Identity

I've had blog burn out for a few weeks now. Mostly, I attribute it to school homework... jeez, what a lousy sacrifice. Much of my problem with blogging is not a symptom of having nothing to say. On the contrary, I have so much that I want to say that I can't figure out how to channel it. Where to begin?

I've been in a deep introspective mood lately. Of course, in reality, I'm always in a mood like this, but lately, I've been thinking a lot about identity, and this always hits close to home. Within the last year I've gotten married, moved to Austin, and started school. My parents have opened a donut shot after decades of church ministry, my little sister (an RN) is getting married, and my middle sister (who has a MSW) is on a similar path. My Grandfather is dating again (more power to him...). My wife is teaching in a much larger school, and our world keeps getting bigger and bigger. Change is everpresent, and over the years I've noticed how my own identity has evolved.

One of the catalysts in the evolution of my identity was a community of conversationally inclined people collectively called Coffee and Culture... (sorry about the "c's"...) One of the first discussion meetings I remember going to focused on the idea of an "authetic self." The question was posed, "what is the authetic self," and I don't think we ever arrived at a conclusion that night (which, by the way, wasn't a rare phenomenon). That question has stayed with me for a while now.

An interesting thought about identity is the way humans project their own identity on other people/ objects/ events. We have families, communities, churches, denominations, nations, politics, economies, family pets, family heirlooms, and homes. As these things change, so do we.

Does our "war on terror" have anything to do with this reality? I think it does... I'll keep it at that.