Who am I?
If we were to follow the example of Emily Dickinson’s poem “Who am I” we could conclude that we were nobody. Of course the point of her poem is that the opposite of nobody is somebody who has “to tell one’s name – the livelong June – to an admiring bog”.
It is a major political year in the United States near the end of which a new President of these United States will be selected. Already in the course of this election season many candidate have been labeled by those branding and marketing them, by the professional observers, the public and their opponents. None of the labels will suggest that the candidate is a “nobody”. Yet, it is important that the rest of us avoid the trap of thinking we know the particular candidate as a person. We will, of course, have to make an educated guess as to the character and ability of the candidates. The candidate himself or herself may, if not careful, adopt the persona which they took on or were assigned during the campaign.
All of us take on various roles in our community, work and personal lives. It is easy for any of us begin to identify with the role to the extent that we lose touch with who we thought we were or who we thought we were in the process of becoming. Often others help to facilitate this identification by identifying us as “white collar, attorney, laborer, health care worker, farmer, gentleman farmer, actor, politician, clerk, small business owner, information technologist specialist, repair person, clergy, writer, criminal, addict or some other label. None of these labels tell anyone much about our character.
I recall attending a weekend men’s retreat during which we were not permitted to reveal to the other participants what we did for work, our education, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation, race or cultural background. Even the costume/dress we wore was monitored.. The goal or challenge was to get to know each other in terms of core values.
In our school systems many of our students learn that they need to become educated for a work role or profession. They are often unable to clearly identify a core separate from that role. We would do well to help students identify a set of core values which delineate their character; who they are regardless of their education or physical ability. This core then defines their spiritual intentions regardless of the work role or costume. They become the people who first see a sacred individual whether that person is a customer, colleague, patient, inmate, or neighbor. They become that person who others describe as the same person regardless of the setting in which one encounters them.
The nobody in Emily Dickinson’s poem is that person who we are when no one is looking; when there is not an admiring bog. This is the nobody all of us can take to our jobs and other roles. It is our core self.
Written March 10, 2020
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
If we were to follow the example of Emily Dickinson’s poem “Who am I” we could conclude that we were nobody. Of course the point of her poem is that the opposite of nobody is somebody who has “to tell one’s name – the livelong June – to an admiring bog”.
It is a major political year in the United States near the end of which a new President of these United States will be selected. Already in the course of this election season many candidate have been labeled by those branding and marketing them, by the professional observers, the public and their opponents. None of the labels will suggest that the candidate is a “nobody”. Yet, it is important that the rest of us avoid the trap of thinking we know the particular candidate as a person. We will, of course, have to make an educated guess as to the character and ability of the candidates. The candidate himself or herself may, if not careful, adopt the persona which they took on or were assigned during the campaign.
All of us take on various roles in our community, work and personal lives. It is easy for any of us begin to identify with the role to the extent that we lose touch with who we thought we were or who we thought we were in the process of becoming. Often others help to facilitate this identification by identifying us as “white collar, attorney, laborer, health care worker, farmer, gentleman farmer, actor, politician, clerk, small business owner, information technologist specialist, repair person, clergy, writer, criminal, addict or some other label. None of these labels tell anyone much about our character.
I recall attending a weekend men’s retreat during which we were not permitted to reveal to the other participants what we did for work, our education, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliation, race or cultural background. Even the costume/dress we wore was monitored.. The goal or challenge was to get to know each other in terms of core values.
In our school systems many of our students learn that they need to become educated for a work role or profession. They are often unable to clearly identify a core separate from that role. We would do well to help students identify a set of core values which delineate their character; who they are regardless of their education or physical ability. This core then defines their spiritual intentions regardless of the work role or costume. They become the people who first see a sacred individual whether that person is a customer, colleague, patient, inmate, or neighbor. They become that person who others describe as the same person regardless of the setting in which one encounters them.
The nobody in Emily Dickinson’s poem is that person who we are when no one is looking; when there is not an admiring bog. This is the nobody all of us can take to our jobs and other roles. It is our core self.
Written March 10, 2020
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
RSS Feed