Identity: Who We Are

        Identity. A place to belong. Somewhere to fit in. A definition of who you are. Some people spend their whole lives trying to find it.
        Identity is usually a label. Jock. Gamer. Nerd. Dancer. Musician. Writer.
        Writer is what I used to identify myself as. I would use it to explain my character traits. I would use it as an excuse for behavior others found weird. I would use it as a way in socially. I used it to identify myself.
         I thought that if I found other writers, I would find my place to belong. I sought out other writers because I thought, if I find other writers, I will be understood. I'll make an automatic friend!
         And then, as I began to meet more writers, I realized something. Writers are a very diverse group of people. We come from different backgrounds. We have different beliefs. We have different personalities. We just happen to have one thing in common: a passion for characters, plot outlines, Pinterest, a fresh twist to an old story......you get the idea. We're all writers, but that's not who we are. I'm not going to end up friends with someone simply because they're a writer.
         There are many Christian articles about this topic, but I'm not quite sure they say what they mean to. They all say the same thing. And I'm sure we've gotten the advice from at least one friend: find your identity in Christ. But what does that actually mean? Does that mean my new identity (label) is Christian?
        Throughout high school, most people go on an often difficult journey of discovering who they are. I know I did. Once I found out who I was, I gained confidence. (If you want to read my post on confidence, it's here). And the key to having confidence is loving yourself.
          And that, my friends, is the answer to the identity question.
          Your identity is you. It is as simple and complex as that.
           In a way, those articles are correct. Your identity is in Christ because the most important part of you is that you are a child of God. In a way, your label may be correct. I am a writer. But there is so much more to you than that. You are a grand, amazing, beautiful, tangle of you.
          Identity is a funny thing. If I say that my identity is a writer, but you take everything else of me away, I would no longer be me. On the other hand, if you took that writer part of me away, I would also no longer be me.
          There is nothing wrong with finding people who have the same passions as you and surrounding yourself with them. Just don't be afraid to be friends with people who don't share that passion. There is also nothing wrong with identifying with a certain label or personality type or genre or anything. But you can't let it define you.
           People often use identity as a way to hide their insecurity about themselves. Ashamed of knowing so much about Star Wars, people will laugh it off and be like, oh yeah I'm a nerd. That hides the fact that they feel embarrassed about this particular part of themselves. Embrace yourself, your whole self. 
           No one fits in a box. No one can truly color inside the lines. No one completely fits a label. No two people have the same identity. You are you.

~Clarissa