Sunday Musings - January 22, 2023
Who am I?
The question of who we are can be asked in a number of different ways with the intent on arriving at who one is in terms of biology, occupation, spiritual beliefs, place/nationality, or an artificial construct such as race or gender.
I identify as:
o A biologically male person.
o A finely tuned and rather complicated assembly of organs, tissues, fascia, blood, water, bones and other parts.
o A single person; a divorced person living alone.
o A father whose son chooses to not have a relationship with him.
o A citizen of the United States who does not identify as American but one who lives and pays taxes in a section of the Americas.
o A citizen or the Universes
o A person who was born in 1940
o A legal resident of the city of Wheeling, West Virginia and of the state of West Virginia thus obligating me to pay city and state taxes in those places.
o A mutt in terms of biological lineage with roots in many different parts of this planet.
o A person who appears to be a Caucasian male and, thus, has the privileges given to those who appear to be Caucasian males in this culture.
o A person who is graced with a safe, pleasant home, a safe vehicle, a well-stocked pantry and enough money to pay essentials such as utilities.
o A person who has the good fortune to work at an occupation for which he has a passion.
o A person whose spiritual framework has been the Christian religion but who borrows from the teachings of Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammed and many others.
o A person who understands himself to be a necessary but not sufficient part of the whole of the universe.
o A person who has not always nurtured relationships/friendships well, but who now understand this to be a primary and necessary core value.
o A person who is able to experience joy in one hand and grief in the other.
o A person who has a great passion for friendships, food, music, dance, paintings, sculptures and other art forms.
o A person — an animal - who has an interdependent relationship with other people, animals, plants, earth itself and the universes.
o A person who has the responsibility and the privilege of carrying ancestors in his DNA and who will soon join that group of ancestors somewhere in the universe.
o A person who has strong beliefs but knows that his perspective if very limited.
o A person who was raised close to the earth and is perhaps more at ease with the earth and animals than other humans.
o A person who often can speak with authority but who always questioned his own opinions.
o A person who enjoys the company of those who exhibit those qualities more often in this culture labeled as feminine and thus, enjoys the company of those whose life dance reflect those qualities.
o A person who is primarily sexually attracted to biological males.
o A person who is a compilation of contradictions.
o A person whose “soul” cannot be contained in any term or concept; a “soul” which is pure energy, the form of which may change but which is eternal.
Who am I? I am all the above and both more and less than the above. Some would suggest, as did Rene Descartes, “I think therefore I am.” Who am I? A thinking person. Jean Paul Sartre suggested that the meaning of life is that which we create. I am thus a creator. Many religious persons would suggest that we are children of God whose meaning or purpose is to obey certain rules which some called prophets attributed to the God of their understanding. My purpose thus is to prepare for eternal life - post human death. Some equate the nebulous concept of consciousness with the essence of who we are as humans. Others suggest that our purpose is to recreate ourselves in the form of artificial intelligence.
There is no shortage of attempts to intuit or posit the meaning of life which, in turn, will answer the questions of who we are as humans; whether we have a purpose other than to perform our brief job of honoring our part in the ecology of the universe.
One might ask the reason for this question. Some might suggest that all the attempts to identify who we are as humans and, thus, the meaning of this brief existence, is to avoid the reality that we are all dancers on the stage of life; that indeed, as Shakespeare suggested “All the world is a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts. His acts being seven ages.” He then goes on to name the ages: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, second childishness. (“As You Like It”, Act II, Scene VII.
One could ask, “Who will I be today?” Will I be the friend, the creator, the servant, the master, the rock, or the sand? Perhaps a combination.
I once spent many hours seeking the essence of a mountain stream in Alaska. It was obvious that the bed, sides, water, rocks, and dirt were in a constant state of flux and, yet there was a core something all intuitively knew was the river. What does our intuition tell us is the equivalent core of who we are? Is it what we leave in our wake to create the banks, sides, bed, and dirt or the act of constant recreation itself?
