Classified Information: I have had “Identity” partially drafted somewhere in a dusty corner, after a tug of war I decided to pick it off the shelf and share it with the world as my muse inspired me to.
Identity according to the Oxford dictionary means “The fact of being who or what a person or thing is” It is also defined in the same dictionary as “The characteristics determining who or what a person or thing is”
Let’s start with two questions, who are you? sounds cliche right?. If you have an answer to this question, let’s take it a step further, have you ever felt the loss of your identity? (If you have, we are sitting on this table together 😄)
I would leave you to ponder on the answer to the above questions. However I would just like to quickly share my perspective on identity.
Image source: Photo by Ben Sweet on Unsplash
Some years ago, I lost my identity😭 I’m sure you are wondering how? oh well!, my identity, who I was at the very core of my being was tied to morals externally instilled in me by my society, community and basically what everyone who had a say about my upbringing defined me with and also who I was to be, and so when I decided to chart my path and discard all the rules defining the identity drummed into my head, I realized I felt totally lost and I was basically looking for a pointer to who I really was.
But all thanks to the creator all that is in the past and well let’s take the spotlight away from me. If you love to watch animations, did you watch Moana? When Moana embarked on her journey to destiny just like you and I are currently on a journey, she definitely faced too many storms and challenges for such a little girl, but then remember when she had to sing I am Moana, she was ready to throw in the towel at that point, then her grandma queries “Do you know who you are?” she answered by asking herself again “who am I?” and finally she found the answer to her identity from within.
Remember Nala from Lion King, she said “I laugh in the face of danger“, Nala could laugh in the face of danger because she grew up as a lioness, as royalty, in the royal courts, she was not rolling around with Pumba and Timon(no offense, they are still my favorite characters), hence why she was motivating Simba to take up the battle for his destiny (being the rightful king of the land), she definitely knew as a princess that she was a future queen and no way would she allow Simba take that away from her 😃🙅♀️
Simba finally accepted to fight for his destiny by also discovering his Identity, a quick flashback to when Mufasa appeared to Simba, and told him to remember “who he was“. Immediately Simba said “I am Simba son of Mufasa“, an awakening came for him he realized he had every right to the land and to be a king as he was destined to be. He not only knew who he was but also his source/origin i. e son of Mufasa 🤩😄
Image source: https://images.app.goo.gl/7RN3urBPBqBXJbBU9
Sincerely after all is said and done, I hope you realize how important it is to know who you are and that your identity is not tied to the external world around you. More importantly, in the words of Keion Henderson “You had better know who and whose you are“
Let’s backtrack to my first question, who are you? and more importantly whose are you?
P.S: Viva La vida