Art by Kat Cameron for Team Kitten
If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when? ~Rabbi Hillel
We tend to define ourselves by the roles that we play in life and base our decisions on the expectations associated with those roles.
We define ourselves by our relationships (e.g. I am a loving daughter/son, I am a single mother/father, I am a wife/husband, I am a best friend), groups we are a part of (e.g. I am a Buddhist, I am a New York Yankees supporter, I’m a punk, I’m a hip hopper), our geographical location (e.g. I’m an Australian, I’m a Californian, I’m a New Yorker) and by our practices (e.g. I am vegetarian/vegan, I’m a golfer, I’m a painter). While these things all represent different aspects of us they are not who we are at the ultimate core of our being.
You can change your job, you can move cities, change relationships, your ideas, your wants (desires) but who you are at your core is perpetual without beginning or end. It’s the one thing that is with us for life. You can’t get away as much as you try (ha!) I believe that who you are at your core can never be lost completely… despite how much we try to bury ourselves under ‘stuff’ or activities we distract ourselves with.
I came across an exercise in one of my favourite books: The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga by my man Deepak Chopra which has helped me get to the core of it all, of myself. It’s helped me think about and understand who I really am and what I really want. It’s helped give me a solid platform, a starting point to take off from whatever the destination.
Deepak asks us to ask three questions that are essential to ask ourselves:
1) Who am I?
2) What do I want?
3) How can I serve?
I thought I’d share the exercise with y’all here. Hope it’s helpful! Here goes:
Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed for a few moments. Sit down, close your eyes, start with some slow deep breaths, and settle into the awareness of your heart area. At around 15 second intervals ask yourself, who am I? Who am I really? At first you may get answers like the above mentioned. Keep asking yourself over and over until answers arise for deeper within. Then repeat the exercise asking the other two questions.
I’ve found that this exercise has help raise my awareness on so many levels. It’s something super easy that anyone can do regardless of religion, cultural background etc. I dare you to try it ;)
“My philosophical belief in life is that we have a meaning and a purpose for being here. All of what we do is important to drive towards that purpose. That comes from a spiritual place. It’s not necessarily a God or set of laws that’s in a scripture. We have an obligation to do our best and reach our goals that were meant for us… Everything I do is part of my purpose or meaning in life. That’s what guides my decisions.”
~Louis Posen, Hopeless & Subcity Records (book extract).
Please take the time to check out the Take Action Tour that Louis has helped create. His work has raised over 2 million dollars and has been donated to over 50 non-profit organizations. We CAN make a difference!
Happy exploration!
