Just being yourself

How often do you get the advice to: “Just be yourself”? Whether it’s a job interview or the first visit to your mother in law, but what is “being yourself” exactly?

I’m a different person when I’m at home than when I leave the house. Fortunately, that’s  better for everyone. Today I am also a different person than I was yesterday. Sometimes I re-read something that I’ve written in a distant past. Like just now. Very nicely written, if I may say so myself. At the same time it’s also hard to imagine that I pulled that out of the hat. Was I like that back then? Did I think like that back then? Did I feel like that back then? That teaches me that thoughts and feelings are as changeable as I am. To retain an image of “this is who I am” doesn’t seem such a good idea.

We are all concerned with the question ‘Who am I?’ We try to describe ourselves on the basis of personal characteristics, qualities and experiences. In doing so we are immediately limited by language and context. Is it possible to express who we are with the resources we have? Then of course, the question remains whether others understand it or have the same perception of it.

We try to describe ourselves on the basis of personal characteristics, qualities and experiences.

Inner core

Is there not some sort of core in me? Such as a stone in the middle of a fruit. Or do we have all kinds of layers that you can peel off one by one without something in the middle remaining? Am I not a manufactured image that our creator has breathed life into? A kind of bubble? That at least requires a clear interior space and a wall that separates inside from outside.

I do believe that man experiences an inner and an outer world and that both worlds are inherent of each other. The outside world we experience in connection with others and society. It says something about who you are in relation to others. The inner world is about what remains unseen. A place where experiences are stored. A place where desire burns. A place where we relate to self values and meanings.

The inner world is about what remains unseen.

In my opinion, being yourself is equal to knowing yourself in that indoor and outdoor world. No doubt, -if you are really honest-, you regularly make new discoveries in your self image. No set rules but a journey full of surprises. A real adventure!

Floor