a discussion on identity

identity is tricky. and complicated. for me, identity has been a source of pain and strength. there is a fine line between the two. for me, my identity is not comprised of any one thing. there are a billion things that i feel have some weight in my life. my gender, my race, my nationality, my culture, my values, my sexuality, my freedom, my hobbies, my talents...the list goes on. some aspects of my life are more readily available for outsiders to pick up on. based on the color of my skin and the way my body is formed you'd most likely infer that i am a woman of color. but, how boring would it be to only be defined by TWO things. we might as well be robots!

i take pride and pleasure in celebrating my identity. everyday is not a celebration, but i make sure to really keep in mind who i am (a useful tool in making decisions). if you know who are it is hard to do things outside of your element. i won't steal because it is not in my nature to steal. i won't make blatantly racist or sexist remarks because i have internalized my identity as a woman of color, so doing that would ultimately hurt myself.

it is important to be truthful. not only to other people, but especially to yourself. lying to yourself and to others can really hurt you in the end, and it ultimately impedes the process of others achieving a level of honesty. if people did not take that step to come out as black (assuming they are ethnically ambiguous) or gay or transgender or even as activists for animals (this is a stretch), a lot of people would have lived there lives as scared, intimidated prisoners of their identity. i know not everyone will fight or wants to fight. i know people don't always want to take that challenge. it is a lot of work. but, someone's got to do it. and if you don't have anything to lose, why not do it? why not be courageous? and if you have something to lose, you should really evaluate that "something" and whether or not that "something" is really worth it.