Take a few minutes and write down 15 words that describe who you are. Reflect on your list, and circle the most important descriptor. Now, review the list:
- Are the majority of the words roles and responsibilities (e.g., parent, child, relative, job)?
- How many are adjectives (e.g., physical characteristics, intellectual, temperaments)?
- Which descriptors are self-given? How many are ways that people describe you?
Finally, mark those words that describe you as an individual and which describe you in relation to others.
It seems that we -- and others -- select words that describe the multiple facets of who we are in this world. We try to understand how we are similar or different.
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| How do I define myself? (Photo credit: Cedric Richmond, Jr., Pledge of Allegiance, CNN.com) |
Political conventions and campaigns use many labels to differentiate the candidates -- and followers -- from The Other. Watching this week's Democratic Convention I noticed that I was "at home" (belonged) with some speeches but "felt distant" or separated from others. I wonder if it will be the same next week while watching the Republican Convention?
Do I accept and perpetuate only those labels that bring me together with like-minded people? Maybe I also accept and perpetuate labels that separate me from people who think differently.
Thirteen-year old Brayden Harrington spoke at the last night of the Democratic Convention. He exemplified how labels can be overcome: rather than being boxed in or shamed as a stutterer, he described how this characteristic allowed him to connect with another life-long stutterer, Joe Biden. The courage of speaking out drew these two people together, to go beyond the label and see the true person.
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| How do we define ourselves? (Photo credit: RNC Convention 2016, USNews.com, Dominick Reuter/AFP/Getty Images) |
Thirteen-year old Brayden Harrington spoke at the last night of the Democratic Convention. He exemplified how labels can be overcome: rather than being boxed in or shamed as a stutterer, he described how this characteristic allowed him to connect with another life-long stutterer, Joe Biden. The courage of speaking out drew these two people together, to go beyond the label and see the true person.
Going back to your list of descriptors and the one circled as the most important: how did it feel to limit yourself to one label? Does this label connect you with others?
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| How do others define us? (Photo credit: Brayden Harrington, DNC Convention 2020, Indiana Express) |
I wonder how often our labels (of self and about others) are used to:
- Build up or tear down?
- Encourage exploration or hold us back?
- Create relationships or separate us?
May Labels Used invite us to dialogue on their meaning and history. May we seek courage to not allow labels to overrule the most important aspects of ourselves. And may labels be used to bridge our differences.
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