Reflections: Understanding the Self

Who am I? This is the title of a writing assignment I am given frequently.  I often struggle to answer the question without defining myself through the means of another person. I am this person's wife, this person's mother, or this person's friend.  I finally found a way to define who I am by searching through my writings, and I have found that I am much more complicated than I ever realized.  I feel like more than one person wrote the story of my life, but it was only me.  I am several personalities embodied in one being and I would never have realized this if I hadn't read my own thoughts and ideas repeatedly and in different contexts.  Much of who we are is expressed in our writing, some of it unconsciously.  There is definitely a place for the New Critics in the world, but I am more of a Reader Response type of person.  Attempting to discover authorial intent (conscious or unconscious) can lead to complicated and definitive; yet, fascinating discovery of life within text.    

"The words 'I am' are potent words; be careful what you hitch them to.  The thing you're claiming has a way of reaching back and claiming you."  ~A.L. Kitselman

graphic from www.canstockphoto.com/6258288.html

Problematic Beginnings

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.

 -- T. S. Eliot

Since we are all interpolated in various ways, we will all have different experiences. The concept that there is no beginning is mind-boggling, but I like the idea that something new can come from every ending despite the intertextuality of our lives.

Through Multiple Lenses

It's amazing how I can reread one text so many different ways. I never realized what you can learn about the same text you've read several times by reading it from a varied vantage point.

My personal favorite lens is feminism. It has taught me a great deal. I wish I had realized more about the prejudices in the world, and from my learned understanding of feminism, my eyes have been opened to the societal realities.

I look forward to exploring these many lenses with you...