Written January 21, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Who am I?
The question of who we are can be asked in a number of different ways with the intent on arriving at who one is in terms of biology, occupation, spiritual beliefs, place/nationality, or an artificial construct such as race or gender.
I identify as:
o A biologically male person.
o A finely tuned and rather complicated assembly of organs, tissues, fascia, blood, water, bones and other parts.
o A single person; a divorced person living alone.
o A father whose son chooses to not have a relationship with him.
o A citizen of the United States who does not identify as American but one who lives and pays taxes in a section of the Americas.
o A citizen or the Universes
o A person who was born in 1940
o A legal resident of the city of Wheeling, West Virginia and of the state of West Virginia thus obligating me to pay city and state taxes in those places.
o A mutt in terms of biological lineage with roots in many different parts of this planet.
o A person who appears to be a Caucasian male and, thus, has the privileges given to those who appear to be Caucasian males in this culture.
o A person who is graced with a safe, pleasant home, a safe vehicle, a well-stocked pantry and enough money to pay essentials such as utilities.
o A person who has the good fortune to work at an occupation for which he has a passion.
o A person whose spiritual framework has been the Christian religion but who borrows from the teachings of Jesus, the Buddha, Mohammed and many others.
o A person who understands himself to be a necessary but not sufficient part of the whole of the universe.
o A person who has not always nurtured relationships/friendships well, but who now understand this to be a primary and necessary core value.
o A person who is able to experience joy in one hand and grief in the other.
o A person who has a great passion for friendships, food, music, dance, paintings, sculptures and other art forms.
o A person — an animal - who has an interdependent relationship with other people, animals, plants, earth itself and the universes.
o A person who has the responsibility and the privilege of carrying ancestors in his DNA and who will soon join that group of ancestors somewhere in the universe.
o A person who has strong beliefs but knows that his perspective if very limited.
o A person who was raised close to the earth and is perhaps more at ease with the earth and animals than other humans.
o A person who often can speak with authority but who always questioned his own opinions.
o A person who enjoys the company of those who exhibit those qualities more often in this culture labeled as feminine and thus, enjoys the company of those whose life dance reflect those qualities.
o A person who is primarily sexually attracted to biological males.
o A person who is a compilation of contradictions.
o A person whose “soul” cannot be contained in any term or concept; a “soul” which is pure energy, the form of which may change but which is eternal.
Who am I? I am all the above and both more and less than the above. Some would suggest, as did Rene Descartes, “I think therefore I am.” Who am I? A thinking person. Jean Paul Sartre suggested that the meaning of life is that which we create. I am thus a creator. Many religious persons would suggest that we are children of God whose meaning or purpose is to obey certain rules which some called prophets attributed to the God of their understanding. My purpose thus is to prepare for eternal life - post human death. Some equate the nebulous concept of consciousness with the essence of who we are as humans. Others suggest that our purpose is to recreate ourselves in the form of artificial intelligence.
There is no shortage of attempts to intuit or posit the meaning of life which, in turn, will answer the questions of who we are as humans; whether we have a purpose other than to perform our brief job of honoring our part in the ecology of the universe.
One might ask the reason for this question. Some might suggest that all the attempts to identify who we are as humans and, thus, the meaning of this brief existence, is to avoid the reality that we are all dancers on the stage of life; that indeed, as Shakespeare suggested “All the world is a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts. His acts being seven ages.” He then goes on to name the ages: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, second childishness. (“As You Like It”, Act II, Scene VII.
One could ask, “Who will I be today?” Will I be the friend, the creator, the servant, the master, the rock, or the sand? Perhaps a combination.
I once spent many hours seeking the essence of a mountain stream in Alaska. It was obvious that the bed, sides, water, rocks, and dirt were in a constant state of flux and, yet there was a core something all intuitively knew was the river. What does our intuition tell us is the equivalent core of who we are? Is it what we leave in our wake to create the banks, sides, bed, and dirt or the act of constant recreation itself?
Written January 21, 2023
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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