Exploring human identity

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialisation is for insects. -Robert A. Heinlein

I resonate with that quote deeply.

As a species we are multifaceted, complex and composite beings. It is hard to label a person as this or that. Our dynamic nature makes it super hard to fit a person into a simple label at one end. On the other, our survival makes us cling to a label as it makes it easy to box ourselves.

Starting from our name to our job role (product manager, youtuber etc) to our life role (husband, father, mother etc) we get boxed into one or other. The box feels safe. It makes it easy for us to take a stance. Our identity gives us a sense of security. This survival instinct has disturbed the core nature of the being.

Every one of us play many roles in our life. We take many avatars to perform our duties. Every instance teaches us a thing or two. "you/me=this" or "you/me=that" is farther from truth.

My take is we don't fit into one identity. We are composite. We became what we became over a period of time. We collected impressions during our time on earth. It is not permanent. It has a possibility to change. Sometimes we allow it to change with our flexibility. Sometimes we hold it back with our rigidity.

There is more to you than just being a designer or a youtuber or a blogger or a mother or a gardener.

In a nutshell:

Identity is like a chaff protecting the wheat.  The wheat can't live its entire life thinking it is the chaff. You are the wheat and not the chaff.

What if we lived a life without identities at-least inside us?

🥂 to human identity