Who are you and what defines who you are?

I am presently in school at le UBC! It's a great school- very beautiful campus and lots of alive-ness! I am sitting here and writing my essay for an english class. We had to read a book call OROONOKO and write an essay analyzing it regarding human nature. It's interesting b/c the book is about African people being enslaved by the europeans and how that all goes- let me just say it isn't well!!

Writing about human nature! The book has African people, which i think represent people before humanness kicks in because they are pure and beautiful and innocent. Then the developed europeans, representing humanness, come in a steal these people- buy their innocence and make them change their names. Well how would you feel if that were to happen to you. Someone put a price on your identity?! Made you change your name and bought your innocence...

So I love this book b/c that is EXACTLY WHAT I SEE EVERYWHERE!!! It sucks that my essay is a literature essay and NOT a philosophical essay b/c I would sure put in my own opinion more than I have!! But really- look at this western world. If you wear all star shoes who are you? Kind of grunge. If you wear a popped collar who are you? A prep. If you have a coach bag you are you? An elite. If you wear sweats who are you? A bum! If you wear lulloolemons who are you? A yoga fan or just a fashion zombie! If you wear track pants- you are outdoorsy and athletic.

NAMES ARE LOST IN TRANSLATION! You are no longer jenny who likes yoga you are a yoga fan. You are no longer tommy who likes to skateboard you are a skater. This happens to us everyday and why do we accept it? Why do these seemingly insignificant things define us? Why is someone who has schizophrenia suddenly a schizophrenic? Not to take away from the pain of struggling through that or supporting someone who struggles through that. And not to say that schizophrenia is "seemingly insignificant" because it is NOT. That is not my intention. My intention is pose a question: where between being diagnosed does that person become their illness?

Similarly at what point does doing ballet define me as a ballerina? It's a fuzzy line and I don't know where it is- Im not pretending to know! Now, as my BEST FRIEND pointed out to me a while ago- humans need to categorize things so that they make sense to us. We need to say, oh yes this is like all the other things in column A so it belongs in column A. i.e. fruits and vegetables. But when did cucumbers and tomatoes become forgotten fruits?? I don't even know what I really mean by that other than there are always exceptions to the rules- there are always those who don't fit- there are always definitions and labels that don't make the cut. So why not just call it a tomato or a cucumber?! Because in calling them fruits or vegetables we may not quite grasp what one is trying to convey. And if the message being conveyed is getting confused regarding bloody FRUITS AND VEGETABLES- man that gets messy when we add in complications like HUMAN BEINGS!!!!

I don't even know how I got here, but it's my blog so that's ok with me! I got where I got talking about slavery and the purchasing of peoples identities and landed on tomatoes!! WOW!!! Im gifted!!!! By the way I love when you are little and you mum is like "hunny, can you help me make a salad- I would like all the vegetables for it" and you're like 8 or 9 and cocky because you go up to your mum with the tomato in your hand. Your hand is on your hip and you have your head tilted. In one hand is the tomato throwing it up in the air and catching it with the hand not on your hip and you're like "hey ma- did you know that, like, this isn't a vegetable!!" And you don't even wait for a reaction b/c you know you beat her!!! Or maybe I'm just talking about me now!!

Anyways- ponder that one for a while please! Does what you do define who you are? Or is it not what you do by who you are? Or is it not who you are or what you do but how you do what you do??

Love and Respect!