think that every value should be revised, in case we feel uneasy with it. Even the “revolution” of youth, has to be re-examined when we grow up and reach a certain point of maturity. On the other hand, our parents don’t have to be unmistakable to love and respect them.

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  23. To prove or show my true identity? I do not know what you are aiming at?
    For me it sounds like a police question?
    I am what I am ! And I beleive I am a different person to all people I know, being a mother, a friend, a employee …….

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  24. Our identity grows as we age and is finished when we die. I would not think a teenager has the same identity in the future when he is 70. Life is a learning process. So I would say that I am an English lady who is married to a Canadian with 2 children, who writes books poems and songs.

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  27. This is so interesting, young people have a very different wiev about
    identity I think you change your identity to fit in everywhere. I I believe you have to be very mature to stand for what you are and to like yourself.
    Your identity is just you ,in every way. The way you are, you think, you live
    you relate, you feel

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  29. wow this topic is really hard, somebody say’s “you have an identity crisis” is this means that you don’t know your self? or maybe you are only nuts. whichever is the answer, for me identity means that you are a grown up person, responsible
    sensible, person who makes a mark, and knows how to handle self in times of
    good or bad situation.

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