Who Are You?, or Boxes and Circles

Thanks to Rob, lately I’ve been thinking a lot about labels. Into what boxes are you trying to force yourself? Into what boxes are others trying to force you? Into what boxes are you trying to force others?

Think about it. We human beings attempt to compartmentalize everything from our faith, to our fashion, even our food habits.

If you’re a person of faith, how would you characterize your faith? Are you conservative or progressive?

How would you characterize your politics? Are you a Republican or a Democrat? Are you a red stater or a blue stater? Are you a liberal or a conservative?

How would you characterize your style of dress? Emo? Fashionista? Goth? Hip-hop? Preppie? Skater? Something else?

If you currently are (or once were) in high school, into which clique do you fit, if any? The jocks? The geeks? The thespians? Something else?

How would you characterize your eating habits? Are you an omnivore? a vegetarian? a flexitarian? a fruitarian? a vegan? a freegan? some combination of the above?

What if, instead of trying to force ourselves and, worse yet, others, into oftentimes mutually exclusive boxes, we defined ourselves and others using Venn diagrams? Venn diagrams are much more than a torture device used by teachers, you know. Just ask Jessica Hagy.

I leave you with these thoughts from Rob:

Somewhere in you is the you whom you were made to be. We need you to be you. We don’t need a second anybody. We need the first you.

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