Defining Ourselves
One day I decided to define myself. At that moment I made a piece of artwork. On it I put some fractals and a string of text. The text simply said “I am that I am, for I am what I perceive myself to be. I am truth for I believe it. I am love, for I conceive it.
This was just a definition of what I was to myself at that exact moment. I can not define you. I can label you and put you into boxes, to help me better understand who you are. But ultimately that will never give me a truly clear picture of who you are.
Today a friend of mine was very upset, they stated that we didn’t see them for who they were. This is of course true, since I can not see from their perspective. I have chosen to define everything in life differently than they do. My words are linked to associations and pictures that have nothing to do with what their associations show them. So how could I possibly see them for who they want me to see?
From my current perspective most things I see around me are defined by the separation. If you were to look at a map, you could point to the Atlantic Ocean. When you talk about it you refer to it as one thing. However the only thing that separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Pacific Ocean is perceived distance. You could choose to see it as one ocean, two oceans, or zillions of waves and particles. All of them are valid in this reality.
If I were to see from the slice of perspective that my friend has then everything they ever said and believed is true. His knowledge of life, his understanding of science and philosophy, simply everything.
Thing is, I cannot see from that perspective. Nobody but my friend can. Perhaps if I were to move into a higher dimension, where I could reflect on their experiences then I could understand it better. However unless I truly became my friend I would never fully understand him.
How I see it, there is no reason to be upset by what other people think and understand because they are not you.
Life is a repeating pattern of the same thing over and over, seen from a different point of view. That is part of what makes it so beautiful. Ask somebody today what the most beautiful thing they have ever seen is. Each person who takes the time to come up with an answer will have a totally unique story. A description of something that you would have never seen. Sure, you can understand some of what makes it beautiful to them, but had you seen the exact same thing as them at the exact moment you would have seen it totally different.
Everybody gets butt hurt sometimes. We take something personally that we shouldn’t. Perhaps it’s from a relative, a friend, or even a television commercial. We start to expect certain things. We EXPECT that somebody will respect us, or will validate us in our ideas. We expect a little common courtesy and some empathy. Then our expectations get broken. Since even if the other person thinks they are being respectful and courteous their idea of what that is will still be different than yours. Nobody will always give you exactly want you want all the time, no matter how much they love you.
So why let somebody define you? Why even define yourself? Each thing you define by limits you. It is true that there are many things that are convenient to have structure and labels, but as a human being you are beyond labels. You are beyond all things I can ever imagine. You are who you are, and you will always be. Yet day to day who you are will change. Each day you will have a little different view on even the same things.
This too is just a limited perspective. A piece of writing can never encompass how people will interpret the words. It is simply a place to start. A place to begin to create your own truth, and to start letting go of the labels you put on yourself. When you really understand who you are, nobody will ever be able to hurt you.
Unless of course you want them to….



