Who Am I

      

Someone's spirit, however, has no name;  it is pure truth and inhabits a particular body for a certain period of time, and will, one day, leave it.  ...  The great mystics changed their names, and sometimes abandoned them altogether.  When John the Baptist was asked who he was, he said only: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness."  ... When Moses asked God his name, back came the reply:  "I am who I am."  

THE WINNER STANDS ALONE by Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho is one of the most widely read authors in the world and was named a United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2007.  I have read all of his books and I have my definite favorites.  He is widely known for his book entitled, THE ALCHEMIST.   If you have not read it, please do, as it is a classic.

"For that is the essence of life:  the ability to love, not the name we carry around on our passport, business card, and identity card," states Mr. Coelho.  And yet one of the first things we learn is our name.  Many of us are born with very lengthy family names or named after historical figures.  We abbreviate our given names in our youth and acquire 'nick names' as we navigate through education. In our careers, we work towards titles or letters to be added behind our names.  We marry and change our names or for whatever reason take on entirely different identities.  Even God has endless names...Yahweh, Divine Spirit, Allah, Creator, Father, Jehovah, King of Kings, etc... and yet God replies to Moses "I am who I am."

After all the naming is said and done, we still may have no sense of who we really are.  As Paulo Coelho says, the essence of life is not about a name.  

Once I attended a party and very few people knew each other.  As an 'ice breaker'  the host created a game that  disallowed anyone to say who they were.  Each person was required to respond with information about himself or herself while engaged in conversation, but could not reveal an occupation or current business association.  

We learned a lot about ourselves as we struggled to represent our life without our socially acceptable portrait.  The experience was awkward, soul searching, and at times quite humorous, but the essence of our life was more forthcoming than normal.

I believe it is imperative to frequently ask one self:

What is the essence of my life?

Who am I ?

No, really.

Who am I?