I cringe a little whenever someone asks me, "What do you do?" I realize that my response is about to put me in a box. They are asking because that is just how you start a conversation in America. (I've read that Europeans are more likely to ask, "Who is your family?") I dabble in painting, blogging, clothing design, photography, and parenthood. However, I don't find my identity in any of those activities.
After being asked that question several times last week, I started to have an identity crisis. I don't really know where I fit and started to desire a better "box" than any of my typical answers could provide. How do I see myself?
While I was reading Einstein by Walter Isaacson, I was getting excited about his "thought experiments" and feeling my brain expand. He worked in a patent office 8 hours a day, but you don't know him as a patent application reviewer. He managed his work and life in order to have space to think. And he came up with some pretty brilliant thoughts.
I started to see myself in his life. Then, a light bulb went off. That's when I realized that I am a thinker. I don't know if I'll ever come up with anything that anyone will remember, but this realization helped me to make sense of my life. I love literature and chemistry, art and math. I once was an accountant and now I am a clothing designer. How do all of those things go together? It's all about the idea. I already describe myself as loving "the spark of a new idea". Ideas light up my world. That's why I am a browser in activities. I love learning, and I'm always looking for new ideas.
As I construct my days and my weeks, I now realize that I have to allow myself space to think. I can look back and see that I start to go crazy when my schedule is so packed with activities and people that I can't let my brain breathe. I feel completely unbalanced when I can't THINK.
So, who are you? And what makes you feel most like you? Make sure you experience that often.
P.S.
How do we change the question "What do you do?" into something that will really tell us about who a person is?
After being asked that question several times last week, I started to have an identity crisis. I don't really know where I fit and started to desire a better "box" than any of my typical answers could provide. How do I see myself?
While I was reading Einstein by Walter Isaacson, I was getting excited about his "thought experiments" and feeling my brain expand. He worked in a patent office 8 hours a day, but you don't know him as a patent application reviewer. He managed his work and life in order to have space to think. And he came up with some pretty brilliant thoughts.
I started to see myself in his life. Then, a light bulb went off. That's when I realized that I am a thinker. I don't know if I'll ever come up with anything that anyone will remember, but this realization helped me to make sense of my life. I love literature and chemistry, art and math. I once was an accountant and now I am a clothing designer. How do all of those things go together? It's all about the idea. I already describe myself as loving "the spark of a new idea". Ideas light up my world. That's why I am a browser in activities. I love learning, and I'm always looking for new ideas.
As I construct my days and my weeks, I now realize that I have to allow myself space to think. I can look back and see that I start to go crazy when my schedule is so packed with activities and people that I can't let my brain breathe. I feel completely unbalanced when I can't THINK.
So, who are you? And what makes you feel most like you? Make sure you experience that often.
P.S.
How do we change the question "What do you do?" into something that will really tell us about who a person is?
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