The mosaic of our identity is crafted through our lifetime by the beliefs that we hold and the experiences that we share with others. Each life experience is a small piece of the puzzle that comes together to craft an artwork describing the integral portions of our identity. This artwork is then presented to the public through our actions towards others leaving the individual’s identity to be perceived through on the viewer’s interpretation. Sometimes, this interpretation is drastically different than its intended result. I admit I have made generalizations of individuals by not allowing myself look at the whole mosaic of their personality and instead only small portions of it. The true level of uniqueness in each individual was, for me, often overlooked and generalized; people fit into tight boxes with only the portions of the personality I quickly accepted. It was not until my high school junior year that I was able to begin to understand my ignorance. In my junior year, …show more content…
That day I gained a friend and a new understanding of the complexities of human beings.
Not only in this experience did I learn to overlook previous judgments, but it also taught me to recognize the diversity of others. I continue to study, learning of the complexity of emotion and the human experience by listening to the stories of the people around me.
When I volunteer at church to when I meet new people in class, I always strive to view the world from the eyes of the other individual to see their reasoning and the way they present their own identity. On this journey to understanding, my identity continues to evolve as I challenge myself to leave my comfort zone and look at the world from different perspectives. I am always trying to improve my own mosaic of identity, adding new colors and patterns to it with the people I meet every
The public self is often times not the true self. This indication of a difference between the public and true self leads to the idea that the self and identity of an individual are different concepts. The self, is a person’s essential being that makes each individual unique compared to others; whereas the identity, is a person’s character that is essentially created to help the individual fit into society. These two concepts begin to form early in life through influences from society, family, and culture. However, as the individual beings to assimilate the world around them, their sense of identity transforms in order to adapt to the new environment, while their sense of self remains the same.
When the world we live in is viewed from an anonymous, unbiased standpoint the individuality of ‘I’ has a tendency to diminish away and be replaced by a society of eyes. Who view one’s identity differently then what the individual can see. Life moves on whether we like it or not and how individuals view themselves verses how others perceive them can leave a lasting impression. Everyone has a unique identity and perspective of the world they live in. The way individuals see themselves may appear to be different than what others see in them because of different values, morals and characteristics that shape’s ones identity.
Interactions between people are never ending. The effects of one conversation could affect the outcome of that person’s life, consequently changing their identity completely. There comes a time, though, when dealing with others confident in their identities, where one must ask themselves the personal question of “who am I?”. No matter if you’ve just stumbled upon this question, in the process of discovering the answer, consistently changing your answer, or confident in your answer, the people around you are the ones you have to thank for molding your personal identity.
I learned to respect differences in people, appreciate the value of good health, and the little things in
As I explored the aspects of identity through filling out the social identity wheel, I was able to distinguish the elements which make up my social identity and make note of the ones which I was most aware of. Through this exercise I began to realize that my age, gender, and religion were all aspects which heavily influence my everyday life. I may not be intentionally thinking of these things during an ordinary day, but I deem them as primary aspects due to the fact that they shape many of my routine happenings. For example, here on campus I try to attend the church service at St. Paul’s on as many Sundays as time allots. Luckily enough, a few girls on my floor are also interested in this so we often attend as a group. This heavily correlates
Understanding one's own personal identity can help to shape a stronger sense of self and develop empathy for
A Lifeless Society by Joseph Heutel British Literature Period 6 January 30, 2017 Freedom and identity is something that we today never think of not having, it never comes to us. What would a life without our own freedom and identity be like, having no say in anything we, just be alive but not truly living. We have to think to ourselves how much do relay on our freedom and having our own identity. They make us who we are, having a choice of having a mind that you get to explore and be one of a kind. Aldous Huxley tries to show us what life would be with the loss of freedom and identity.
“We are not born knowing who we are or what our place is in the social landscape; we learn to be American or Japanese, male or female, husband or wife, or Amy, Richard, Micheal, Rachel, or Rebecca.” Our identities are constructed by this “social landscape”. The social construction of identity takes place by living life through first hand experiences and through certain social circumstances. Amartya Sen says,” Classification is certainely cheap, but identity is not. More interestingly, whether a particular classification can plausibly generate a sense of identity or not must depend on the social circumstances.” Identity is a complex matter but can be defined in simple terms. It is who you are. Your personality, the way you act in response to
Having the opportunity to learn, gave me the privilege to increase my intelligence and figure out ways to instantly apply that knowledge to my life. There were many times when I’d learn a new word and then I’d suddenly start to see its application in my surroundings. This concept of application is a prime example of how my life has been shaped by those around me. The new experiences I’ve had and information I’ve learned were all taught to me by someone else.
In conclusion, I learned many things about poverty from watching videos, reading articles, and talking with them. I had a deeper understanding about the life of poverty, so that I am able to build empathy for the poor people. Everyone should learn more about the poverty and help them with their
I have learned that I understand people more by listening to their ideas and perspectives. This has happened in different ways at school. When we were having a discussion about the elections and some people said they would feel safer and happier if Trump won I saw how they had a right to their opinions. The lesson about war propaganda also taught me to consider others’ perspectives. This is also true in my life outside of school. I don’t necessarily believe in God but I go and listen to others’ perspectives without criticizing
While reading the article, “The Complexity of Identity: “Who Am I?” the text provoked a lot of thought provoking questions and dialogue. The text itself stated how the “looking glass self” is not a flat one – dimensional reflection, but multidimensional.” (page 9) I thought it was really vital to keep this in mind, while looking at my own identity and others. I think it is important to understand this when stereotypes come into a situation; because not everyone has a story and a reason for being and behaving in a way.
There are many factors that shape us into who we are, and who we will become. Some of these factors we can control, while others we cannot. While we are born into many traits of our identities, much of our other behavior is learned. My identity, for example, is “based not only on responses to the question ‘Who am I?’ but also on responses to the question ‘Who am I in relation to others?’” (Allen, 2011, p. 11). My identity and the question of who I am, are both influenced by many aspects of my life, including my hometown, my family, my friends, and my beliefs and moral values.
I was able to look at life from a new perspective and a new ear.
Our identity is comprised of inner qualities and outer representations of self. It consists of innumerable defining characteristics that make up the whole of who we are in any given moment. These fragments of self include our sexuality, gender, and sense of belonging to a particular culture, nation, religion, family, or some other group. Our identity includes our looks, personality, beliefs and fears. Each individual in society assigns themselves a particular role, whether it be as a mother, brother, retiree, performer, sportsman or as a part of their occupation, a doctor or lawyer. Often one’s entire sense of self is consumed by