A couple questions

It was a chilly afternoon. We were sitting in class, waiting for our professor to show up. It was one of the few classes in which our brains were really worked up over seemingly fundamental truths and questions to be answered. 

One such question we were asked that day was this - Who are you? A simple question at the surface, but something too profound to grapple with. I remember that day, nineteen-year-old me wrote ten long sentences describing my ethnicity, religious affinity, birth order, abilities, talents, various social groups I belonged to, and the roles and titles I held as a person. 

Now, twenty-six year old me wonders - if I strip away my social identity and the roles I play, who am I then?

Here's what I think - 

I am a dreamer. Someone who cooks up stories through her writing, rewrites her past in her brain, and runs the trains of mindless thoughts into her unpredictable future. I love entering into the worlds created by others through their art - be it books, music, cinema - whatever meets the eye.

I am a believer - of people and their potential, a higher power that guides my every move, and the strength of love. And sometimes, even of the lies I have been told.

I am a hype woman. Someone who can not help but try to raise the spirits of the people she meets. And of this I am most proud.

I am a giver. Of my time, energy, resources, presence, purpose, and existence. 

I am Newton's first law of motion. When my mind, body or spirit sets itself up on something, nothing can avert the inertia developed. This sometimes shows up as laziness, loyalty to the people I love or straight up depressive thoughts about everything around me.

I am someone with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Of the people around me, the subjects I study, the life I see, my inner world, and the faith I was raised in. Maybe that's why I ask so many questions. Maybe that's why I chose to do my PhD.

I am this and so much more - of who I am and what I can be.

Who do you want to be? We ask this question to children of all ages, hoping to get them to tell us what career they want to pursue, knowing full well that whatever they make of their future - we're yet to see.

Here's who I want to be - 

I want to be present - with myself, my loved ones and the world around me. Experience it all to the fullest, gain a lesson or two from the life I've lived.

I want to be active - with my body and my mind. Explore what I am capable of, slowly break all mental and physical barriers I have built for myself. Truly realise the potential I was set forth of this Earth to unlock.

I want to be open - not hold myself back in the mind castles of how my life needs to be. Let life take its course and truly live every moment. Breath in the fresh air and revel in the fact that in this very moment I am as alive as I can ever be, the youngest I have ever been, and worthy of every good thing that comes that way.

I really don't know where life is taking me. But this much I know, the person I am becoming, with each passing day, she's in for a ride of a lifetime.

Now if you have reached so far, I want to ask you a couple questions - Who are You? And what do you wanna be?