A Journey of Self-Discovery and Self-Initiation
A Journey of Self-Discovery and Self-Initiation What is identity and how is it that we are socially defined by this one word? This term is so much more complex than the simple idea people give to it, the idea that identity is what makes us who we are. Individuals are made of what makes them themselves, nothing else. Our values, ideas, and beliefs make us who we are. Certain factors that also make a person who they are usually include their families, cultures, and people that they associate with. To try to centralize someone’s identity is impossible because no one has just one thing that makes them who they are. Creating one’s identity is a continuous labyrinth of ideas, likes, dislikes, and other factors that somehow end at one person and affect their whole character. Having read Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama over the summer, I found out how he formed his true identity through the knowledge he gained of the different events and episodes of his life. Some people find out who they are at a very young age, but for others it becomes a constant struggle to find out the true person that they are; and even after finding it, it isn’t easy to sustain. Your true identity is something that can never be taken from you; it is yours and yours alone. Barack’s story is not unlike mine, yet he has had to go through a lot more than I did, but we all have our own path and our own obstacles to overcome.
Other things that aid in finding your identity are the places you grew up in and the people in them because they factor in your social being and sense of community. A community is generally defined as a group of people of similar background who have the same issues and view life in the same way. These people in neighborhoods, towns, states, and other countries that make up small communities are very important and are never really forgotten because they are the people we identify ourselves with. Barack Obama discusses how identity is formed
Other things that aid in finding your identity are the places you grew up in and the people in them because they factor in your social being and sense of community. A community is generally defined as a group of people of similar background who have the same issues and view life in the same way. These people in neighborhoods, towns, states, and other countries that make up small communities are very important and are never really forgotten because they are the people we identify ourselves with. Barack Obama discusses how identity is formed
Cited: Obama, Barack. Dreams of My Father. Rev, ed. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004. Print.