Let me tell you
    what I am not.

I am not my thoughts.
    Thoughts come and go.
What I think now
    is not what I thought
5, 10 years ago,
    and what I think today
won't be my thoughts
    5, 10 years from now.
My thoughts at some point
    may become jumbled and unfocused.
I am not my thoughts.

I am not my body.
    Fascinating, isn't it,
how every seven years,
    all the living cells in our bodies
will be replaced.
    This won't be the body I have
seven years from now.
    And when my body betrays me,
as it inevitably will,
    I will still be.
I am not my body.

Nor am I my accomplishments.
    These are equally transient,
and someday–sooner than I think–
    they will be forgotten.
I am not my accomplishments.

I am not my beliefs.
    Beliefs, too, are fleeting,
changing (hopefully)
    as I mature and gain wisdom.
No, I am also not my beliefs.

I am not the labels I cling to:
    Democrat or Republican,
Liberal or Conservative,
    Christian, Jew or Muslim.
Labels are merely words,
    and I am not mere words.
I am not my labels.

Which begs the question,
    Who am I? Who is this I to which I refer?
Who–or what–is my essential self?

I wonder…

Text and image © 2025 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.

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