Personal Identity

       Who am I really?

Identity can usually mean one of two things; one, mainly what your interests are, or two, your background and traditions, and what parts you have chosen to interpret into your own life

     When someone asks you what you like to do, if you have tradititions, what languages you speak or if you believe in god, a simpler question that they could ask is, what are the important things my parents have tried to teach me as I grow up? For me personally, traditions are simple, we celebrate Christmas, Halloween and eat Thanksgiving dinner. Nothing really all that exciting, but they are things I enjoy to do, and am going to carry on to when I’m an adult. As for languages, my immediate family and mom’s side speak only English. As for my dad’s side, his parents and some siblings speak fluid German and Hungarian. I do want to take the time to learn another language, but if I had a choice, it would likely be Spanish; beautiful and classy. Religion or evolution on might ask? I reply with evolution. I feel that if god wants us to be happy, then why does ‘he’ feel the need to take away the people in our lives that we care most about, or force us to make decision that we don’t necessarily need or want to make. I was brought up in a family that regularly attended a United Church, but that fell apart when my sisters and I grew up, and started playing sports that went onto weekends. As for myself, I stopped believing in god when my hero, my grandfather, pasted away 4 years ago. These are the points in my life that family, and close groups of friends have impacted me the most on, and now i look at myself as an athiest, which I can generalize as my collective identity.

     As for my interests, hobbies, apparel, & reasons I like to smile, the list is infinite. The majority of them are very common, so those are the things likely more people have as a part of their identity. My apparel is the normal, teenager, stereotyped clothing. I like to follow trends so that I don’t look out of place, but I adore my sweats and track clothes. I would much rather be comfy than look good and feel awkward. My mom once said that I was the most diverse kid she knows, in that I literally do everything. I play many sports; hockey, volleyball, baseball, run, track, curl, golf and badminton. When I’m not playing sports, I like to fill my time with friends (which I have a broad amount of due to all the sports I play), my puppy, Guinness, taking pictures, which is another way for me to express my feelings, as well as writing, listening to music and blogging. Smiling is something I do a lot, when I was younger and didn’t know what a lot of things meant, my grandfather would say “A laugh is when a smile has an orgasm.” Of course I had no clue what it meant, but still, even that made me laugh. Friends are another very large part of my identity, sanity and well being. I know that wherever I go, like the Boston Pizza slogan, I’m among friends. I know that whatever I do and wherever I am, I am learning from my mistakes and trying to live life as if it were my last day.

     Sure there are things that I wish I could go back on and change, but you write your life in pen, there is no going back to erase and change something, you learn very quickly to live with what you’ve achieved, and things you have failed at.

   It isn’t exactly easy to say who I am, and that’s why in my visual representation I left the biggest bubble open. I mean I’m only 15 years old, and for the most part have no idea what life is really going to be like, therefore I left the biggest aspect of my identity, my future, a simply question mark. The bottom middle is film, to represt my love of photography, and below that is a heart for love with the Canadian flag inside to show I am proud of where I come from. The iPod wheel to show I can't live without music, and the NIKE symbol to represent sports. The top right side has an atheist symbol as well as a volleyball because I am currently playing volleyball.