Who Am I ?

Summer classes have begun.  For me, this means balancing two online classes with working, being a mom and a wife and a friend and a sister and a daughter ...  the list goes on.  This week this also means dealing with a broken dryer, a mess from Saturday's graduation party that is still not quite cleaned up, appointments with Air Force recruiter for one of my sons, rides to work for my other son, drop offs to UWGB drama camp for my daughter who forgot the all important eyeliner and hairbrush when she packed, bills to pay, groceries to buy, and still try to enjoy the gorgeous summer weather without getting a bleeding ulcer from the stress.  It is all worth it though, life, the chaos, is beautiful. 

One of my online courses is a class called "Thinking Critically and Creatively."  I mentioned this in one of my previous blogs, perhaps a bit in jest of the name of the course and how it relates to me.  Now that I am one week into it, I find this class to be beneficial in ways I had not expected.  One of our first assignments is to post about  "Who Am I?" on Discussion Board.  This, among other things occurring in my life, led me to think about how I would answer that question.  For our class, of course, our post requires us to relate our personal lives and who we are to what we have read in our book and state why we agree and disagree with what we learned from reading the chapter.  Yet thinking about it, this might be a beneficial and therapeutic exercise to reflect on our own lives and the "self" we present to other.  It got me thinking a lot about who I am, not only how I see myself, but how others perceive me.  And who is the true self?  There is often distinction between the working me, the mommy me, the crazy have a good time friend me, the wife me, and the inner nerd book reading glasses wearing dorky me.  More often than not, many of us wear so many different "hats" throughout each day of our lives that we lose who we really are.  Often we become something or present something to others to be accepted and to keep others happy.  It is human nature to want others to like us.  And for some of us, our own nature is to avoid conflict.  This might mean not showing our true self to everyone we relate to in life.  This might mean hiding behind a veil, or simply filtering ourselves so as not to rock the boat. 

Despite all of this, I have realized it is important not to compromise who we are to please others.  Not to lose our own soul and spirit just to fit in and be accepted.  I am often hesitant to speak my mind when my viewpoint opposes others, for fear of not only rejection but also offending others.  So I challenge all of you out there and I challenge myself to be who you are and show who you are, without fear.  Do this with class without offending others, but be consistent to who you are and what you want to be.  I could write a novel about who I really am, and it might surprise some of my friends and family members, but instead of writing it all here in this blog, I am going to live it.  This summer, I challenge you to do the same.  And if you know me personally and you have any question about who I am, I am open to telling you and answering questions.  However, I have spent much of my life saying it, but not showing it or doing it, and after all actions speak louder than words.