Who Art Thou?

We are born into families and join circles

with codes, rules, and unspoken hierarchies.

And from our inception, we’re told: this is what matters to you.

But who are we really?

Often we’re given a name, a box, a label, long before we’ve had the chance to figure it out ourselves. 

Years pass and we live under those definitions, convinced that we are who we were always told to be.

It reminds me of the movie Big Daddy (1999), when Sonny asks Julian if he even likes his own name,

and gives him the autonomy to pick a new name of his choosing that best represents him at the moment.

He chose Frankenstein.

It’s funny, but it resonated. 

Because sometimes we never stop to ask if we even like the names, roles, and codes we’ve inherited.

But…

Then something cracks the script.

We do the thing we never thought possible.

Suddenly the mirror shatters, our reflection is gone, our already written script erased.

The baseline shifts.

The perception of yourself begins to warp.

And now we’re haunted by that realization,

that maybe we’ve been underselling ourselves all along.

That maybe we can outpace the person we thought ourselves to be.

We chase, outrun, push.

But the shadow doesn’t vanish, It can only grow as we do.

It only grows as we grow.

Still, we can’t un-know the version of ourselves that was handed to us.

We’re not confined to the box they gave us.

We can outpace it. Outrun it. Outgrow it.

It may scare people that initially gave us these labels.

Or they may see us as rejecting something they hold sacred.

But their limiting idea of us was never us.

It was only for their comfort.

And although the safe and comfortable route is tempting.

It isn’t who we are.

At least not deep down.

There's a version of us without limits.

Don’t shrink to fit a perception.

Don’t make yourself smaller for comfort.

Be unboxed.