The 30 | Identity
All Hallows Eve allows us to masquerade as ugly hobgoblins or sexy [insert normal costumes here]. But a holiday whose modern iteration relies on candy and frivolity also presents an opportunity for an inquiry of substantive depth.
What is your identity?
Like costumes, sometimes the visible reality obfuscates the truth. A reasonable person could equate the identity of rivers and seas with water. Yet might it be wood?
Or consider a hypothetical group of people who have never seen a tree. You lead them to a red maple in midsummer and return with them in tow this time of year. They might conclude that the Acer rubrum in fireball form isn't the same plant.
So what is identity?
Identity is an endless combinatorial query.
- The year you were born and what you've accomplished since.
- Your memories, your experiences, your clothes.
- A government agency. A government official.
- Your particular hobby or way more than a hobby.
- The number of followers of that particular hobby.
All of these. None of them, for some people. The important question: which parts of your identity are activated right now?
Alternately, I wonder what a change of identity would require. Education or marketing? A knife or a keystroke? Urgent compassion? A petty lack of it?
"My children, do not look for honey in a country that kills its bees."
Hm.
Being human demands a quantum state to sustain a body defined by contradictions and complexities. Identity fills this role because it exists as a simultaneous multiple. The foundational tenet of improv also captures these ideas with a much shorter sentence. Yes, and.
As you remove the masks and cloaks tonight, I wish you sugary treats and a full moon to illuminate your thoughts.