Identity has been on my mind recently.
I love when someone says something like “I am really into scuba diving” or “I go to Alaska every summer as a nature conservationist.” Passion seems to breed identity, as something a person stands for, what they love, and could talk about forever. Besides having a passion, these identity-defining statements say to me “I know what I am because I love something unconditionally, without needing it to fit into your idea of me.”
Identity is woven into every cell, and yet we go searching for it as if its hidden. I want to say things like “I love scuba diving” with a light in my eyes… thats when you know someone is in touch with themselves. They are letting themselves love what they really love. And in that moment, we have true relaxed happiness. Joy for joy without all the hangups.
One of the things I really loved as a child, that may have helped make me who I am today, is the Save The Whales game. Everyone chooses a small silver whale and off you go battling oil spills and trash dumps, until all the whales are in the safe haven in the middle of the board. I want to find my new Save the Whales as an adult. What makes me excited to play, what gets me going, involves me completely in the process? What is my next favorite thing that passionately makes me into who I am?
SHASHIN PER DAY: Living Japan 