Identity Through Awareness
What’s up friends? I want to start this week off by asking you a question: Who are you? I know that sounds either really deep and profound or really simple and easy. It probably sounds easy because it’s a question you can answer pretty straightforwardly if you start rattling off things that identify you like your job or place of employment; one of the many accomplishments you’ve made throughout your life; whether you start listing things that interest you, or if you connect yourself with a specific role you play in the lives of others (mother, father, brother, sister, cousin, etc.). You know that’s not where I’m going. I love you all for everything you’ve done and for all the things you intend to do, but I’m here asking you who you are on a deeper level. Specifically, who are you beneath all of these descriptors? In the Kind Rebirths world, I am asking you who you identify as through your awareness.
Before you answer that, think about this. Who we are, our identities, are clearly shaped over a long period of time. Our individual family and friend supports have taught us many things about ourselves. When we start looking at what we hope to achieve in life, those goals are largely created from the cultures we have been groomed in. Our individual experiences shape and mold many of the things we believe we can do and many of the things we can’t. When we win, we feel successful, and we acquire confidence. When we are disappointed, our insecurities our designed. Of course we are much more sophisticated than what is just listed here. We are complex and are a myriad of influences rolled up and woven into a grand story we tend to tell others when asked who we are. But when we open mindful awareness, we can examine our story (who we truly are) more acutely and more sincerely.
Don’t accept this as judgment. Some of you are just who you think you are. And again, I love that for you. Furthermore, an Identity Through Awareness is not about finding ways to reject our beliefs of ourselves nor does it negate all of the influences who have existed before us that have brought us to this moment. I don’t mean to imply that by looking through all the veils and illusions we will magically find some other being standing in the mirror looking back at us. What I mean to impart here is that this style of self-identity asks us to consciously and compassionately question if what we are carrying and hanging on to is still the most accurate reflection of who we are today. In some cases, it may innocently ask if the version of yourself you hold so dear is actually something created from within you rather than by external forces beyond you (society, genetics, traumas, etc.).
When we practice a mindful approach to awareness, our minds slow down just long enough that we can notice things like these, our thoughts and reactions, our choices and behaviors, or simply our routined behaviors. We can look at each with curiosity rather than accepting things at face value that we would normally just accept as truth. When we use a lens that focuses on honesty, we start to see clarity emerge (ABC – Awareness Builds Clarity).
As I mentioned above, we may see things we have already figured out about ourselves. And there is nothing wrong with that. However, we may also notice those things within us that we have outgrown, some anticipations and expectations that were inherited and never truly ours, or things we are just repeating over and over again over time. I don’t want you to think that the only goal that gets you ahead is one that involves you recreating, rebranding, or reinventing yourself. I just hope for us all that we can learn to know ourselves enough through awareness that we can recognize what truly belongs. Identity Through Awareness combines mindfulness and awareness in such a way that we can see more clearly, and then we can connect that to the person actually experiencing it. Let your Rebirth begin by recognizing yourself.
Stay mindful...
Rebirth.
