Your Voice: Embracing the power of the undefined

Whenever I open my eyes at the beginning of every new day, I try to remind myself of three essential things of my existence: I am human, I breathe air, and I belong to the land. 

Detachment is a release from every desire to let worldly objects define who you truly are. It is a humble reminder that no matter what title you may have before your name or how much money you have in the bank, you go back to these essential things, which does not distinguish you from any other human. It is a reminder that your soul is bigger than being encapsulated into labels that define you. 

The practice of looking at myself with a fresh eye everyday gives me the chance to get to know myself better, with no outside factors playing a role on defining the “me” I have hidden inside.

Any limitations in life, e.g., nationality, last name, religion or faith, job, even one’s past or mistakes; are tools that formed from experiences in life that you utilize to guide you, or even help you make a decision, but should never define you or put a label on you. Once you are defined by one of these, then you have fallen into a hole deeper than you would ever realize. 

When you define yourself by one thing, you trap it, putting a cage around your limits. Even your thoughts and opinions are not who you are. You might feel strongly about an issue or matter, but your existence does not evolve around it, it is not your core value. Centering ourselves into worldly objects makes us more vulnerable by binding ourselves to these labels and disregarding our true worth of being able to live a creative multidimensional life.

Humans tend to make definitions of themselves cored around a tiny part of their totalities. I once asked someone close to me to introduce himself as if we just met; and I was shocked when that person kept centering all of his sentences around work, even though there is more to his great soul than just that. The case here is that he has, unconsciously, built cages around that soul by allowing his job — that he is so passionate about — to take control over all other aspects of his life. He associated his self-worth with his job. 

This reminds me of a line I came across that has changed the way I think of myself; it says that we do not have to be nouns but verbs. Do not say you are a writer, say you write. This way, we do not limit our experience and our identities to what we do, but can be fluid and live multidimensionally. A job is something you do, it is not something you are. It is part of your definition, it is not your whole identity.

Your Voice reflects the thoughts and opinions of the writer and not necessarily those of the publication.