Expression

“Who am I?”

There comes a point in everybody’s life in which they ask this very question. 

“Who am I?”

This question is often posed during one’s formative years and answering this question is supposed to be the path forward - the path to happiness, wealth, love, and meaning. 

The prevalence of this question would lead us to believe that the answer is similarly common. However, this is not the case. A large number of modern lives are lived from beginning to end while this question remains unanswered. In order to truly understand the origin of “self”, in order to find the answer to the question, “Who am I?” it is essential to understand what really makes a human being exactly that - human.

In the simplest of terms, a human is a mishmash of chemicals jammed together into a frame of bones and muscles. Now, knowing the beautiful complexity of a human being, this way of thinking does not do us justice. To be more accurate, a human being is an aggregate of genetic traits that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Some of these traits have been physically expressed while some have been repressed. Outward appearance, the characteristics that make you look the way you do, is all due to the expression of genes.

Physical appearance is not the only hallmark of human beings, though. What truly distinguishes human beings from the rest of the animal kingdom is not the size of our brains, our genetic makeup, our ability to communicate, or even the fact that we are bipedal. None of these are what make us truly special. 

For instance, the average human brain weighs a little less than three pounds whereas a whale’s brain could weigh eighteen. In 1990, the Human Genome Project set out to map the entire genetic makeup of a human to show how unique we really are, only to find in 2005 that we share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees. Yes, humans communicate with language, but our language can be mimicked by other animals like a parrot. Yes, humans are bipedal but even a lowly cockroach has been known to walk upon its two hind legs as the situation requires. 

What truly sets humans apart from the entirety of the animal kingdom is our self-expression. The ability to travel anywhere in the world and find a different style of clothing or a different genre of music. The privilege of walking through the Life West campus, never to find the same personality twice. Inner personality, the characteristics that make you love, think, hope, and dream the way you do, is all due to expression of self.

We cannot possibly answer the question, “Who am I?” until we learn to fully express ourselves. And too often, for lack of any true insight, we define ourselves by the people surrounding us. We hide our own form of expression for fear of disapproval. Sometimes we express ourselves in a way that is completely out of character or even deny our self-expression altogether. But how can others truly accept us if we cannot fully accept ourselves?

To be unique and different is to be human. And to deny our self-expression is to deny the only thing that makes us truly human. So I ask you this…

“Who are you?”