How can I possibly summarize the last twenty-three years in a sentence or a word? Several words come to mind: love, joy, change. Although these words represent me, they fall short of the true reality. When you look into the mirror what do you see? Do you see yourself, or do you see someone that you don’t recognize? Is that person in the mirror who you want him or her to be?
Who am I? This is one of the greatest questions ever asked by mankind. It is a question that people must answer to find meaning in their lives. I have asked myself this question on many occasions. At points in my life the answers have been different. When I was nineteen, I was at North Idaho College spending time with friends and trying to find myself. I was a religious wanderer who wanted answers. At twenty, I married the most wonderful woman and had a new family. She was a Catholic and challenged some of my religious assumptions. My son was born when I was twenty-one. I became a family man and the quest for meaning became urgent. I graduated from college at twenty-two ending that part of my life. The following January my wife and I found out that we were having another baby. At twenty-three I began graduate school. So, who am I?
The history that I have presented barely scratches the surface of who I was at any given point. Looking back I cannot clearly express who I was at any given time because I place the new me into the past. The saying goes, “The whole is greater than the sum of the parts it’s made of.” This is most true in answering the question “who am I.” I am greater than the sum of my parts. I exist at a particular time and in a specific place. My friendships define me, for I cannot escape those closest to me. My interests dictate the future.
Who am I? The “I” that I am cannot be pinned down. There is something within me that makes me who I am, but that something is always forming, changing, adapting, and hopefully growing. The truth is I am merely a “who” living at a certain “time” that experiences certain “events”. Hence the title for this blog: Time + Events = Life. That is who I am!? Am I an individual? Can anyone truly be an individual? I will explore this idea next time.
The realization of who I am has given me the chance to start over. I can look at myself and the world anew. Another saying goes, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” This statement could not be any more true. I cannot become my true self unless I am willing to let change enter my heart and let new beginnings take hold in my life.
In this blog, I’m setting out to explore the nature of life. It is my desire to take life on its own terms although I have begun to come to some conclusions. I have purposely left the direction of this blog open ended because I want life to follow its own course. Please walk with me and enjoy a new beginning.
Filed under: Events, Life, Philosophy, Relationships, Religion, Time, Uncategorized
